Licensure Assessments

Who Must Take the Tests?

Teacher Candidates applying for initial certification in all academic content areas must submit an approved basic skills assessment and the appropriate content and pedagogy assessments where required. The tests may be taken at any valid test site in the nation. Applicants must meet current testing requirements at the time of application.

Teacher candidates applying for initial certification in a Professional and Technical Education (PTE) area who do not hold a bachelor's degree, are not required to submit a basic skills assessment. Those PTE candidates who do hold a bachelor's degree must submit an approved basic skills assessment.

Out-of-state candidates who do not hold a professional certificate from their respective state must submit Maryland assessments. A candidate who holds a professional certificate from another state and has documentation of satisfactory teaching experience may be eligible for a test exemption. 

Note: Those teacher candidates who submit a minimum overall GPA of 3.0 on their most recently earned degree are not required to submit a basic skills assessment; however, content and pedagogy assessments are still required, where applicable.

How Do I Submit my Test Scores?

An applicant who has taken the teacher certification tests must submit their scores when applying for a Maryland certificate. Test scores must be sent to the Maryland State Department of Education, by the applicant, in one of the following ways:

• selecting the MSDE as a test score recipient
• notation on an official college transcript
• photocopy of examinee's score report
• verification from a state department of education

Where Can I Get Additional Test Information?

• Educational Testing Service
• American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages​
• Pearson edTPA