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of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania

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    Requirements

    Pennsylvania requires assessment of candidates in General Knowledge, Professional Knowledge and Subject Area Knowledge prior to issuance of a certificate. The documents below provide guidance for completing these requirements. Please review them carefully prior to completing any assessment requirement.

    ​Test Registration and Study Guides

    Basic Skills Assessment Requirement

    ​​Effective July 1, 2025, the basic skills assessment required under 22 Pa. Code § 49.18 (relating to assessment) will no longer be required for entry into a Pennsylvania baccalaureate teacher preparation program. (24 P.S. § 1207.3)

    NOTE: Section 1509-K of the Public School Code waived the basic skills assessment for three years from July 8, 2022 to July 8, 2025. (24 P.S. § 1509-K)

    Testing Guidelines

    • As a general rule, a candidate must take and pass the test(s) associated with the certification they are seeking to earn.
    • All PK-12 certifications, if an initial certification, must include the certification content test and the fundamental subjects test—except if dual enrolled with PK-4 or Grades 4-8 and a PK-12 certification area. The fundamental subject areas tested are addressed and embedded in the PK-4 and Grades 4-8 test modules.
    • A candidate who has a PK-4 certification seeking to add-on grades 4-8 does not have to take Grades 4-8 Module 1 (5153).  Students who are dual enrolled in a Grades PK-4 and 4-8 program will have Grades 4-8 Module 1 requirement removed at the time the application is evaluated. 
    • Programs do not need to wait on test results to appear in TIMS to complete their affirmation/recommendation. Once a program has official results in hand, they may complete their affirmation/recommendation.

    Announcements

    • Family and Consumer Sciences (5122) will no longer be available after 8/31/2024; Family and Consumer Sciences (5123) will be available on 9/1/2024.
    • Social Studies: Content Knowledge (5081) will no longer be available after 8/31/2024; Social Studies (5581) will be available on 9/1/2024. 
    • Technology Education (5051) will no longer be available after 8/31/2024; Technology and Engineering Education (5053) will be available on 9/1/2024. 
    • Environmental Education (0831) is no longer available through ETS; the new PA Environmental Education (Environmental Literacy and Sustainability) Test Registration is available effective November 1, 2024.