School of Education

Effective January 31, 2014, applicants for initial licensure as an elementary teacher (ECE, ECE/SPE, EME, EME/SPE), a special education teacher, a reading teacher, or reading specialist must receive a passing score of 233 or higher on the Wisconsin Foundations of Reading Test (890).  A complete list of relevant licenses requiring the FoRT is below. In-service teachers wanting to add one or more of these areas to their licensure may also need to pass the test - please check with the SOE Certification Officer  for more information.  

SOE Benchmark Assessment Table

The Foundations of Reading Test is in addition to the current content testing requirements for each license as outlined on the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction website.

Format of the test: The FoRT is a computer-based test with 100 multiple-choice questions and two (2) open-response item assignments. 

Time: 4 hours, plus 15 min for the computer-based tutorial and non-disclosure agreement

Testing Dates: The FoRT is available year round by appointment. Test appointments are available on a first-come, first-served basis. 

Testing Sites: Computer-based testing sites are located nationwide. 

Test Fee: The cost for taking the Foundations of Reading Test is $139. 

Your registration is valid for one year from the date of issue. If you do not schedule a test appointment and take your test within one year, or withdraw your registration within one year, your registration will expire and you will receive no refund or credit of any kind. 

Eligible candidates may apply for testing accommodations:  Examinees with documented physical, learning, or cognitive disabilities may be eligible for alternative testing arrangements. Additionally, examinees for whom English is not a primary language may be eligible for an extension of testing time.

Testing Policy: When you register for the FoRT, you must agree to abide by all the rules. All policies are available on the website.  

Passing Score: Teacher candidates who apply for Wisconsin licensure on or after August 31, 2022 need a passing score of 233 on the FoRT.  

Score Reports: Teacher candidates receive a receipt of completion upon finishing the test. Score reports are released within five (5) weeks of testing. 

Getting score reports: Your FoRT score report will be emailed to you if you requested this service when you registered for the test. Score reports are also posted to your account as PDF documents for 45 days. You may view, print, and/or save your PDF document for your records. Your account contains your complete history of testing and includes each test you took and the date each was taken. 

Score Reporting: After completing the FoRT, your test scores are reported to you, to the state through which you registered for the test, and to any other institution(s) or state(s) you indicate as a score recipient when you registered.

Additional information is available on the FoRT 890 website.

The Pearson/National Education Series (NES) FoRTwebsite has many resources available to help you prepare. You'll find links to:

• a PDF version of a practice test
• A PDF version of the practice test analysis 

Public UW Foundations of Reading Test Study Aid Course (Self-Paced Modules): Literacy instructors across the Universities of Wisconsin offer a self-paced course designed to support participants’ understanding of the teaching of reading and engage in preparation work for the Foundations of Reading Test (FoRT890). Registration and engagement in the course is free of charge. This course has enabled open enrollment. Participants can self-enroll in the course using this link URL: https://uws-ce.instructure.com/enroll/L9RACF. Alternatively, they can sign up at https://uws-ce.instructure.com/register and use the following join code: L9RACF

Teacher candidates are required to take the FoRT within 6 months of completing the second literacy course (EDS 318*) in their teacher education program.

Early Childhood Education (ECE), Early Childhood/Special Education (ECE/SPE), Elementary/Middle Education (EME), and Elementary/Middle Education/Special/Education (EME/SPE) majors are required to take:

• EDS 308: Foundations of Literacy 
• EDS 318: Literacy Methods I *
• EDS 418: Literacy Methods II (K-9) (Required for EME and EME/SPE majors concurrent with Field I)                                                                   OR
• ECE 418: Literacy Methods II (K-3) (Required for ECE and ECE/SPE majors)

*There is a special course fee associated with EDS 318 that is aligned with the purchase of a fee voucher to take the WI Foundations of Reading Test (FORT). This special course fee is in place in order to best support successful completion of this benchmark assessment.

UWL teacher candidates seeking these licenses must have a passing score on the FoRT on file with the SOE Certification Officer prior to being eligible to student teach. Experience has shown that teacher candidates are most successful in passing the FoRT when they attempt the test soon after completing EDS 318. 

Therefore, as a condition of completion of EDS 318, students must use their FoRT voucher to register for the FoRT with a test date scheduled within 6 months following completion of the course. A screenshot of the registration confirmation or a copy of a confirmation email should be sent to your course instructor. No grade will be awarded until evidence of the scheduled test date has been received.

As a result of the Wisconsin Read to Lead Task Force recommendations, ACT 166, a new statutory provision was created in 2011. 

The specific statute 118.19 (14) puts into place a required content test in Foundations of Reading for all Grade K-5 teachers, special education teachers, reading teachers, and reading specialists seeking initial licensure as of January 2014. 

The ACT 166 SECTION 21. 118.19 (14) statute reads: 

(a) The department may not issue an initial teaching license that authorizes the holder to teach in grades kindergarten to 5 or in special education, an initial license as a reading teacher, or an initial license as a reading specialist, unless the applicant has passed an examination identical to the Foundations of Reading test administered in 2012 as part of the Massachusetts Tests for Educator Licensure. The department shall set the passing cut score on the examination at a level no lower than the level recommended by the developer of the test, based on this state's standards. 

(c) Any teacher who passes the examination under par. (a) shall notify the department, which shall add a notation to the teacher's license indicating that he or she passed the examination. 

ACT 166 SECTION 28. Initial applicability. 

(1) TEACHING LICENSE. The treatment of section 118.19 (14) (a) of the statutes first applies to an application for a teaching license received by the department of public instruction on January 1, 2014. 

During the Biennial Budget Session, a free-standing motion was made on 5/21/2013 during the Joint Finance Committee to delay the initial applicability date. As a result of the motion, the budget bill as modified by the Joint Finance Committee is as follows: 

SECTION 2365r. 2011 Wisconsin Act 166, section 28 (1) is amended to read: 

[2011 Wisconsin Act 166] Section 28 (1) TEACHING LICENSE. The treatment of section 118.19 (14) (a) of the statutes first applies to an application for a teaching license received by the department of public instruction on January 31, 2014.

Your EDS 318 instructors will guide you through the registration process during the semester you are enrolled in Literacy Methods I.

For additional information, contact the Counseling and Testing Center on the UWL campus: 

• 2106 Centennial Hall 
• Phone: 608.785.8704 

Or, you can go to the Pearson website. following website: 

Retake Policy: Teacher candidates who do not meet the benchmark score of 233 may retake the test. Please visit Test Policies: Foundations of Reading Test (890).