About this Pathway 10

This pathway is an alternative route to certification designed for candidates with a Bachelor’s or Master’s degree who are not employed in education and who are seeking initial certification in New York State. However, these candidates do not wish to enroll in a teacher preparation program; instead, candidates wish to complete NYSED requirements individually.

Requirements

To get a teaching certificate in this pathway, you need:

  1. Bachelor’s degree (minimum 2.5 GPA)
  2. 30 semester hours in the liberal arts and sciences
  3. 30 semester hours of coursework in the subject area of the certificate title
  4. 18 semester hours of pedagogical coursework
  5. 40 school days as a student teacher or employed teacher (for candidates applying before September 1, 2026) OR 14 weeks of full-time student teaching or 70 full-time school days as an employed teacher
  6. Workshops
    a. Dignity For All Students Act (DASA) Workshop
    b. Child Abuse Identification Workshop
    c. School Violence Intervention and Prevention Workshop
  7. Fingerprint clearance

Route

  • Satisfy semester hour requirements and meet specific liberal arts and sciences general core, content core and pedagogical core competencies for the certificate title you seek (click here and here to learn more)
  • Complete the student teaching requirement
  • Apply for an evaluation of your credentials to NYSED for an initial certificate

This pathway ends with the candidate completing all coursework requirements for initial teaching certification. Once the candidate completes the other New York State certification requirements, a candidate may apply to NYSED for an initial teaching certificate.

*This pathway does not require enrollment in a teacher preparation program.

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