Certification

Disputing a Manual Evaluation

The dispute procedure is strictly for situations where you believe that the evaluator made an error while evaluating your application. This procedure is not for instances where you want clarification about a requirement or need information about other possible pathway options. If you have further questions, or need clarification about the requirements, then you can either:

  1. Call our certification line at: (518) 474-3901, or
  2. Send your specific questions via email to: TCERT@nysed.gov and include your full name as it appears in TEACH, as well as your full date of birth, or the last four digits of your SSN.

If you believe that the evaluator made an error while evaluating your application, and you would like to dispute the evaluation, you must submit the dispute in writing. You can do so by following the directions listed below:

  1. Compose an email to TCERT@nysed.gov
  2. Subject line: “Dispute”
  3. Include the following information in the body of your email:
    - your full name, exactly as it appears in your TEACH account
    - the title and type of certificate in the application
    - an explanation for the requirements that are deficient and how you satisfied each requirement
  4. Attach PDF-formatted documentation that supports your dispute (course descriptions, syllabi, statement from your college, etc.)

Disputes are evaluated in the order in which they are received. You should check your TEACH account regularly to see when your application gets re-evaluated.

Applications are valid for two manual evaluations, or three years – whichever occurs first. If your application has been manually evaluated and you submit a dispute, this will prompt a second manual evaluation.

If your dispute results in no change to the evaluation, this will constitute the second manual evaluation. Your application will be disapproved and will no longer be active. If your dispute results in the discovery of an error, the application will be corrected. This will not count as a second manual evaluation. In either case, updated correspondence will be generated in your TEACH account providing an explanation of the action that was taken and how you should proceed. You can view this correspondence on the Account Information page, in the Correspondence section.

Last Updated: January 19, 2024