All educators wishing to teach in Alabama will need to meet some important state guidelines.
One of Alabama's teacher certification requirements is that educators must graduate from an approved teacher preparation program at a four-year university in Alabama. Should educators attend similar programs outside of Alabama, they should obtain licensure in that state before applying for reciprocity.
A second requirement is that licensure candidates need to pass a three-part exam in reading, writing, and math within the Alabama Educator Certification Assessment Program. Some schools require this exam for admission to their teacher preparation program. Later, more specialized Praxis exam of the teacher's subject area and professional knowledge, will be required when applying for licensure.
Finally, a successful background check and a recommendation from a certification officer round out the list of Alabama's guidelines.
Although that traditional route is the more direct path to licensure, the Alabama State Department of Education (ALSDE) has designed alternate pathways to licensure for those who followed a more circuitous route.
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Alabama is home to many institutions that prepare teachers for certification. The following schools are among the top education programs in the state:
These and other teacher preparation institutions will provide students with field observations and student teaching opportunities required for certification. Student teaching requires a full-time internship for a semester, covering the teaching schedule and responsibilities of an educator in that same teaching field. Students will need to conduct their student teaching assignments in each of the subject areas for which they plan to be certified.
In addition, future teachers will learn in teacher education programs educational pedagogy and theory as well as day-to-day skills, such as employing classroom management techniques, applying differentiated learning strategies, and incorporating state standards into lesson planning. Overall, how students learn, how to plan for instructing students, questioning strategies to use, engaging diverse learners, grouping options, and evaluating student performance are standard topics of instruction in teacher preparation programs.
Another piece of the curriculum involves working with diverse communities, something that is integral to all teacher preparation programs. Many colleges and universities will have partnerships with K-12 schools that include diverse populations in order to provide a well-rounded curriculum to future educators.
Once individuals finish a state-approved teacher preparation program, they should plan to apply for a teaching license within sixty months from completion. After seven years, applicants are no longer able to be recommended for licensure.
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Create AccountAll teacher candidates in Alabama must have a GPA of 2.5 or greater or can otherwise attempt to obtain Praxis passing scores on alternate Praxis exams to make up for not meeting the GPA requirement. They can also instead earn a master's degree or a second bachelor's degree and apply for licensure then.
Secondly, new educators will need to hold a bachelor's degree showing proof of at least 32 hours of college credit in an academic major prior to licensure, with 19 hours devoted to higher-level coursework in that content area.
Lastly, teacher preparation programs in Alabama will provide student teaching opportunities and will require applicants for licensure to complete at least one semester of student teaching. In this semester, a student will need to be the lead teacher for at least five consecutive days and will work with an experienced teacher who teaches in the endorsement area for which the candidate is seeking certification.
Alabama educators will need to pass the tests for Praxis Core through the Alabama Educator Certification Assessment Program prior to or early in their teacher preparation program. This assessment measures the future educator's math, reading, and writing competency.
In addition, students will be encouraged to do the Praxis registration for all three Praxis exams that are required for licensure: the Praxis Principles of Learning and Teaching (PLT), the Educative Teacher Performance Assessment (edTPA), and the appropriate Praxis Subject Assessment for each educator's particular exams based on content area and/or grade level.
While the PLT Praxis test and Subject Assessments must be completed and passed before student teaching, the edTPA may be taken during student teaching.
In addition to student teaching and submission of transcripts and test scores, all educators in Alabama must pass a state and federal criminal background check. The ALSDE asks applicants to submit a fingerprint card through Cogent, a fingerprint processing service.
Applicants will also need to request a letter of recommendation from their institution, certifying proper completion of the teacher preparation program there.
If all of the state requirements for licensure have been met, applicants are ready to apply for a teaching license in Alabama and can submit the following documents:
All of these documents should be sent to the Educator Certification Office of the Alabama State Department of Education.
Alabama operates a tiered teacher licensure system:
Depending on employment status, there are many ways Alabama teachers can renew their five-year Professional Educator Certificate.
For teachers actively teaching, renewal can consist of documentation of one of the following:
For teachers who may not have three years of full-time teaching, renewal can consist of one of the following:
Otherwise, an additional path to renewal involves earning a National Board for Professional Teaching Standards Certificate during that five-year period of a teacher's existing Alabama Professional Educator Certificate.
Alabama has created four alternative pathways to licensure for individuals who have not completed a traditional teacher preparation program:
Alabama is a participant in the NASDTEC Interstate Agreement and has reciprocity with many states/territories, including Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Guam, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming.
An out-of-state teacher from a participating state above can earn an Alabama license upon the ALSDE's evaluation of the teacher's education, active certification, and teaching experience. Sometimes that might mean passing the requirements or taking additional coursework to receive reciprocity more quickly than repeating a teacher preparation program entirely in Alabama. Out-of-state educators may be exempt from Praxis state requirements if they have at least three years of verified teaching experience.
Teachers are paid according to a pay scale that takes into account years of teaching experience as well as educational degrees earned. As such, an entry-level educator with a bachelor's degree in Alabama would earn $41,690 during the 2021-22 academic year. Having a master's degree raises the entry salary to $47,941. Every three years, the teacher will climb the scale. On average, experienced educators can earn anywhere between $54,981 and $73,125 annually, depending on degree level achieved. Such figures do not account for benefits and stipends.
Alabama has other salary incentives as well. Having a National Board Certificate will earn teachers a $5,000 bonus. If they teach in an area of high poverty, they may be eligible for an additional $5,000 bonus. If they teach in the Teacher Excellence and Accountability for Mathematics and Science (TEAMS) program, they can be on a different advanced pay scale entirely. Finally, due to teacher shortages in math, science, language arts, and special education, teachers who agree to become certified to teach one of those subjects may enjoy student loan deferment or forgiveness as an incentive. Shortages are why teaching as a profession is slated to grow between eight and nine percent by 2030, according to the Occupational Outlook Handbook.
Amy Mayers, M.Ed. has taught middle school math for over 7 years. She is a Texas certified teacher for grades 4-12 in mathematics and has passed the TExES Math 4-8 and the TExES Math 7-12. Amy graduated with a B.S. in Mathematical Sciences from the University of Houston and a Master's degree in Curriculum and Instruction from the University of St. Thomas.
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