The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) announced that it is using $500,000 in remaining funds from the second round of Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER II) dollars to pay the fee on educator certification tests in the coming months. Starting tomorrow, June 6, 2023, individuals may register for any Missouri Content Assessment (MoCA), Missouri General Education Assessment (MoGEA), or the Paraprofessional exam at no cost until the state funds are spent.

Because of the constraints on the funding, this fee waiver will only apply to registrations that occur between June 6 and September 30, 2023. Individuals registering for one of these assessments will automatically have the cost of the assessment applied during the registration process. No special offer code or money will be required of the registrant during the process.

“Teachers are the number one school-related factor in the quality of student learning,” said Dr. Paul Katnik, Assistant Commissioner in DESE’s Office of Educator Quality. “This is why the state must do all it can to make sure each Missouri student has a high quality teacher. Using relief funds to assist with the cost of teacher candidates taking their exit assessment is a step towards expanding the supply of excellent teachers for our schools, which is a critical goal of DESE’s teacher recruitment and retention efforts.”

Teacher candidates will be limited to three concurrent free registrations per person. Individuals have up to one year from the date of registration to take the certification test.