- Cama-i, quyana tailuci!
- (Central Yup’ik)
- "Greetings, thank you for coming!"
Initial Teacher Certificate
All applicants who are new to the teaching profession or are new to teaching in Alaska must apply for Initial teacher certification.
If any college-level coursework has been completed outside of the United States, a completed, original foreign evaluation must be submitted with the application. More information concerning foreign evaluations can be found at our foreign evaluations page.
The Alaska Teacher Certification office issues five types of Initial teacher certificates:
- Initial Two-Year or Three-Year
- Initial Out-of-State
- Initial Program Enrollment
- Initial Reemployment
- Second Initial
INITIAL TWO-YEAR TEACHER CERTIFICATE
To qualify for an Initial Two-Year teacher certificate, an applicant must meet the following requirements:
- Passing scores on an approved basic competency exam
- Passing scores on an approved content area exam
- Completion of an approved teacher preparation program
- Completion of the four Mandatory Trainings.
An Initial Two-Year teacher certificate will be valid for two years and may be extended once at no charge for one-year so long as the extension requirements have been met before the expiration date of the Initial Two-Year teacher certificate.
For the one-year extension, the certificate holder must submit:
- Official transcripts showing completion of:
- 3 semester hours of approved Alaska studies coursework
- 3 semester hours of approved Alaska multicultural coursework
An applicant who has satisfied the requirments for Initial Two-Year teacher certification as asll as the Alaska studies and Alaska multicultural coursework requirements at the time of application, will be issued an Initial Three-Year teacher certificate.
An Initial Three-Year teacher certificate is not renewable.
INITIAL OUT-OF-STATE TEACHER CERTIFICATE
The Initial Out-of-State teacher certificate is for educators who are currently certified in another state to teach, and who would like to begin teaching in Alaska. To qualify for an Initial Out-of-State teacher certificate an applicant must meet the following requirements:
- Has never held an Alaska teacher certificate
- Holds a current, valid out-of-state teacher certificate (out-of-country certificate will not be accepted), that will be current and valid at the time the applicant’s contract for instructional services begins in an Alaska public school district.
An Initial/Out-of-State teacher certificate will be valid for one year, but may be reissued twice for a total of two (2) one-year extensions.
For the first one-year extension, the following items must be received by the Teacher Certification office prior to the expiration of the Initial/Out-of-State certificate:
- Official/Original score report showing passing scores on an approved basic competency exam (BCE)
For the second one-year extension, official transcripts must be received by the Teacher Certification office prior to the expiration date of the Initial/Out-of-State certificate:
- >Official transcripts showing completion of:
- 3 semester hours of approved Alaska studies coursework
- 3 semester hours of approved Alaska multicultural coursework
Endorsements placed on an Initial/Out-of-State teacher certificate will reflect the endorsements on the applicant’s out-of-state certificate. If an applicant holds more than one valid, out-of-state certificate, the applicant must choose which out-of-state certificate to submit with the Initial application.
An Initial/Out-of-State teacher certificate is not renewable.
INITIAL/PROGRAM ENROLLMENT TEACHER CERTIFICATE
To qualify for an Initial/Program Enrollment teacher certificate, an applicant must meet the following requirements:
- Has never held an Alaska teacher certificate
- Completion of a bachelor’s degree from a regionally or nationally accredited university;
- Current enrollment in an approved teacher preparation program as verified by a Program Enrollment form (docx) and official transcripts (Program must be completed within two (2) years of the issuance of the Initial certificate).
- Passing scores on an approved basic competency exam
- Has passing scores on an approved content area exam
- Five years of experience in the subject matter that you will be teaching;
- Offered a certified teaching position by an Alaska public school district.
NOTE: Program enrollment cannot be used for individuals enrolled in special education programs. Those individuals must complete their program prior to applying for the Initial certificate.
An Initial/Program Enrollment teacher certificate will be valid for one year, but may be reissued twice for a total of two (2) one-year extensions.
For the first one-year extension, the certificate holder must submit the following items to the Teacher Certification office prior to expiration date of the Initial/Program Enrollment certificate:
- Updated official transcripts showing progress in program
- Updated Program Enrollment form (docx)
- or State Approved Program Verification form (docx) if program has been completed
For the second one-year extension, the certificate holder must submit all of the following items to the Teacher Certification office prior to expiration of the Initial certificate:
- Completion of an approved teacher preparation program as verified by a State Approved Program Verification form (docx)
- Official transcripts showing completion of:
- A state-approved teacher preparation program
- 3 semester hours of approved Alaska studies coursework
- 3 semester hours of approved Alaska multicultural coursework
Endorsements placed on an Initial/Program Enrollment teacher certificate will reflect the teacher preparation program described on the Proof of Program Enrollment form.
An Initial/Program Enrollment teacher certificate is not renewable.
INITIAL/TEACHER REEMPLOYMENT CERTIFICATE
To qualify for an Initial/Reemployment Teacher certificate, an applicant must meet the following requirements:
- Held never held an Reemployment teacher certificate in Alaska
- Held an Alaska teacher certificate that was valid for at least two years
- The most recent Alaska teacher certificate must have expired more than a year prior to the date of application
- Is unable to satisfy the requirements for the Professional Certificate
Endorsements placed on an Initial/Reemployment certificate will reflect the endorsements on the applicant’s previous Alaska teacher certificate.
An applicant who has held a Reemployment teacher certificate must apply for either a Professional Teacher Certificate or a Second Initial Certificate if they do not meet the Professional Teacher Certificate Requirements.
An Initial/Reemployment teacher certificate will be valid for one year and is not renewable. The Initial/Reemployment teacher certificate cannot be reissued and is not eligible for an extension.
Special Notes about the Reemployment Certificate
- A Reemployment Certificate is non-renewable. After holding a Reemployment certificate, applicants must apply for either a Professional Teacher Certificate or a Second Initial Certificate if they do not meet the Professional Teacher Certificate Requirements. It is the responsibility of the applicant to know what all current certification requirements are.
- The endorsements on the Reemployment certificate will be the same as those the expired teacher certificate.
- During the life of the Reemployment certificate no endorsements may be added or removed.