The following licensure programs are available at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater. For available licensure programs at the graduate level, consult the Graduate Catalog.

The Advising Licensure Coordinators listed below are for students who are formally admitted to Professional Education and/or for students who already hold a bachelor's degree. 

Freshmen or sophomores not yet admitted to Professional Education should contact the Winther Hall Information Desk (education@uww.edu or 262-472-1101) to be referred to the appropriate advisor.

Tests for Admission to Professional Education

 Please see the document below for an important update from ETS regarding Praxis-at-home options.

Praxis at Home Information

As of Fall 2017, students can apply for admission to the College of Education and Professional Studies by obtaining a combined GPA of 2.75 OR using passing scores from all components of ONE of the tests listed below:

1. Praxis Core Academic Skills for Educators (CORE) Test

The Praxis CORE Academic Skills for Educators is part of the Praxis Series administered by Educational Testing Service (ETS). The Praxis CORE is used to measure teacher candidates’ knowledge in reading, writing and mathematics. Note: If you wish to take all three Praxis CORE tests at the same time, select CORE Academic Skills for Educators: Combined Test (5752) when registering with  ETS.  Scores, however, will be reported by individual test (5713, 5723, 5733).

2. Praxis I, Pre-Professional Skills Test (PPST)

Note: The PPST is no longer offered. However, passing scores earned before September 1, 2014 may be used for Admission to Professional Education and will not expire. PPST subtest passing scores may be combined with CORE passing scores to meet testing requirement.

3. College Entrance Tests
   

Note: Effective September 1, 2015, only passing scores from within the past 10 years (from the date of submission of application for Admission to Professional Education) will be accepted. Passing scores must all be from the same test session.

Licensure Tests

Wisconsin Foundations of Reading Test

All candidates in Wisconsin applying for a teaching license in Early Childhood, Elementary Education, Special Education, Reading Teacher license, and Reading Specialist will be required to take the Foundations of Reading Test (WI-FOR). Passing scores on the Wisconsin Foundations of Reading Test (WI-FOR) will be required to be endorsed for a Wisconsin Teaching License. 

For detailed information about the test, visit Foundations of Reading Test for Wisconsin.

State Minimum Score:  240 

The WI-FOR test is being administered through the UW-W Testing Office Thursday evenings during the academic year.   S tudents can also electronically enroll to take the WI-FOR at:   www.wi.nesinc.com

Praxis II and Content Area Assessments

As of September 18, 2017, in order to qualify for student teaching and licensure, students must either:

1. Pass the appropriate Praxis subject assessment test

or

2. Have a 3.00 or greater GPA in their major and licensure courses.   

Students must complete these requirements by March 1st for Fall student teaching or October 1st for Spring student teaching in order to be placed by the Office of Field Experience (OFE).  

Students admitted to the College of Education and Professional Studies will be provided the required Praxis subject assessment test numbers and/or content area exam names in their acceptance packet.  Ultimately, it is the student’s responsibility to know which test they will required to take. Students must consult with their COEPS faculty advisor for clarification of which Praxis subject assessment test(s) and/or content area exam(s) they will be required to pass for licensable minors and/or non-declared programs. 

Test Preparation Resources

• The UW-Whitewater Academic Support Center and Tutorial Center provides free tutoring services for students .  For more information, please visit their website.

• The UW-Whitewater Andersen Library has a plethora of test preparation materials for students seeking teacher licensure available for checkout and for use in the library.
  • Use the  Test Prep Resources for Teacher Licensing LibGuide to find study materials online and in the Andersen Library. 

• Test preparation books are available for purchase at the  University Bookstore and through your preferred bookseller.  The ETS website provides free study companions and low-cost interative tests.  In order to obtain a copy of the "test at a glance" for your desired subject area, under "for test takers", click on "prepare for a test".

• We also recommend that students visit their local public libraries to utilize test preparation materials available there.

Wisconsin Foundations of Reading

Test outline, practice tests, study guides, videos, and tutorials provided by Pearson Education, the test publisher, can be found here.

UW-Madison hosts an online self-paced test review course for FREE. Become familiarized with the objectives and content of the test through a series of modules, each of which represents a different subarea of the test. Each module contains readings and activities designed to help, in conjunction with methods courses, to become comfortable with the material that will be tested on the Foundations of Reading Test. Register for this course here. 

A license may be issued in Wisconsin to an applicant who has received institutional endorsement. Students must meet the following requirements to be eligible for UW-Whitewater institutional endorsement for licensure:

1. Completion of an approved major, major and minor, or broadfield major, the required professional sequence, and the baccalaureate degree.
2. Successful completion of the Directed Teaching semester or Graduate Practicum semester at UW-Whitewater.
3. An combined GPA of 2.75 based on all courses. Exceptions to the 2.75 licensure GPA requirement may be made by the Licensure Officer for no more than 10% of the students completing a licensure program each grading period.
4. Successful completion of a standardized examination in each licensure area is required by the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction (DPI ). UW-Whitewater requires successful completion of the appropriate standardized examination before a student teaching or practicum placement will be made.

Human Relations

UW-Whitewater students seeking licensure in the State of Wisconsin must meet the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction's human relations requirement. In formation about how the human relations requirement will be met by UW-Whitewater students can be found on the Office of Field Experiences website. Human Relations requirements must be met to receive a bachelor's degree and/or teaching license.