WEST-B and WEST-E Information

WEST-B

All applicants must take and pass all three sections of the Washington Educator Skills Test - Basic (WEST-B). The MIT program office has a limited number of WEST-B fee vouchers available for applicants who demonstrate financial need. Please contact the program office for more information.

WEST-E

All applicants must take and pass the WEST-E test in their endorsement area prior to beginning the program. The only exceptions are those students applying for a French, Spanish, or Japanese endorsement. All students seeking a foreign language endorsement must take the Designated World Language (DWL)  WEST-E and  the written and oral sections of the ACTFL in their designated language. This testing policy and schedule for these these tests is as follows:

• Due to the fact that some content covered by the DWL WEST-E will be taught within the MIT program, completion of the DWL WEST-E will not be required prior to the program start date. However, these students will still be required to complete both the oral and written sections of the ACTFL prior to starting the program, with a minimum score of advanced-low. Instructions for registering for the ACTFL can be found  here.   
• The DWL WEST-E must be passed prior to a student being recommended for certification with a foreign language endorsement, i.e., prior to completion of the MIT program. It is the recommendation of the faculty that students take the DWL WEST-E on the first available test date after they have completed block II.  

MIT SPED Students

MIT SPED students must take the WEST-E in their general education endorsement area prior to the start of the program. However, the special education WEST-E will be taken upon completion of the MIT SPED program.

ELL endorsement students

Students seeking an endorsement in ELL will take the ELL WEST-E midway through the MIT program.

Middle School

It is recommended that students seeking an elementary endorsement with a desire to teach middle school take the appropriate middle level WEST-E exams in addition to the elementary WEST-E. Those students wishing to teach middle school humanities should take both the Middle School Language Arts and the Middle School Social Studies tests. Those wishing to teach math or science should take the corresponding Middle School WEST-E.

Out-of-state applicants

Out-of-state applicants may submit Praxis I or CBEST scores in lieu of the WEST-B. Washington State will not allow any substitutions for the WEST-E. The WEST-E will be offered once a year (in April) in five cities around the country. Please see here for more information. In order to best accommodate the needs of out-of-state applicants, the MIT program has adopted the following policy:

For application purposes, out-of-state applicants may submit the Praxis-II. If applicants accept admission to the program, they will have until the end of their first quarter to take the WEST-E. There are a limited number of WEST-E test fee waivers that will be provided to students in this situation (subject to availability).