Certification
Classroom Teacher Professional Certificate Experience Requirement
For the Professional certificate in the classroom teaching service, individuals must complete at least three years of acceptable teaching experience or its equivalent (540 full-time days). Full-time and part-time experiences are acceptable. Once an individual has been issued a Professional certificate, the experience requirement will be satisfied for any future Professional classroom teaching certificate applications. Descriptions of acceptable and unacceptable teaching experiences are provided below.
Certification During the Experience
For certain experiences, a valid and appropriate teaching certificate must be held during the experience. An appropriate certificate is a certificate that matches the grade levels and subject area of the teaching assignment.
Experiences that require a valid and appropriate certificate include, but are not limited to: employment in a public school, BOCES, Early Intervention provider, or other position that requires certification in New York State; and employment in a public school in another U.S. state or U.S. territory. Please see the following list of acceptable teaching experiences for examples.
Substitute Teaching Experience
Substitute teachers in New York State who hold a valid teaching certificate or are working towards certification (i.e., completing at least six semester hours of college coursework per year), and are employed by a school district or BOCES for more than 40 days, must be employed in the area that they are certified or seeking certification, respectively.
Substitute teachers in New York State who do not hold a valid certificate, and are not working towards certification, cannot have more than 40 days of acceptable experience in a school district or BOCES in a school year except as described on the Substitute Teaching webpage.
Acceptable Teaching Experience
Experience for the Professional certificate may be gained in the following settings.
- Public schools
, BOCES, or approved Early Intervention providers in New York State while holding a valid and appropriate certificate.
- Non-public or charter schools in New York State
- Public, charter, or nonpublic schools in another U.S. state or U.S. territory, where the school is recognized by the public-school district or other governmental entity in which it is located.
- Schools located outside the United States, where the school is recognized by the public-school district or other governmental entity in which it is located.
- Registered, non-public nursery schools or kindergartens
- Universal Pre-K (UPK) or Head Start
- Licensed day care center
- Substitute teaching experience in New York State, both day-to-day (per diem) and long term, is acceptable if it is completed according to State regulations.
- Itinerant teaching experience in New York State, such as experience gained as Special Education Itinerant Teachers (SEIT) or Speech and Language Disabilities teachers who are required to hold the respective certificates.
- Homebound teaching
- Tutor during the regular school day working with students in a home, hospital or school setting, teaching content as required by NYS Learning Standards where a certificate is required by the New York State Commissioner’s Regulations. The tutor must be an employee of a NYS public school district and considered the “teacher of record”.
- Hospital with an approved K-12 educational program.
- Department of Corrections, Division for Youth, or Office for People with Developmental Disabilities with an approved K-12 educational program.
- Adult education teaching while holding an adult education certificate or NYS classroom teaching certificate and teaching curriculum that counts towards a high school diploma or High School Equivalency (HSE).
- Teaching experience while holding a valid Transitional B, C or Internship certificate is acceptable, as long as the certificate holder is enrolled in the program and employed under the certificate. Experience completed under any of these certificates must be in the subject of the certificate to be acceptable.
- Alternative education teaching to the NYS Learning Standards to students who remain on the day school record.
- Teaching experience while holding a valid Transitional B, C or Internship certificate is acceptable, as long as the certificate holder is enrolled in the program and employed under the certificate.
- Teaching experience while holding a valid Transitional G certificate in a public, non-charter school.
- Peace Corps service if the teacher submits an abstract of services provided by the Peace Corps.
Examples of Unacceptable Teaching Experiences
- Teaching assistant or teacher aide experience
- Teaching a subject area different than the subject area of the certificate title held.
- Tutoring in an after-school program.
- Private tutoring
- Home schooling
- Teaching at the college level, or teaching college students high school-level courses.
- Teaching high school students at the college level as an individual employed by the college.
- Student teaching experience
- Volunteer teaching experience
- Coaching
- Employment by museums, nature centers, zoos, camps, etc. as personnel (guides, instructors, counselors, scientists.
- Employment by a company (where the educator is not an employee of the school).
- Independent contractor experience