Alternative Assessments to the MTEL

At their May 2025 meeting, the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (BESE) approved an amendment to the Regulations for Educator Licensure and Preparation Program Approval to accept approved alternative assessments to the MTEL.

The new regulation states:

Any candidate who passes an alternative assessment approved by the Commissioner as comparable to the MTEL Communication and Literacy Skills test or a subject matter knowledge test will be deemed to have satisfied the requirements of 603 CMR 7.04 (2) (a) (2), or (a) (3), or 603 CMR 7.04 (2) (b) (2) or (b) (3), or 603 CMR 1.06 (4) (a), as applicable. The Commissioner will publicly report annual data on all approved alternative assessments, including the number of candidates taking the alternative assessments and assessment pass rates. The Department will issue Guidelines for the approval and sustainability of all alternative assessment options.

Please click on the link below for more information about the approved alternative assessments for the Communication and Literacy Skills MTEL and the Subject Matter Knowledge MTELs.

The Department is in the process of developing Guidelines for Approved Alternative Assessments as outlined in Regulations . These Guidelines will outline expectations for the approval and sustainability for all alternative assessments.

For questions about the alternative assessments to the MTEL, please contact testhelp@doe.mass.edu . For licensure questions, please contact the Licensure Office:

Licensure Call Center: 781-338-6600
Hours: Monday-Friday 9am–12pm & 2pm–5pm.

Last Updated: June 17, 2025