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Additional Subject Area Certification

Candidate Profiles

While completing another approved preparation program in Wisconsin or another state is always an option for adding additional subject areas to a teacher license, there are other pathways for teachers who already hold a Tier II or higher Wisconsin license.

Note: Teachers who hold a Tier I License, including Experience-Based Licenses, are not eligible to add a new subject area license via these pathways.

  1. License Based on a Content Test Pathway
  2. District Sponsored Pathway

License Based on a Content Test Pathway

Many teachers who hold a valid Wisconsin Provisional Educator, Lifetime Educator or Master Educator license have options to add licenses by passing a content test. This pathway has certain limitations based statute and administrative rule that are related to both the licensure held and/or the licensure sought.  

Grade and Developmental Levels of License Limitation

The grade or developmental levels of the license(s) held by an educator determine which licenses they can add via passing a content test. For the first three scenarios, the phrase “or an equivalent license” applies to educators who hold grade or developmental levels that generally correspond to or fall within the developmental level of the scenario. In the case of an “equivalent” license, any license earned by passing a content test will be at the developmental or grade level of the existing license (e.g., someone with a 7-12 Agriculture license can add math under Scenario 1, but will get it only for grades 7-12).

Five different scenarios in which an educator is eligible for this pathway are laid out below, along with additional details regarding specific tests to be taken:

  1. Teachers who hold a middle and high school license (34.046, grades 4-12), a special education license(34.049, K-12, EA-A), a pre-kindergarten through grade 12 license (34.047, PK-12), or an equivalent license can add certain additional subjects at the 4-12 grade level by passing a content test. Specific eligibility requirements for this pathway related to subject areas and development/grade levels are outlined in the LBCT- Adding 4-12 licenses

2. Teachers who hold a pre-kindergarten through 12 license (34.047) or an equivalent license can add another PK-12 license or Middle and High School license (grades 4-12) in certain non-special education subject areas by passing a content test. Specific eligibility requirements for this pathway related to subject areas and development/grade levels are listed in the 
LBCT- Adding K-12 Licenses

  • If adding on a Middle and High School (grades 4-12) subject area, use the LBCT-Adding 4-12 licenses PDF to find information about what subject areas can be added, which content test to take, and the passing score for each test.

3. Teachers who hold an elementary school, middle school, or special education license, or the equivalent license and have at least four semesters of teaching experience in grades PK-3 (may include Head Start program teaching) can add an Early Childhood-Regular Education license (birth to grade 3) by passing the Praxis II Elementary Education Content Knowledge test.

4. Teachers who hold an elementary and middle school license (34.045, grades K-9, MC-EA), a special education license (34.049, grades K-12, MC-EA or EA-A), or the equivalent license and have at least four semesters of teaching experience in English/language arts or math in grades 7 or 8 can add a license in that subject at the middle and high school level (grades 4-12) by passing a content test.

5. Teachers who hold an elementary and middle school License (34.045, grades K-9, MC-EA), a special education license(34.049, grades K-12, MC-EA, EC-A) or an equivalent license may add a license in English as a Second Language or a world language at the K-9 grade level by passing the applicable content knowledge test.

Statutory Requirements

Some subject area license have statutory requirements beyond passing the content area test.  These include:

Co-operative Marketing & Consumer Cooperatives Statutory Stipulation

Teachers adding a license  in any social studies subject or agriculture must complete adequate instruction in cooperative marketing and consumers' cooperatives shall be required (Wis. Stat. sec. 118.19 [6]).

Environmental Education Statutory Stipulation

Teachers adding a license in any science or social studies subject must complete adequate instruction in the conservation of natural resources shall be required (Wis. Stat. sec. 118.19 [6]).

Documentation of completing these stipulations must be submitted with the application for a license based on a content test.  Course providers can be found on the Statutory License Stipulations page. 
 

  1. VERIFY your eligibility on the license look-up page: License Lookup
  2. CHOOSE the test you will take. Register directly with the test vendor to take the test.
    1. Praxis tests: ETS Website 
    2. ACTFL World Language Tests: LTI Website
    3. Pearson Content Tests: NES Website
    4. Foundations of Reading Test: Wisconsin FORT Website
  3. TAKE the test, and obtain an original score report from the test vendor. Verify minimum passing score. Do not request score reports to be sent directly to the department (DPI).
  4. APPLY for the new license using the Educator Licensing Online (ELO) System. Upload a copy of the original score report from the test vendor. An applicant may add more than one related area license at a time based on a passing score.

IMPORTANT!

If you pass an approved content test by August 31 and are otherwise eligible for licensure, the effective date of your license will be July 1st of that same year.

If you pass an approved content test after September 1 and are otherwise eligible for licensure, the effective date of your license will be the following July 1st.

 

 

Submit questions and comments about this information to the Licensing Online Help desk.