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Pennsylvania Test Requirements

ALL CERTIFICATION AREAS REQUIRE THE APPROPRIATE CONTENT AREA TEST.

Educators applying for an initial undergraduate Instructional area license for any subject area are required to pass a basic skills test and the appropriate Praxis® Subject Assessments. Educators applying for Educational Specialist areas are required to pass the appropriate Praxis Subject Assessments. Educators applying for Instructional areas that cover PK–12 must pass the Praxis Fundamental Subjects: Content Knowledge test AND the appropriate Praxis subject test.

In general, unless it is specifically stated that a calculator is permitted or required for a particular test, calculators may not be used on any Praxis tests (see Calculator Use).

For Career and Technical Instructional certifications, see Career and Technical Instructional section.

  • If you test in Pennsylvania at a testing center or using the Praxis at home solution, and your Praxis profile address is in Pennsylvania, your score report will be sent automatically to the Pennsylvania Department of Education.
  • If you test outside Pennsylvania or your Praxis profile address is not in Pennsylvania, your scores are NOT automatically sent to the Pennsylvania Department of Education. To have your scores sent to the Pennsylvania Department of Education, you must select the Pennsylvania Department of Education (state code 8033) as a score recipient when you register.
  • For all methods of Praxis testing, to request additional score reports you must select the Pennsylvania Department of Education (state code 8033) with each additional score report request.

Tests Required for All Licensure Areas

Educators applying for an initial undergraduate Instructional area license are required to pass a basic skills test. Please see the Pennsylvania Department of Education website for information about available pathways to meet this requirement.

To Be Certified in You Need to Take Test Code Qualifying Score
All Areas, except for Career and Technical Education Pre-service Academic Performance Assessment (PAPA)
or
The Pennsylvania Department of Education has authorized the Praxis® Core Academic Skills for Educators tests as an alternative pathway to meet the basic skills requirement.
Core Academic Skills for Educators: Reading 5713 156
and
Core Academic Skills for Educators: Writing 5723 162
and
Core Academic Skills for Educators: Mathematics (On-screen four-function calculator provided.) 5733 142
If you wish to take all three computer-delivered Core Academic Skills for Educators exams (5713, 5723, 5733) at the same time, select Core Academic Skills for Educators Combined Test (5752) when registering. Scores will be reported by individual test (5713, 5723, 5733).

Tests Required for Specific Licensure Areas

Middle Level (Grades 4–8)

Educators who are currently undergraduates applying for an initial Instructional Middle Level area are required to pass a basic skills test, in addition to passing the appropriate Praxis test(s).

To Be Certified in You Need to Take Test Code Qualifying Score
Middle Level 4–8 Pennsylvania Grades 4–8 Core Assessment(Calculator allowed.) 5152 1
Pedagogy Subtest2 5153 *
English Language Arts and Social Studies Subtest 5154 *
Mathematics and Science Subtest(Calculator allowed.) 5155 *
1 To pass the Pennsylvania Grades 4–8 Core Assessment you must receive a passing score on each subtest. If you wish to take all three subtests (5153, 5154, 5155) at the same time, select Pennsylvania Grades 4–8 Core Assessment (5152) when registering. If you wish to take or retake an individual subtest, you may register to take just that subtest.
2 You may omit the Pedagogy subtest (code 5153) if you hold a Pennsylvania Grades PK–4 certificate.
Test takers seeking certification in Middle Level 4–8 must ALSO take the Subject Concentration test(s) for the area(s) they plan to teach.
Middle Level Citizenship Education 4–8 Pennsylvania Grades 4–8 Subject Concentration: Social Studies 5157 *
Middle Level English 4–8 Pennsylvania Grades 4–8 Subject Concentration: English Language Arts 5156 *
Middle Level Mathematics 4–8 Pennsylvania Grades 4–8 Subject Concentration: Mathematics(Calculator allowed.) 5158 *
Middle Level Science 4–8 Pennsylvania Grades 4–8 Subject Concentration: Science(Calculator allowed.) 5159 *
Elementary Grades 5–6 English Language Arts and Social Studies Subtest 5154 *
and
Mathematics and Science Subtest (Calculator allowed.) 5155 *
Note: Elementary Grades 5–6 is only available to those holding a valid Pennsylvania Grades PK–4 certificate.

Secondary Education (Grades 7–12)

Educators who are currently undergraduates applying for an initial Instructional 7–12 area are required to pass a basic skills test, in addition to passing the appropriate Praxis test(s).

To Be Certified in You Need to Take Test Code Qualifying Score
Biology 7–12 Biology: Content Knowledge 5235 *
Chemistry 7–12 Chemistry: Content Knowledge 5245 *
Citizenship Education 7–12 Citizenship Education: Content Knowledge 5087 *
Communication 7–12 Speech Communication: Content Knowledge 5221 *
Computer Science 7–12 Computer Science 5652 *
Earth and Space Science 7–12 Earth and Space Sciences: Content Knowledge 5571 *
English 7–12 English Language Arts: Content Knowledge 5038 *
General Science 7–12 General Science: Content Knowledge 5435 *
Mathematics 7–12 Mathematics: Content Knowledge (Online graphing calculator provided.) 5161 *
Physics 7–12 Physics: Content Knowledge 5265 *
Social Studies 7–12 Social Studies: Content Knowledge 5081 *

PK–12 Areas

Educators applying for an initial Instructional PK–12 area are required to pass a basic skills test, the Fundamental Subjects: Content Knowledge test and the appropriate Praxis test(s).

To Be Certified in You Need to Take Test Code Qualifying Score
Any PK–12 Area Fundamental Subjects: Content Knowledge (On-screen scientific calculator allowed.) 5511 *
Agriculture PK–12 Agriculture 5701 *
American Sign Language PK–12 American Sign Language Proficiency Interview 0634 *
Art PK–12 Art: Content Knowledge 5134 *
Business, Computers & Information Technology PK–12 Business Education: Content Knowledge (Calculator allowed.) 5101 *
Chinese (Mandarin)
PK–12		 Chinese (Mandarin): World Language 5665 *
Environmental Education PK–12 Environmental Education 0831 156
Family and Consumer Sciences PK–12 Family and Consumer Sciences 5122 *
French PK–12 French: World Language 5174 *
German PK–12 German: World Language 5183 *
Health PK–12 Health Education 5551 *
Health and Physical Education PK–12 Health and Physical Education: Content Knowledge 5857 *
Latin PK–12 Latin 5601 *
Library Science PK–12 Library Media Specialist 5311 *
Marketing/
Distributive Education PK–12		 Marketing Education 5561 *
Music PK–12 Music: Content Knowledge 5113 *
Reading Specialist
PK–12		 Accepted through August 31, 2021Reading Specialist 5301 *
Required beginning September 1, 2021Reading Specialist 5302 *
Spanish PK–12 Spanish: World Language 5195 *
Technology Education PK–12 Technology Education 5051 *

Special Education

Educators applying for an initial Instructional Special Education area are required to pass a basic skills test, the Fundamental Subjects: Content Knowledge test and the appropriate Praxis test(s).

To Be Certified in You Need to Take Test Code Qualifying Score
Any Special Education Area Fundamental Subjects: Content Knowledge(On-screen scientific calculator allowed) 5511 *
Special Education: Hearing Impaired
PK–12		 Special Education: Education of Deaf and Hard of Hearing Students 5272 *
Special Education: PK–12 Special Education: Core Knowledge and Applications 5354 *
Special Education:
Speech & Language
Impaired PK–12		 Speech-Language Pathology 5331 *
Special Education:
Visually Impaired
PK–12		 Special Education: Teaching Students with Visual Impairments 5282 *

Educational Specialist

Educators applying for an initial Education Specialist certificate who completed their certification program at the bachelor's degree level, must take the basic skills tests.

Educators applying for an initial certificate in the areas of

  • Elementary and Secondary School Counselor, School Speech & Language Pathologist, and School Psychologist must pass the appropriate Praxis test(s).
  • Educational Specialist candidates with a baccalaureate degree who hold a current and valid Pennsylvania license as a registered nurse, dental hygienist, psychologist, counselor, speech pathologist or social worker and can provide a copy of this Pennsylvania license as part of their application for the related Pennsylvania Educational Specialist certification are not required to take any tests to receive the related certificate.

Note: A current and valid Pennsylvania license is required to obtain a school nurse and dental hygienist certification.

To Be Certified in You Need to Take Test Code Qualifying Score
School Counselor PK–12 Professional School Counselor 5421 *
School Psychologist
PK–12		 School Psychologist 5402 *
Speech Pathologist
PK–12		 Speech-Language Pathology 5331 *

Administration

To Be Certified in You Need to Take Test Code Qualifying Score
Principal or Vocational Director School Leaders Licensure Assessment (Must use SLS website to register.) 6990 6990
Superintendent: Letter of Eligibility School Superintendent Assessment (Must use SLS website to register.) 6991 *
Supervisor or Vocational Supervisor Educational Leadership: Administration and Supervision 5412 *

Career and Technical Instructional

Educators who are currently undergraduates applying for an initial Career and Technical Instructional I or Career and Technical Instructional II certificate must pass the Praxis Core Academic Skills for Educators tests.

Career and Technical Instructional I

To Be Certified in You Need to Take Test Code Qualifying Score
Career and Technical Instructional I Core Academic Skills for Educators: Reading 5713 148
and
Core Academic Skills for Educators: Writing 5723 158

Career and Technical Instructional II

To Be Certified in You Need to Take Test Code Qualifying Score
Career and Technical Instructional II Core Academic Skills for Educators: Mathematics (On-screen four-function calculator provided.) 5733 142

TBA: To Be Announced. All TBA scores will be available once the test is required.

This page is a supplement to The Praxis® Tests Information Bulletin.