Praxis Core Academic Skills For Educators: Mathematics Practice Test
Praxis Core Academic Skills for Educators: Mathematics practice addresses quantitative reasoning and mathematical problem solving. The available questions sample number operations, fractions and decimals, percentages, introductory probability and statistics, and basic geometry. Many use familiar contexts—such as prices, sales tax, measurements, and data sets—to test whether you can choose and apply an appropriate calculation.
Exam overview
About the Praxis Core Academic Skills For Educators: Mathematics Exam
The sampled problems call for accurate computation and interpretation, not just recall of formulas. You may need to convert a repeating decimal to a fraction, calculate a percent increase or tax, or determine simple interest from principal, rate, and time. Data questions involve finding a median or mode, while probability questions ask you to count outcomes in a small experiment. Geometry items draw on coordinate distance, rectangle area, and triangle angle sums. For preparation, practice translating each prompt into a mathematical representation, selecting a useful operation or relationship, and checking whether the result fits the stated units and context. These skills also support classroom work such as explaining a calculation, comparing quantities, and interpreting numerical information.
Sample Practice Questions
Review a selection from this exam's published US Practice Tests practice bank.
A rectangular coordinate grid has points P(−2, 1) and Q(4, 1). What is the distance between P and Q?
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Correct answer: CThe points have the same y-coordinate, so the distance is the horizontal difference: 4 − (−2) = 6 units.
A price of $48 is increased by 12.5%. What is the new price?
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Correct answer: BSince 12.5% is 1/8, the increase is $48 ÷ 8 = $6. The new price is $48 + $6 = $54.
A fair coin is tossed three times. What is the probability of getting exactly two heads?
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Correct answer: BThere are 2³ = 8 equally likely sequences of three tosses. Exactly two heads occur in HHT, HTH, and THH, so the probability is 3/8.
A $50 item is subject to 6% sales tax. What is the total cost?
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Correct answer: BThe tax is 0.06 × $50 = $3. Add the tax to the price: $50 + $3 = $53.
A store records the number of notebooks sold each day: 12, 15, 15, 18, 20. What is the mode?
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Correct answer: BThe mode is the value that occurs most often. In this list, 15 appears twice, while every other value appears once.
What is the median of the data set 4, 9, 2, 7, 5?
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Correct answer: BOrder the values: 2, 4, 5, 7, 9. The middle value is 5.
Which fraction is equivalent to the repeating decimal 0.272727…?
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Correct answer: BLet x = 0.272727…. Then 100x = 27.272727…. Subtracting x gives 99x = 27, so x = 27/99 = 3/11.
How to use this practice test
US Practice Tests offers free practice for this exam. A session presents up to 20 random questions from the available 50-question bank, and results appear after the session. Use the questions to identify which calculation types need more work, then revisit missed problems by writing out the operation, formula, or reasoning that leads to the answer.
Preparation tips
- Practice converting between fractions, decimals, and percentages; verify repeating-decimal conversions by dividing the numerator by the denominator.
- For price problems, distinguish a percent increase from the final amount, and calculate sales tax as a separate amount before adding it to the original price.
- Sort data values before finding the median, and check whether the mode is the value that occurs most often.
- For probability questions, list the equally likely outcomes and count how many satisfy the stated condition.
- Review coordinate distance, rectangle area, and the 180-degree sum of a triangle’s interior angles; include units when interpreting measurement answers.