Praxis Core Writing: Essay tips and examples

The Praxis Core Writing test ends with two timed essays: one argumentative and one informative/explanatory. Together with a handful of multiple-choice questions, they make up the larger of the test's two content areas, so a strong pair of essays can carry your score.

Writing on demand is a different skill from writing a paper over the course of a week. You get 30 minutes per essay, no chance to revise the next morning, and a prompt you haven't seen before. Even confident writers find the clock stressful, and the pressure shows up as thin examples, missing citations, and small grammar slips.

However, as with multiple-choice questions, essay questions follow a predictable format that can be mastered through practice and devoted effort. ETS publishes the prompt formats and the scoring guide, so you can practice exactly what scorers look for. This guide explains how the essays are scored, walks through a plan and a worked example for each one, and covers the grammar mistakes that most often cost points when you're writing against the clock.

Praxis Writing section overview

The Praxis Core Writing test (5723) is one of the three Core Academic Skills for Educators tests, alongside Reading and Math. It's taken entirely on a computer, either at a test center or at home, and has three separately timed sections:

The selected-response questions cover usage, sentence correction, revision in context, and research skills. ETS groups the test into two content areas:

• Text Types, Purposes, and Production (about 60% of the test): 6-12 selected-response questions plus both essays.
• Language and Research Skills for Writing (about 40%): 28-34 selected-response questions.

Because the essays sit inside the larger content area, they deserve a real share of your study time, even though there are only two of them. Scores take longer to arrive than on the other Core tests: ETS reports that Writing scores are available in over 10 business days because the essays have to be scored.

About the Praxis

The Praxis tests, developed by ETS, are used for teacher certification in many U.S. states. The Praxis Core tests measure foundational reading, writing, and math skills, and many teacher preparation programs require them for admission. The Praxis Subject Assessments, sometimes called the Praxis II, test knowledge of a specific subject and how to teach it. For a full picture of all three Core tests, see our guide to the Praxis Core.

A few facts about the Writing test that are useful to know before you start practicing:

• Scores range from 100 to 200. Each state sets its own passing score, and most states that use the Writing test require a score of 162. A few accept lower scores, so check passing Praxis scores by state for yours.
• Cost: the Writing test costs $90 on its own, or you can take all three Core tests on the same day for $150.
• Retakes: if you don't pass, you can retake the test after 28 days.

If you haven't booked your test yet, here's how to register for the Praxis.

How the Praxis essays are scored

Each essay receives a single holistic score from 1 to 6, using the scoring guides in ETS's study companion. "Holistic" means scorers judge the overall quality of the essay rather than counting errors. According to ETS's technical manual, each Core Writing essay is scored by a trained human reader and by ETS's automated scoring engine, and a second human reader steps in if the two scores differ too much. Your essay scores are then combined with your selected-response score into one scaled Writing score.

Here is what separates the top of the scale from the bottom, in ETS's own words:

Three points stand out from the scoring guide. First, a 6 can still contain a few minor errors, so you don't need to write a technically perfect essay. Second, development matters: ETS notes that how well you write is more important than how much you write, but you will probably need more than a couple of paragraphs for structure. Third, in the source-based essay, citing both sources is required for a 4 or higher.

How to write the argumentative essay

The argumentative essay asks you to take a position on a statement and defend it. There is no right side: scorers judge how well you support your view, not which view you pick. Pick the side you can back with the strongest specific examples, even if it isn't the one you feel most strongly about.

A 30-minute plan

• Minutes 1-5: Plan. Decide your position, then jot down two or three reasons, each with one concrete example from your reading, experience, or observation. Note one point the other side would make.
• Minutes 6-25: Write. Four or five paragraphs is a workable shape: an introduction that ends with your thesis, two or three body paragraphs (one reason each), a paragraph that answers the opposing view, and a short conclusion. Quality matters more than length, but a single paragraph is rarely enough to develop an argument.
• Minutes 26-30: Proofread. Read every sentence for missing words, run-ons, and agreement errors. Typing quickly under pressure is when small slips happen, and you shouldn't count on a spell checker to catch them.

Example prompt and response

Practice prompt (written by Achievable in the format of the test):

"Schools should replace traditional letter grades with written feedback on student progress."

Discuss the extent to which you agree or disagree with this opinion. Support your views with specific reasons and examples from your own experience, observations, or reading.

Sample outline:

• Thesis: Written feedback should supplement letter grades, not replace them, because grades give students and families a shared, quick measure of progress that comments alone can't.
• Reason 1: Grades are easy to compare across classes and over time. Example: a parent with three children can see at a glance which subject needs attention.
• Reason 2: Colleges and scholarship programs rely on grades. Example: a high school senior applying to state universities needs a GPA.
• Opposing view: Feedback tells students how to improve.
  • Response: That’s why teachers should add comments to grades, not drop the grades.
• Conclusion: Restate the position and the "both, not either" solution.

Sample body paragraph:

The strongest case for keeping letter grades is that they give families a common language. When my younger brother brought home a report card with a C in algebra, my parents knew immediately that he needed extra help, even though neither of them had seen his assignments. A page of written comments, however thoughtful, would have taken longer to read and might have softened the message. Grades are not a complete picture of learning, but they are a clear signal, and clear signals help families act quickly.

Notice what this paragraph does: it opens with a topic sentence tied to the thesis, gives a specific example, explains why the example matters, and closes by linking back to the argument. That pattern, repeated in each body paragraph, is what makes an essay feel organized.

Tips for the argumentative essay

• State your position in the first paragraph, and make it specific. "Grades should stay, with written feedback added" is stronger than "There are pros and cons."
• Use examples you can describe in detail. A brief personal story, a news event, or something you read is more persuasive than a general claim about "society."
• Address the other side. One paragraph that names the opposing view and answers it shows the reader you have weighed the issue.
• Use transitions ("First," "In addition," "However," "As a result") so the reader can follow your reasoning from paragraph to paragraph.

Keep in mind that personal examples and opinions are fine for the argumentative essay, though the explanatory essay requires more source-based critical thinking.

How to write the informative/explanatory essay

The informative/explanatory essay, which ETS also calls the source-based essay, gives you two short passages on the same topic, and your 30 minutes include the time to read them. Your job is to explain the most important concerns or ideas the passages raise, organize them into a clear essay, and cite both sources. You are explaining, not arguing, so keep your own opinion out of it.

A 30-minute plan

• Minutes 1-7: Read and annotate. Read both passages and note each author's main point and one or two key details. Look for where they agree and where they differ.
• Minutes 8-12: Plan. Choose two or three key ideas that come from the passages and decide which source supports each.
• Minutes 13-27: Write. Introduce the topic and your main idea, give one body paragraph per key idea, and cite a source in each one.
• Minutes 28-30: Proofread, and confirm you've cited both passages.

Example prompt and response

Practice prompt (written by Achievable in the format of the test):

Both of the following sources address the use of homework in elementary school. Read the two passages carefully and then write an essay in which you identify the most important concerns regarding the issue and explain why they are important. Your essay must draw on information from both of the sources. In addition, you may draw on your own experiences, observations, or reading. Be sure to cite the sources whether you are paraphrasing or directly quoting.

Source 1 (summary): An education researcher argues that homework in the early grades has little effect on achievement and can reduce children's interest in reading.

Source 2 (summary): An elementary school principal argues that short, regular homework builds study habits and keeps parents informed about what their children are learning.

Sample outline:

• Main idea: The debate over elementary homework comes down to two concerns: whether it improves learning, and what it does to children's habits and motivation.
• Key idea 1: Achievement. Source 1's finding that early homework has little effect on test results.
• Key idea 2: Habits and family involvement. Source 2's point that short assignments build routines and keep parents informed.
• Key idea 3: Motivation, where the sources meet: both agree that heavy homework can turn children off learning, which suggests length matters as much as whether homework is assigned at all.
• Conclusion: Summarize the concerns and why they matter to teachers setting homework policy.

Sample body paragraph:

A second concern is the role homework plays in building habits outside the classroom. According to the principal in Source 2, short assignments given on a regular schedule teach young students to set aside time for schoolwork each day, a routine that will matter more as their courses grow harder. The same author notes that homework gives parents a window into what their children are learning. Although Source 1 questions whether homework raises achievement, it does not dispute these benefits, which suggests that the value of early homework may lie less in test scores than in routines and family involvement.

The paragraph names its source each time it uses one ("the principal in Source 2," "Source 1"), paraphrases rather than copying long quotes, and connects the two passages instead of summarizing them one after the other.

Tips for the informative/explanatory essay

• Cite both sources. This is the easiest way to lose points. ETS's scoring guide describes an essay that uses only one source at the 3 level, and one that cites no sources at the 2 level. A citation can be as simple as the author's last name or the title, such as "(Source 1)" or "According to the author of Source 2."
• Synthesize, don't summarize. Organize your essay around ideas, not around the sources. Each body paragraph should explain one concern and show what the passages say about it.
• Stay neutral. Phrases like "I believe" belong in the argumentative essay. Here, let the sources make the case.
• Paraphrase more than you quote. Short quotes are fine, but explaining an idea in your own words shows you understood it.

Grammar mistakes that cost points in your Praxis essays

Scorers judge each essay as a whole rather than counting errors, but frequent errors in grammar and sentence structure pull a score down. The same 10 errors that the selected-response questions test also show up in essays written against the clock. For a deeper look at how they appear in the multiple-choice questions, see Avoid these mistakes on the Praxis Core Writing test. Here's how to catch each one in your own writing.

1. Run-on sentences

When you're typing fast, two complete thoughts tend to run together: "Homework builds routine, it also keeps parents informed." Split them with a period, join them with a semicolon, or add a conjunction such as "and" or "because." On your final read, look for any sentence that holds two subjects and two verbs with nothing between them.

2. Pronoun agreement

A pronoun should match the noun it replaces in number. "Every student should check their work" is common in speech, but in a formal essay the safest fix is to make the noun plural: "Students should check their work." That keeps the sentence correct without the clunky "his or her."

3. Sentence fragments

A fragment is a phrase punctuated as if it were a sentence: "Because grades are easy to compare." Fragments often appear when you add a reason as an afterthought. Attach it to a full sentence: "Families rely on grades because they are easy to compare."

4. Parallel structure

Items in a list should share the same form. "Homework teaches students to plan, focusing, and responsibility" breaks the pattern; "Homework teaches planning, focus, and responsibility" keeps it. Lists of reasons in your thesis are where this slips most often.

5. Subject-verb agreement and tense

Collective nouns such as "committee," "faculty," and "class" usually take a singular verb in American English: "The faculty agrees." Keep your tense steady as well. If you introduce an example in the past tense, stay there until the example ends.

6. Misplaced modifiers

A descriptive phrase should sit next to the word it describes. "Rushing to finish, the essay had several typos" says the essay itself was rushing. Rewrite it so the right person is doing the action: "Rushing to finish, I left several typos in the essay."

7. Unclear pronoun reference

In the source-based essay, two authors can make "he" or "she" ambiguous: "The researcher disagrees with the principal because she thinks homework is harmful." Which one? Use the name or role instead: "because the researcher thinks homework is harmful."

8. Adjectives vs. adverbs

Adverbs describe verbs: "Students who read regularly," not "read regular." When a sentence sounds off, check whether the word describes a thing (adjective) or an action (adverb).

9. Idioms and prepositions

Some word pairings are fixed: "capable of," "concerned about," "different from," "in contrast to." If you aren't sure of a preposition, rephrase the sentence with words you're confident about rather than guess.

10. Faulty comparisons

Compare like with like. "The principal's argument is more convincing than the researcher" compares an argument to a person. Write "more convincing than the researcher's" or "more convincing than the researcher's argument." This matters most in the informative essay, where you compare the two sources' positions.

Final tips for approaching the Praxis Writing section

• Use a computer. The Praxis Writing is an entirely digital exam, so it’s important to practice your essay writing in a format and interface that matches the actual test.
  • You can use a pencil and scrap paper to organize your thoughts, but be aware that only students taking exams at a testing center will be allowed paper; those taking the exams remotely are allowed a dry-erase board and a marker for notes only.
• Practice with a timer. Write at least a few full essays in 30 minutes each before test day. Timed practice is the only way to learn how much you can plan, write, and proofread in the time you have.
• Answer the prompt that's on the screen. Stay on the assigned topic and respond to every part of it. A well-written essay on a different question won't score well.
• Plan before you type. Two to five minutes spent on a thesis and an outline saves time later and keeps your paragraphs in order.
• Be specific. Support every general statement with a reason, an example, or a detail from the sources.
• Use the selected-response section to sharpen your eye. The usage and sentence-correction questions test the same rules you need when proofreading your own essays.
• Leave time to reread. Save the last few minutes of each essay for a final read. Fixing a run-on or a missing word is quicker than you think.
• Read the official samples. ETS's study companion includes sample prompts and scored responses with comments from the scorers. Comparing a 6 with a 2 shows you what scorers reward far better than any description can.

Conclusion

The Praxis Core Writing essays reward a clear plan more than polished prose. If you take a definite position and support it with specific examples in the argumentative essay, and explain the key concerns while citing both sources in the informative/explanatory essay, you're already doing what the scoring guide asks for. Careful proofreading for the most common grammar errors takes care of the rest.

Start with untimed practice to get comfortable with each essay type, then move to timed essays as your test date approaches. Read your essays against the scoring guide, or ask someone else to, and note which errors you make most often. With steady practice and a dependable plan for each 30-minute window, you'll walk into the test ready to excel on the Praxis Core Writing test and succeed on test day.