Internship Certificate

The Internship certificate is available to eligible candidates who are enrolled in a NYS registered graduate educator preparation program leading to classroom teacher, school counselor, and educational leadership certification that includes internship experience(s).

Internship Definition

The Internship certificate enables candidates who are enrolled in a NYS registered graduate educator preparation program leading to teacher, school counselor, school psychology, or educational leadership certification to work in New York State public schools in the area of the certificate during their internship experience. An “internship” is the student teaching experience (or its equivalent) in teacher preparation programs, the full-time leadership experience in educational leadership programs, and the internship in school counselor and school psychology programs. Clinical experiences prior to the internship are not considered part of the internship (e.g., 100 clock hours of field experiences prior to student teaching are not part of the internship). Candidates must be supervised by program faculty and appropriately certified school personnel in the area of the certificate sought, according to the regulations and program requirements. Since the Internship certificate enables candidates to work in New York State public schools during their internship experience, programs cannot submit the institutional recommendation for this certificate for candidates after their internship ends.

College Recommendation Required for Certification

Candidates must have a College Recommendation in TEACH to receive the Internship certificate. They are eligible for the Internship certificate if they have completed at least 50% of the semester hour requirement for the program and meet any additional criteria set forth by their college or university.  Note: Eligibility for the Internship certificate is entirely at the discretion of the college or university.

The college or university could submit the institutional recommendation for this certificate for eligible candidates if they have:

• Met the 50% semester hour requirement and any additional institutional criteria,
• Not completed the internship for their program, and
• Been hired by a school district or BOCES for their internship, as defined above (e.g., clinical experiences prior to the internship are not considered part of the internship).

Candidates need to apply and pay the fee for the Internship certificate. After they have applied, received the College Recommendation, and completed their fingerprint clearance, the certificate will automatically issue in the candidates’ TEACH account.

Since the Internship certificate enables candidates to work in New York State public schools during their internship experience, programs cannot enter the College Recommendation after the candidate has completed their internship.

Validity Period

The Internship certificate is valid for up to two years. If a candidate who holds the Internship certificate leaves the educator preparation program prior to graduating, the program should immediately send an email to the Office of Teaching Initiatives to provide the date on which the candidate left the program, which will become the expiration date of the certificate.

After the candidate has successfully completed the educator preparation program, and the program has submitted the candidate’s College Recommendation for the next level certificate (e.g., Initial and/or Professional, Provisional and/or Permanent), the Internship certificate is no longer valid.

Should a time extension beyond two years of the issued Internship Certificate be necessary AND the candidate is still enrolled in the educator preparation program, the certificate can receive one three-year time extension. However, should the candidate leave the program or graduate, the time extension will expire. For more information, please see the Time Extension webpage.

*Starting January 1, 2025: All Internship certificate applications must have a Superintendent Statement entered into the applicant’s account solely for the purposes of the internship. Districts are not required to have the Superintendent Statement entered prior to the IHE entering the Internship certificate recommendation.  Additionally, this statement is not a substitute for correspondence between the IHE, student, and district around the restrictions or requirements for support of this certificate; this statement is an additional layer of understanding.