All candidates required to take the Communication and Literacy Skills (CLST) Massachusetts Tests for Educator Licensure MTEL may take one of the below assessments approved by the Department. Candidates must meet the passing score required for each alternative assessment in Massachusetts. Candidates may combine reading and writing subtests from different assessments to meet the overall assessment requirement. Only listed approved assessments are accepted.* As candidates register and take these alternative assessments, results will be electronically and securely sent to the Department as long as the submitted information exactly matches their Educator Licensure and Renewal ELAR profile. For information about the newly approved alternative licensure pathway that allows eligible candidates to waive the Communication and Literacy Skills Massachusetts Tests for Educator Licensure MTEL requirement, please see New Alternative Licensure Pathway: Communication and Literacy Skills Waiver.
Please click on an assessment below for more information.
This test is administered by Educational Testing Services (ETS)
The two subtests required for the Massachusetts Communication and Literacy Praxis Test are:
The Praxis Core Mathematics subtest is not required for the purposes of the alternative.
In order for your scores to be automatically reported to the Department, please register using the Massachusetts specific registration link: Praxis: Massachusetts . If you are requesting older Praxis Core scores, or registered for and took the test in another state, you will need to ensure that your score report request information is an exact match to the information in your Educator Licensure and Renewal ELAR profile, including your Massachusetts Education Personnel ID MEPID. If your information is not an exact match in the score report, your score report will be rejected and you will have to make a second request with the corrected information, and pay the fee again.
This test is administered by Evaluation Systems Group (ES) of Pearson
The two subtests required for the National Evaluation Series Essential Academic Skills NES-EAS are:
These tests and preparation materials were added to the Massachusetts Tests for Educator Licensure MTEL website Massachusetts Tests for Educator Licensure (MTEL) (nesinc.com) , effective July 20, 2021.
In order for your scores to be automatically reported to the Department, please register using the Massachusetts specific registration link: Essential Academic Skills
Score reporting from out of state:
Praxis Core Reading and Writing and National Evaluation Series Essential Academic Skills NES-EAS — If you previously passed or registered for and took the Praxis Core Reading and Writing subtests or the National Evaluation Series Essential Academic Skills NES-EAS in another state, you will need to contact the applicable vendor and arrange to have your score electronically and securely sent to the Department. There may be a fee associated with this request. The information in your score report request must exactly match your Educator Licensure and Renewal ELAR profile information in order to have your scores reported to the Department, including your Massachusetts Education Personnel ID MEPID. If your information is not an exact match in the score report, your score report will be rejected and you will have to make a second request with the corrected information, and pay the fee again.
Please see the chart below for a comparison of the available options.
$50 for one subtest, or $75 for both subtests
Free After Three Retake Policy — For registrations on or after December 5, 2023, candidates who have taken the same National Evaluation Series™ test with the same test code three times and have not yet passed will be able to reregister for the same test at no cost.
Please see more here: Testing Policies
*If you previously passed or registered for and took one of the below tests in a state other than Massachusetts before the final listed date below, please upload a copy of the paper score report to your Educator Licensure and Renewal ELAR account to be included with your license application. Once you have uploaded the report, alert the Licensure Help Line to have the scores verified. The Help Line is open weekdays 9am–12pm and 2pm–5pm and may be reached at 781-338-6600.
Last Updated: October 7, 2026