South Dakota's Teacher Quality Enhancement Project, EveryTeacher, called for an analysis of tests in both content and pedagogy from the Praxis II Test Series provided by Educational Testing Services (ETS). This analysis occurred as part of one of the objectives of the EveryTeacher Project, which focused on reviewing and aligning the teacher preparation curricula to national standards and national performance measures.

The analysis of these teacher certification tests through the EveryTeacher Project made a valuable contribution in this decision process as key stakeholders and policy makers considered and deliberated on this issue. Parallel discussions regarding the use of teacher tests to identify “highly qualified teachers” for No Child Left Behind resulted in the adoption of content and pedagogy tests for teacher certification in South Dakota. As of July 1, 2005 these tests are required for Teacher certification.