Advancing to Professional Certification
Application Pathways
- Approved Teacher Prep Program – Certificate Progression
- This pathway is for individuals who hold a valid New York State Initial certificate, and completed a NYS Registered Teacher Education Program leading to Professional certification.
- You have received a college recommendation for professional certification – Program Codes
- Certificate Progression (Individual Evaluation)
- This pathway is for individuals who hold a valid New York State Initial certificate. They may progress to the Professional certificate by meeting the requirements for that certificate.
- You have not been recommended for professional certification for this certificate – Application Instructions
Experience Requirements
Applicants for professional certification can count teaching experience in public and private schools, part-time or full time, per diem and long-term substitute teaching, and in-state or out-of-state teaching. See NYSED’s guidance at https://www.highered.nysed.gov/tcert/certificate/exp/home.html. Individuals self-report their work experience on the TEACH system and must also have their employing districts submit NYSED’s Experience Verification form. Experience as a teaching assistant does not fulfill this requirement.
Classroom Teacher Certificates
Educational Leadership Certificates
- School Building Leader (SBL) Initial and Professional Certificates
- School District Leader (SDL) Professional Certificate
Pupil Personnel Certificates
Additional Information
Mentored Experience Requirement
“Mentored experience” refers to the guidance and professional support that experienced, certified educators provide to new educators in their first year of employment in a public school.
To receive Professional certification, classroom teachers and school building leaders must complete the mentoring requirement. The mentoring requirement must be verified by the superintendent of the employing school district through the TEACH Online System.
Master's Degree
Successful Completion of a Master’s Degree
The professional certification requirement is satisfied, if an individual:
- successfully completes a graduate teacher education program from an accredited college in New York State or another jurisdiction that qualifies the individual for a new or additional certificate (in NYS or in another jurisdiction);
- holds a master’s degree accepted previously to satisfy requirements for a NYS permanent or professional certificate; successfully completes a master’s or higher degree program in the content core of the initial certificate or in a related content area; or
- successfully completes a master’s or higher degree program in any field, provided that the individual has completed at least 12 semester hours of graduate study in the content core of the initial certificate or in a related content area.
- Chart of Related Master’s Degrees
Citizenship Status
United States Citizenship, USCIS Permanent Residency, Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) status or similar relief from deportation is required for Professional or Permanent certification.
I’ve applied for Professional Certification and my Citizenship Status is listed as Unmet, why?
If this is incorrect, and you are a U.S. citizen or Permanent Resident, login to your TEACH account, click on TEACH Home, under Profile Links click on Update/Add Education, Employment and Personal Information. Then click on Edit Personal Information. Under Resident Status highlight “I am a citizen or a permanent resident of the United States” and click Submit. The evaluation should update the following day.
Frequently Asked Questions
- How do I advance from the initial certificate to the professional certificate?
- What are the requirements for my professional certificate?
- How many years do I have to complete the requirements for a Professional certificate?
- Can I use substitute teaching to fulfill part/all of the 3-year experience requirement for Professional Certification?
- I hold Initial certificates in more than one subject area. Must I teach for three years in each subject area to meet the three-year experience requirement for a Professional certificate?
- When should I apply for the professional, as soon as I have met the requirements or at the end of the five year window?
- How do I advance from the Provisional PPS Certificate to the Permanent PPS Certificate
To determine the specific requirements for any given title, you can use the online search feature Search Certification Requirements.
The Initial certificate is valid for 5 years, during which time you must complete the requirements for the professional certificate. If you cannot complete all the requirements for the professional certificate in that 5-year window, you may be able to apply for a reissuance of your initial certificate.
Yes. The substitute teaching experience needs to be in the area or areas for which you are certified to qualify as teaching experience.
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.
No. An individual who holds more than one classroom teaching certificate may meet the requirement with three years of classroom teaching experience in any of the certificate titles. For instance, a teacher who holds the Childhood Education (Grades 1-6) and English 7-12 certificates could satisfy the experience requirement for both certificates by teaching for three years in an elementary classroom, three years as a secondary English teacher, or a combination of both.
Please note that service in non-classroom teaching areas such as pupil personnel services or school leadership may not be used to satisfy the experience requirement for classroom teaching.
When to apply is entirely up to you. Applications for professional certification must be manually evaluated and will take longer to process. Allow for a minimum of four (4) months for the New York State Education Department to process your application for professional certification.
Advancing from the Provisional PPS Certificate to the Permanent PPS Certificate
For the Permanent certificate in Pupil Personnel Service (PPS), individuals must complete at least two years of acceptable PPS experience or its equivalent (360 days). Full-time and part-time experiences are acceptable.
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