Many prospective teachers are changing their majors due to not meeting required scores on teacher admission requirement exams or teacher licensure exams. This study examined the relationship between African American students' American College Test (ACT) and Praxis Core reading scores to predict the performance on the teacher licensure exam, Praxis II Curriculum, Instruction and Assessment (CIA). This study was conducted at a Historically Black College and University (HBCU) in Mississippi. The archival data examined in this quantitative study was on African American students (n = 74) admitted to teacher education for academic years 2013 to 2017. The predictor variables were the admission exam scores, ACT and Praxis Core reading, and the teacher licensure exam, Praxis II CIA was the dependent variable. Participant variables were Grade Point Average (GPA), hours attempted at admission to teacher education, and gender. The results of this study showed there was a statistically significant relationship between Praxis II CIA and ACT scores. The Praxis II CIA score can be predicted by the score on the ACT. There was no statistically significant relationship between Praxis II CIA and Praxis Core reading. There was a statistically significant relationship between Praxis II CIA and hours attempted at teacher admission for classification of students who met the required score for Praxis Core reading. There was also a statistically significant difference in performance on Praxis II CIA based on gender. There was no statistically significant relationship between Praxis II and GPA.