TEACHER OF RECORD

Applicants for first-time licensure in Early Childhood, Elementary Education, and Social Studies Composite must complete the following testing requirements:

Early Childhood

Early Childhood Birth-Age 8 (or 3rd grade) majors must take the Praxis II exam 5024, “Education of Young Children”, and receive a passing score of 160 or better.

Elementary Education

Elementary Education majors must take the Praxis II 5001 Elementary Education: Multiple Subjects exam. To pass the Elementary Education: Multiple Subjects exam, applicants must receive a passing score on each subtest. Applicants may take all four subtests (5002, 5003, 5004, 5005) at the same time by selecting 5001 Elementary Education: Multiple Subjects when registering. If applicants wish to take or retake an individual subtest, they must register to take just that subtest.

Social Studies Composite

Social Studies Composite majors for Grades 6 through 12 must take the Praxis II exam 5581 Social Studies and receive a passing score of 158 or higher. For Social Composite for Grades 5 through 8, applicants must take the Praxis II exam 5089/0089 Middle School Social Studies and receive a passing score of 153 or higher.

Applicants who have held or currently hold a teaching certificate in Elementary or Social Studies are eligible for a five (5) year Standard Educator License without submitting either of the Praxis exams. However, these applicants will not meet the requirements until passing the Praxis II exam above or providing documentation of passing a test in another state in the specific contact area.

SPECIAL EDUCATION EDUCATORS

Are you currently endorsed in Special Education?

• A licensed special education teacher must demonstrate competency in specific content areas if they are the teacher who provides the core instruction for that content (the “teacher of record”). If the SPED teacher’s role is one of a consultant to the content teacher in assisting the students learning in that particular content they do not have to demonstrate competency in the specific content.
• A licensed special education teacher may demonstrate competency in a teaching content by submitting a passing score on an approved Praxis exam for that particular content area. See the Testing Requirements page HERE.
• A licensed special education teacher is considered the teacher of record of all content for students who Individualized Education Plans (IEP’s) requiring instruction based on the “Alternative Standards” – this is the case for students identified as cognitively disabled.
• A licensed special education teacher may only teach students on an IEP. For, example, if a SPED teacher is the teacher of record in math, they are only certified to teach math to students with an IEP. The only exception for them to teach Math to students who do not have an IEP is if they also hold an endorsement in Math.