Mississippi special education license: the areas, the Praxis tests and the routes

1. Mississippi’s special education license areas and codes

MDE’s Guidelines for Mississippi Educator Licensure K-12 (the August 2026 edition, the current one) identify each license area by an endorsement code. Its glossary defines the word: “Endorsements – Content areas or instructional roles in which educators are licensed.” These are the special education areas, with MDE’s names and codes, and how the Guidelines say each is earned:

The same code list (Appendix E) has related areas: Gifted (207, K-12), Dyslexia (203, K-12; the Dyslexia Therapy license, issued only at Class AA, the master’s level) and Early Oral Intervention (209, B-K).

Class levels. A Mississippi license also carries a class level, which MDE’s Guidelines name by degree level: Class A is a bachelor’s level license, AA a master’s, AAA a specialist (a law degree or a Master of Fine Arts is also issued at AAA) and AAAA a doctorate. For 221, Class AA calls for either the Class A requirements plus a master’s degree in the endorsement area, or an approved master’s program in Special Education - Mild/Moderate Disability that includes “a minimum of 18 semester hours in Special Education course work” from an accredited college, together with the basic-skills step, the PLT and the special education specialty test (section 2). Our Mississippi teaching license guide covers how a license is renewed or upgraded to a higher class.

2. The Praxis tests and Mississippi’s passing scores

The Guidelines’ Appendix B lists the Praxis specialty tests and the scores Mississippi requires. These are its special education rows:

Which test goes with which area. The 221 license page names its test only as the “Specialty Area Test for Special Education,” and Appendix B’s special education test is Special Education: Foundational Knowledge (5355). MDE’s 2024 memo names 5358 as the Praxis test for Gifted. For the hearing, vision and emotional disability areas, match the test by its name in the table, and ask MDE’s Division of Educator Licensure if you are unsure.

If you see 5354. Appendix B still prints the older Special Education: Core Knowledge and Application test (5354) at 152, with no label. MDE’s 2024 memo says: “Effective September 1, 2023, the Praxis Subject Assessment, Special Education: Foundational Knowledge (Test Code 5355) replaced the Special Education: Core Knowledge and Applications (Test Code 5354).” A 5354 passing score earned by August 31, 2023 was accepted through August 31, 2025. Today’s test is 5355.

The teaching and basic-skills tests

The degree route to a first license (section 4) also calls for the Praxis Principles of Learning and Teaching (PLT) test and a basic-skills step. Appendix C lists these scores:

Instead of Praxis Core, the license pages accept an ACT composite of 21 (on the SAT, 1060 or above for tests taken in March 2016 or later) or a GPA of 3.0 on at least 60 hours of course credit. The Birth to Kindergarten license (211) names PLT 5621. The 221 license page names only the “Principles of Learning and Teaching Test,” without a grade level.

Fees and score reports. Praxis tests are given by ETS, and the Guidelines send test takers to ETS for fees. ETS’s pages for 5355 and 5511 listed a fee of $130 for each test when we read them on October 14, 2026; 5355 is a two-hour test of 120 selected-response questions that you can take at home or at a test center. We did not check the fees for the other tests. MDE’s Document Submission page says scores from tests taken in Mississippi are reported to MDE automatically; if you test in another state, name MDE as a score recipient.

Foundations of Reading: no longer required for Mild/Moderate

From January 1, 2023, MDE required the Foundations of Reading test for a first 221 license, including when a teacher added 221 by Praxis. MDE’s memo dated October 7, 2025 changed that, effective October 27, 2025: “The assessment will no longer be required for obtaining licensure in the endorsement areas of Special Education Mild/Moderate (Licensure Codes: 221 (K-12) and 223 (K-8)).” The August 2026 Guidelines’ 221 page lists no reading test. The Guidelines also say: “Applicants for educator licensure shall meet all requirements for the selected approach in effect on the date the complete application is received in the Division of Educator Licensure.”

3. Adding special education to a license you hold

MDE calls an area added to an existing license a supplemental endorsement. The Guidelines’ Appendix A, and MDE’s How to Add an Endorsement page, list two ways for special education areas.

By passing a Praxis test

Appendix A lists these special education areas among the “Supplemental Endorsements that may be Added to a Three-Year or Five-Year License by obtaining a passing score on the appropriate Praxis Subject Assessment”: Mild/Moderate K-12 (221), Mild/Moderate 7-12 (224), Hearing Disability (208), Visually Impaired (218) and Special Education Fundamental Subjects (910), as well as Gifted (207). The 221 license page puts the testing route this way: “Hold a valid three-year alternate route internship license or valid five-year license,” and pass the Praxis Specialty Area Test for Special Education. Since October 27, 2025, the Foundations of Reading test is not part of it (section 2).

By completing an approved program

Appendix A’s approved-program list has Emotional Disability (206), Gifted (207), Hearing Impaired (208), Visually Impaired (218) and Mild/Moderate K-12 (221), and three with conditions: Severe Disability (222) is “added to 221 only,” Mild/Moderate K-8 (223) is “added to elem. only,” and Mild/Moderate 7-12 (224) is “added to secondary or special subject license only.” Emotional Disability at Class A also needs a 221 license first. Its license page asks you to “Hold a valid five-year educator license in Special Education” in Mild/Moderate Disability K-12 (221), or a three-year alternate route internship license in 221, and to complete the approved program.

How to apply

MDE’s How to Apply for a License page says every licensure request is filed online in MECCA, the Mississippi Educator Career Continuum Archive. The Guidelines add: “The licensure application submitted to the MDE Division of Educator Licensure will expire 180 days from the date it is received.” For questions, MDE’s Educator Licensure page lists the email teachersupport@mdek12.org and the phone number 601-359-3483.

4. The alternate route and other ways in

The traditional route is a bachelor’s degree from an approved program in the area. A degree in Special Education - Mild/Moderate Disability, with a basic-skills step, the PLT and the special education specialty test, leads to a five-year Mild/Moderate K-12 (221) license. A degree in Special Education/Birth to Kindergarten, with a basic-skills step and PLT 5621, leads to a Birth to Kindergarten (211) license; the 211 license page names no specialty test.

The Master of Arts in Teaching route for Mild/Moderate

This alternate route is for people who hold a bachelor’s degree outside education. To be admitted, the Guidelines require qualifying scores on a basic-skills step (Praxis Core, an ACT composite of 21 or the SAT equivalent, or a 3.0 GPA on your bachelor’s transcript or last 60 hours) and on the Praxis subject test for the license area: “Candidates shall achieve the Mississippi Board of Education’s approved minimum passing score requirement for test(s) in the area for which the educator license is sought prior to non-traditional program admission.” After admission and nine hours of pre-teaching coursework (Classroom Management, Introduction to Special Education, and Data, Analysis, and Evaluation), an approved educator preparation provider (EPP) can recommend you for a three-year alternate route entry-level license. During those three years, the Guidelines say, “candidates shall complete a year-long supervised teaching internship as the teacher of record whereby six (6) hours of course credit shall be earned.” After the internship, “the EPP may recommend candidates for a standard five-year Mild/Moderate (7-12) Class A license.” You must meet those requirements before the three-year license expires.

For grades K-12, the full Master of Arts in Teaching Mild/Moderate (K-12) “shall include at a minimum 33 program hours,” and on completing the degree you may apply for a five-year Mild/Moderate (K-12) Class AA license.

Licenses a school district requests

We found no emergency license just for special education. The Guidelines’ temporary licenses are requested by a school: the Special, Non-Renewable License (“This is a one-year license that can only be requested by an employing local school district or an eligible nonpublic school in the state of Mississippi for up to three (3) years.”) and the One-Year Certification for Veteran Teachers Teaching Out-of-Field (“Obtained by district request only.”). As we read them, a teacher cannot get either one on their own.

If your license is from another state

The Guidelines say: “The department shall grant a standard five-year license to any individual who possesses a valid standard license from another state,” within 21 days of a completed application. That holds “provided that the license corresponds to a licensure area, grade level, and degree level for which Mississippi offers a comparable standard educator license/endorsement.” A teacher with a less-than-standard license from another state may get a two-year provisional reciprocity license instead. Our Mississippi teaching license guide covers reciprocity.

5. Is special education short of teachers in Mississippi?

Both the federal and the state lists include it.

• The federal listing. The U.S. Department of Education’s Teacher Shortage Areas listing for Mississippi includes special education, for all grades from pre-K through 12, in every school year from 2020-21 through 2027-28. Mississippi’s other subjects on it in those years are mathematics, science and world languages.
• Mississippi’s own list. On June 18, 2026, the State Board of Education unanimously approved its 2026-2027 critical shortage subjects: special education, mathematics, foreign language (French, German and Spanish) and science (biology, chemistry and physics). Special education was also first on the 2025-2026 list. The Board also named 102 school districts and charter schools as critical shortage geographical areas for 2026-2027.

What the state list is for. The Board’s agenda item says it makes these designations each year “for the purpose of enabling participants to receive loan forgiveness or complete required service obligations in designated shortage areas.” It names federal programs: deferment of Stafford loan repayments, Perkins loan cancellation, the Paul C. Douglas Teacher Scholarship Program and the TEACH Grant.

6. SpecialEdResource’s requirement, in its own words

SpecialEdResource’s hiring site states its requirement this way: “Special education certification and a current teaching license from any US state.” The application asks whether you hold a special education certification and whether you hold a current teaching license from a US state. If your license has expired or is inactive, you can still apply, as long as you’ll renew it before you start. We check licenses before the first interview.

Where you live is a separate question on the application. Mississippi is one of the 15 states where SpecialEdResource can currently employ tutors, so Mississippi residents can apply.

The job’s other requirements are on the job page. For questions about a Mississippi license, contact MDE’s Division of Educator Licensure (section 3).