Beginning Teacher License
Beginning Teachers (with no previous teaching experience) will be issued an Initial teaching license. This license is issued for three years which will allow time for the new educator to complete the State required Initial Licensure Teacher (ILT) Program. This program is talked about in the Teacher Support section of the Human Resources webpages.
To be eligible for an Initial teaching license, an individual must have done the following:
To be eligible for an Initial teaching license, an individual must have done the following:
- Completed a state teacher education program from a regionally accredited college or university, or
- Completed another state's approved alternative route to licensure, met the federal requirements to be designated as "Highly Qualified", and earned a bachelor's degree from a regionally accredited college.
All ILTs are required to participate in the Initial Teacher Program which is talked more about in the Teacher Support section. Failure to participate could result in not being eligible to convert the Initial license to the Continuing license which is the five-year license.
Also, if an ILT did not complete the State required testing prior to the issuance of their license, they must ATTEMPT all the required tests during their first year of teaching and PASS all the required tests by the end of their third year of teaching to be eligible to convert their license to continuing. If all tests are not attempted and passed according to State policy, the license will expire and can't be reissued until all testing requirements are met. Failure to meet these requirements will result in the Initial license being expired by the State and ineligible for reissue until all State required testing is completed. (Lateral Entry licensed teachers do not have to attempt/pass during 1st or 2nd year of license. They have the full 3 years to meet testing requirements).
The deadline for passing required exams is August 15th unless it falls on a Saturday or Sunday, then it will be the preceding Friday. If a teacher works for at least 120 workdays of an academic year, they are required to meet testing requirements of that year.
If a teacher taught in a private or charter school and believes they participated in a similar ILT program, they can have their previous school complete the ILT Verification Form verifying the areas of participation and submit to the Personnel Support Director for review. If it is confirmed that the years can count toward the ILT Program, the ILT's status will advance from a 1st year to a 2nd year ILT or a 2nd year to a 3rd year ILT. All ILTs will have to complete their 3rd and final year with ECPS in order for the district to recommend conversion from an Initial to a Continuing license.
If a teacher taught in a private or charter school and believes they participated in a similar ILT program, they can have their previous school complete the ILT Verification Form verifying the areas of participation and submit to the Personnel Support Director for review. If it is confirmed that the years can count toward the ILT Program, the ILT's status will advance from a 1st year to a 2nd year ILT or a 2nd year to a 3rd year ILT. All ILTs will have to complete their 3rd and final year with ECPS in order for the district to recommend conversion from an Initial to a Continuing license.