News

ETS is beginning an “at-home solution” to test taking. Testing will take place through test taker’s personal desktop and laptop computers at home. Praxis Tests at Home will be available across the US and its territories until test centers return to full capacity testing.

4/17/2020 Update - ETS is offering candidates a 30% discount on Praxis Interactive Practice Tests. They have also extended the Praxis Practice Test subscription to 180 days with 15 uses. Candidates can enter the code "PRACTICE" at checkout to receive this discount.

3/17/2020 - All Praxis testing will be temporarily halted starting Wednesday, March 18, 2020. Prometric will be closing all testing centers in the US and Canada for a period of 30 days unitl April 16, 2020. For continued updates from Educational Testing Service, please visit https://www.ets.org/s/cv/praxis/the-americas/.

Fees will be waived for rescheduling your test, if necessary. Please visit the website above for more details. 

ETS is “Regenerating” (updating) the Reading, Writing, and Mathematics tests and they now have new numbers. Please note the new test codes for Reading, Writing, and Mathematics. The North Dakota scoring will not change. This will go into effect September 2019.

Teaching permits will be available starting Aug 1, 2019. Click HERE for more information. 

At their June 20, 2019 meeting, the Education Standards and Practices Board created a new endorsement to help schools. The Out-of-Field Endorsement will allow a fully-licensed ND teacher to teach in an out-of-field area for a period of one year (special education and PreK-K excluded). The teacher would submit an online application for the endorsement in their ND Teach account, as well as a written request from the school administrator requesting the Out-of-Field Endorsement for the teacher. The cost of the endorsement will be the same as all endorsements ($80).

Examples:

• A ND licensed physical education teacher could teach English for the 2019-20 school year with this endorsement. The teacher would need to pass the English Praxis test if the school needs them to teach English the following school year.
• A ND licensed social studies teacher could teach a self-contained 4^th grade classroom with this endorsement for the 2019-20 school year. They would need to pass the two elementary Praxis tests if they would want to continue teaching in an elementary classroom for the 2020-21 school year.
• A ND licensed elementary teacher could teach Ag half time and science half time if they apply for two Out-of-field Endorsements for the 2019-20 school year. They would need to pass Praxis tests in those areas if they want to continue the following school year.

Please call ESPB at 328-9641 or email espbinfo@nd.gov with any questions.

Leah Juelke, the 2018 teacher of the year, was selected by NASDTEC (National Association of State Directors of Teacher Education and Certification) as the recipient of a Forward Fund Grant Award, the first ever. Four teachers, one from each region of the country were chosen to attend the NASDTEC conference and received a $1000.00 grant to be used in their classrooms. The teachers will write an article to be published in the annual NASDTEC newsletter about what they used the funds for a how it benefited their students. The teachers will be invited back to the conference next year to share the impact of the grant money. Leah was able to share in a general session about her work with the migrant population in Fargo and the books she has published.

238 programs from 43 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico now meeting CAEP’s rigorous, national accreditation standards to better prepare tomorrow’s teachers. 

Beginning June 1, 2019, every new ESPB application will include a $5 maintenance charge. 

House Bill 1287, the American Board Bill, was signed into law on April 24, 2019.

American Board is an independent agency, not part of ESPB. They provide a competency-based program which leads to initial licensure in ND.

Please go to the American Board website: www.americanboard.org for details on course offerings, cost, and timeline.   

ESPB will grant a license to individuals who:

1. Possesses a bachelor's degree from an accredited institution
2. Passes a criminal history record check required by section 15.1-13 -14
3. Successfully completes the American Board alternative program

The following content areas are offered by the American Board in North Dakota:

Elementary education

Elementary education with a reading endorsement

English language arts

United States and world history

Mathematics

General science

Biology

Chemistry

Physics

In addition to completing the American Board requirements, applicants must complete the following requirements within the first two years of contracted time in a North Dakota school:

a. American Board’s clinical experience program and the North Dakota Teacher Support System (TSS) approved mentor program;

b. Youth Mental Health Competency training; and 

c. Coursework in cultural diversity which includes Native American studies, as well as teaching diverse learners.

The Education Standards and Practices Board declared all content areas as critical shortage at their April 11, 2019 meeting for the 2019-2020 school year.

The Education Standards and Practices Board declared no administrator areas as critical shortage.