Teacher Assessments
Washington has two testing requirements: basic skills and content knowledge area testing. The testing requirements must be successfully completed within one calendar year of issuance of the first residency teacher temporary permit for first-time, out-of-state candidates.
If you are an out-of-state certificated educator who is seeking certification in Washington your passing score from your state's teacher certification exam may be used to meet Washington's basic skills or content knowledge test requirement.
If you have documentation that clearly shows you passed the exam, you may email, fax, or mail a copy of those results to the Professional Certification Office at OSPI.
Below you will find detailed information regarding both the basic skills and content knowledge requirement.
The applicant must successfully complete each subtest for reading, writing, and mathematics for the West B or any approved alternative. The subtests can be mixed and matched with ANY of the acceptable basic skills tests.
If you are submitting scores for the West B, use report code #399 to have your test score sent to OSPI electronically. West B test information and registration is available online.
In lieu of the WEST-B, candidates from outside the state may submit an official score report verifying they have taken one of the following:
- CBEST (used in California and Oregon), or
- NES Essential Academic Skills Test (National), or
- Praxis 1 - See acceptable Praxis I exams; or
- National Boards - Individuals who hold a valid National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS) certificate are exempt from the WEST-B.
- Equivalent out of state certificate - Individuals who hold an equivalent second-tier educator certificate from another state which has been approved by PESB, are exempt from the WEST-B. (Oregon CTL or PTL issued since January 1999 only accepted until 7/1/2017, Wisconsin Masters Educator License, Ohio five year Professional Teaching License)
- ACT and SAT
- Additional Approved Alternatives
If you took a Pearson administered assessment in another state and would like to have your test results reported to the OSPI electronically you can complete and submit an Out-of-State Score Reporting Request Form.
Mail the form and required payment directly to Pearson at the address on the form. Do not mail the form to OSPI.
Additional information regarding basic skills and endorsement test information visit the State of Washington Professional Educator Standards Board website.
The following endorsement areas require completion of the WEST-E/NES or approved alternative tests.
- Agriculture Education
- American Sign Language*
- Bilingual Education*
- Biology
- Business and Marketing Education
- Chemistry
- Computer Science
- Dance
- Deaf Education
- Deaf Education with ASL Proficiency*
- Earth and Space Science
- Early Childhood Education
- Early Childhood Special Education
- Elementary Education
- English Language Arts
- English Language Learner
- Family Consumer Science Education
- Health/Fitness
- History
- Library Media
- Mathematics
- Middle Level Humanities
- Middle Level Math
- Middle Level Science
- Music: Choral
- Music: General (neither Choral nor Instrumental)
- Music: Instrumental
- Physics
- Reading
- Science
- Social Studies
- Special Education
- Technology Education
- Theatre Arts
- Traffic Safety Education
- Visual Arts
- World Languages*
- World Language Latin*
*Please see additional notes below, as there may be additional requirements for the desired endorsement area(s).
American Sign Language Note: Individuals must complete one of the following:
- American Sign Language Teachers Association (ASLTA) Certification.
OR - American Sign Language Proficiency Interview Assessment (ASLPI).
Bilingual Education Note: Individuals will not only need to complete the WEST-E test in bilingual education but will also need to complete the ACTFL Writing Proficiency Test and the ACTFL Oral Proficiency Interview at the Advanced-Mid level in a world language area. ACTFL does not administer tests for Latin. For Latin, a candidate must take the new WEST-E: DWL and the WEST-E: Latin. Language Testing International
Deaf Education with ASL Proficiency Note: In addition to meeting the requirements of the deaf education endorsement, the deaf education with American sign language (ASL) proficiency endorsement requires one of the following:
- American Sign Language Teachers Association (ASLTA) certification.
OR - American Sign Language Proficiency Interview (ASLPI) proficiency level of 3+ or higher is required for the ASLPI assessment.
World Languages Note: In addition to the designated world languages WEST-E test above, applicants must complete the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) Writing Proficiency Test (WPT) and Oral Proficiency Interview (OPI) in the specific world language, scoring Advanced-Low or higher. Please visit ACTFL at Language Testing International
World Languages: Latin Note: ACTFL does not administer tests for Latin. For the Latin world language endorsement, a candidate must take the new WEST-E: DWL and the WEST-E: Latin. Language Testing International
WEST-E/NES test information and registration is available online.
In Lieu of the West E/NES, candidates from outside the state may submit an official score report verifying successful completion of the following alternative content knowledge test systems. Please visit the Professional Educator Standards Board for details.
If you took a Pearson administered assessment in another state and would like to have your test results reported to OSPI electronically you can complete and submit an Out-of-State Score Reporting Request Form.
National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS) Certificate Exemptions
Individuals who hold a valid National Boards certificate in a subject area or grade level comparable to one of the Washington endorsement areas are exempt from testing requirements for that endorsement area. (See National Boards Exemption).
Additional information regarding basic skills and endorsement test information visit the State of Washington Professional Educator Standards Board website.