Before you may student teach, you must have a GPA of 3.000 or higher in your major or pass a subject area test.  Before you may start a 5th-year elementary teaching apprenticeship, you must have a GPA of 3.000 or higher in your major and in your EDUC courses combined or you must pass the subject area test for elementary education.  If you meet the GPA requirement and plan to seek licensure in a state that requires a subject area test (such as Illinois), you have two options:

  1. Take the test after you have completed Lawrence's program, been certified for licensure, and applied for a Wisconsin license; or
  2. Take the test before you student teach, indicating Lawrence as the institution to which you want your score sent.  If you choose this option, you must pass the test before you may student teach.

Any student who takes the subject area test must achieve a passing score before they may student teach or start the elementary teaching apprenticeship, even if their major GPA is 3.000 or higher.

Subject area tests are listed below and on the DPI website.  Plan to take the test no later than March of the year before student teaching (register at least a month in advance).  If you do not pass on the first attempt, you may retake the test as many times as necessary, keeping in mind that it can take up to six weeks for your scores to reach Lawrence.  Official scores from ETS Praxis or ACTFL must be on file before you may begin student teaching.

Test information is available from the administrative assistant in the Education Department office (Briggs 117, mornings).  For Praxis II, check the ETS Praxis website for test centers (the nearest is UW Oshkosh), dates, and registration.  For ACTFL, contact the chair of the Education Department to arrange the oral interview and writing proficiency test.  When you register, indicate that your scores should be reported to Lawrence University; otherwise, you will have to pay an additional score reporting fee, and it will take longer for your scores to reach Lawrence.

Most tests take 2 to 2.5 hours and cost $120.

Subject Area Test Qualifying Score
Elementary Praxis II - Middle School: Content Knowledge (5146) & 146
  Foundations of Reading Test (FoRT) 240
English Praxis II - English Language Arts: Content Knowledge (5038) 167
Social Studies Praxis II - Social Studies: Content Knowledge (5081) 153
Mathematics Praxis II - Mathematics: Content Knowledge (5161) 160
Science Praxis II - General Science: Content Knowledge (5435) 154
Computer Science Praxis II - Computer Science (5652) 149
Art Praxis II - Art: Content Knowledge (5134) 158
Music Praxis II - Music: Content Knowledge (5113) 150
Theatre Praxis II - Theatre (5641) 157
World Languages

ACTFL oral proficiency interview and writing proficiency test (contact the director of teacher education to arrange for these tests)

Intermediate High
ESL Praxis II - English to Speakers of Other Languages (5362) 149

 

Some subjects are covered by broad tests, which means that you'll need to brush up on topics outside your major.  For example, the social studies test asks about U.S. history, world history, government, geography, economics, and psychology, and the science test asks about the scientific method, physical sciences, life sciences, earth sciences, and technology.