Introduction

You may not be employed as a teacher in Alaska's public schools unless you have a valid Alaska teacher certificate. (Alaska Statute 14.20.010)

In Alaska, responsibility for the certification of teachers and other school professionals is assigned to the Teacher Education and Certification office within the Department of Education & Early Development. Decisions are based on Alaska statutes and regulations, which require the completion of an approved teacher education, administrative, or special services program and the recommendation of a regionally accredited institution of higher education.

Initial applications for teacher certification will only be accepted if the applicant has approved official passing scores on file in the Teacher Certification office.

The date that the complete application packet is received by Teacher Certification, establishes the effective date of the certificate.

If you completed certification through another state, you may be eligible for Initial Teacher certification in Alaska.

If your preparation program does not meet the requirements, you may enroll in an accredited institution that uses either the NCATE standards for teacher preparation or is a state-approved program that meets the requirements for an approved teacher education program. After you have fulfilled their requirements, they will be able to sign off, indicating you completed an approved program meeting the required standards.

If you have completed an approved teacher and/or administrative program outside the United States, you must, in addition to the certification requirements, obtain an evaluation of course work by a recognized international evaluation agency to determine equivalency to U.S. standards and obtain a letter from the official national, state, or provincial education agency on official letterhead, attesting to the accreditation of your preparing institution and stating that your certificate or license is in good standing.

Alaska's Public School System

Mount Edgecumbe High School, which is operated by the Department of Education and Early Development.

About 10,000 full-time equivalent certified personnel staff Alaska’s public schools.The 53 Alaska school districts vary in size from over 49,000 students in the Anchorage School District to 23 students attending the Pelican City Schools. Thirty-three of the districts are city or borough entities, while twenty regional educational attendance area districts serve students in rural and remote settlements outside the cities and boroughs of the state.

Hiring in Alaska

The Alaska Department of Education & Early Development does not hire or provide a placement service.

All hiring in Alaska is done at the local school district level. Click here for a list of Alaska school districts and their contact information. You may apply directly to individual school districts for vacancies.

You may wish, instead, to contact Alaska Teacher Placement, which recruits for all hiring districts.