PLACE/Praxis II
All teacher candidates at MSU Denver must pass an accepted content knowledge exam before they can apply for student teaching. Some licensure areas may require the test to be taken prior to being granted formal admission to the licensure program.
In Colorado, there are two different tests available for some students to take. The PLACE exam is the test offered for all of our licensure areas and the results of this test are only valid in Colorado. The Praxis II exam is a national test that is available to students in some licensure areas such as Secondary and Elementary. Praxis is a national exam and in some cases, it may be transferable to other states if you decide to earn licensure outside of Colorado. Please keep in mind that Praxis offers several different versions of their tests, and not all states accept the same version.
Praxis Website (review the "On Test Day" link prior to signing up for a test)
Below is a link to a comparison showing the differences and similarities between the two tests.
Content Knowledge Exam Comparison (
8 KB)
Also, use this Content Knowledge Exam Info Sheet ( 61 KB) (updated 09/05/12) for an overview of the tests that are available for each licensure area, the costs, the scores required to pass and more.
Special Education licensure candidates will take and pass the Elementary content knowledge exam to be formally admitted to the program, and they will take the Special Education PLACE exam toward the end of their program.
Elementary licensure candidates will show proof of registration for the Elementary content knowledge exam (or a passing score) before they are formally admitted to the program.
Secondary, K-12, and Early Childhood licensure candidates will take their content knowledge exam by the time they are one year away from student teaching. Please consult with your education and major/content area advisors to determine the best time to take the test based on your situation.
We also provide resource listings for the exams. These listings will indicate specific study materials that you can purchase online or from book stores that we may have determined to be more helpful than others. We also have a small library of study guides available to check out for free in the Student Teaching Center.
Early Childhood Study Resources.pdf ( 72 KB)
Elementary Study Resources.pdf ( 229 KB)
Secondary English Study Resources.pdf ( 129 KB)
Secondary Math Study Resources.pdf ( 96 KB)
Secondary Science Study Resources.pdf ( 96 KB)
Secondary Social Studies Study Resources.pdf ( 98 KB)
K-12 Art and Music Study Resources.pdf ( 72 KB)
K-12 Modern Language Study Resources.pdf ( 124 KB)
K-12 Physical Education Study Resources.pdf ( 111 KB)
Special Education Study Resources.pdf ( 227 KB)
