College of Education & Human Services
Praxis II Test Basics
All applicants for a first time Minnesota teaching license must complete and pass the following required teacher licensure examinations:
1. The PPST (Praxis I)
2. The test of professional knowledge (Praxis II)
3. The test of content/subject matter (Praxis II) (possibly two tests, see item 3.)
The Test of Professional Knowledge: Principles of Learning and Teaching
Candidate may select any one of the four tests from the Praxis II Series: Principles of Learning and Teaching (PLT Early Childhood; or PLT K-6; or PLT 5-9; or PLT 7-12) as long as the test falls within the score of his or her license. Candidates will not be required to take more than one test of professional knowledge. Applicants with an existing license from either Minnesota or another state will not be required to take this test. Applicants for the first license in Early Childhood must take one of the Praxis II: Principles of Learning and Teaching tests, either the PLT: K-6 test number 0522 OR they may select the NEW PLT: Early Childhood Licensure test code 0521. The minimum qualifying score is 164 for the newly adopted PLT: Early Childhood licensure test.
NOTE: Currently, candidates for the early childhood special education licensure do not have a professional knowledge test (PLT) in the scope of practice and so they are not required to take a PLT exam. The scope of the PLT: K-6 was determined to be inappropriate to require for this license.
Subject/Content Knowledge in their field. If the candidate has a double major, they must take a content test in each major (e.g. elementary education and special education or English and art education).
Elementary education majors will be required to take a content test in their specialty area. Applicants adding a licensure field to an existing Minnesota license will be required to take the content/subject matter test for the field to be added. They will not be required to take additional tests of professional knowledge or the PPST.
For Special Education Majors Only:
| Each Special Education major (excpet ECSE) is required to take a PLT test (either 30522, 30523, or 30524). |
| All Special Education majors take the content area test for Special Education (20353). |
| To be considered Highly Qualified, all Special Education majors must also take an additional subject area test (such as Elementary Education). This is a new requirement, and the Board of Teaching will pay for students' additional test ($75) if they follow a prescribed procedure. The first step of this procedure is meeting with Dr. Lynn Mahlum (Lommen 213A, 477-2256) prior to registering for Praxis II. Please see below for important details: |
Important Notice! Procedures for MN Dept. of Education Sponsored Praxis Test Registration, May 2007 The Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEA 2004) requires all special education teachers to be "highly qualified" in the core academic subjects they teach to children with disabilities. New special education teachers must be "highly qualified" in mathematics, language arts, or science when hired. A Praxis II content test may be used to meet the "highly qualified" standard. The MDE is providing a one-time opportunity during the 2006-07 and 2007-08 testing cycles for certain special education teachers. MDE will pay the test and registration fee directly to Educational Testing Service (ETS) for one (1) of the specified tests... For more information and application form (PDF), click here. |
Only licensed classroom teachers can add the K-12 Reading License. Applicants for the K-12 reading license must hold a Minnesota classroom-teaching license. Minnesota licensed classroom teachers adding the Teachers of Reading K-12 licensure field on or after October 1, 2006, must take the content test specified, and achieve a minimum qualifying score of 620.
Expanding the scope from 7-12 to 5-12. A teacher holding a 7-12 license in a subject field does not take the middle level Praxis II subject test when expanding the licensure scope to 5-8. In holding the 7-12 license, the teacher has demonstrated the necessary subject matter competencies.
Our recommendation is that the Praxis II tests be completed during the first semester of the senior year. This will allow time for processing the results before you need to apply for your teaching license. The test results do not affect graduation; however, candidates cannot apply for their teaching license until the tests are passed. Tests may be taken anytime during their program of study, and may be repeated. Candidates cannot apply for a license until the tests are passed.
Some of the Praxis II paper-based tests are administered on the MSUM campus.
The Praxis II exams are not yet offered by computer. For registration and testing information, including testing sites, please visit http://www.ets.org/praxis.
Quick Reference:
Board of Teaching Rules for Examinations for Teacher Licenses 8710.0500
http://www.revisor.leg.state.mn.us/arule/8710/
Department of Education, Educator Licensing & Teacher Quality
http://education.state.mn.us
Online application form for the Praxis II
http://ets.org/praxis
Praxis Series Website (Educational Testing Service)
http://www.ets.org/praxis
"Tests at a Glance" Booklets
www.ets.org/teachingandlearning/index.html
Specific tests and scores for Minnesota: MDE Educator Licensing & Teacher Quality Website
http://education.state.mn.us/mde/Teacher_Support/Educator_Licensing/Teacher_Testing_Requirements/index.html
Scroll to bottom of page and click on "Praxis II,"
or download current document: Praxis II Requirements Document 7/6/06 (PDF)
North Dakota Praxis Requirements for Licensure
http://www.nd.gov/espb/licensure/testing.html