Teacher Education Programs

Certification

The information listed below reflects the teacher certification requirements based on the New York State Education Department‘s (NYSED) initiatives and regulations. For more information on all the following requirements, please access our Certification Assistance website at http://www.newpaltz.edu/schoolofed/certification.html

Initial and Professional Certification

Candidates completing the MSEd are recommended for Professional Certification, and those completing MAT and the MST programs are recommended for both Initial and Professional certification, upon conferral of degrees. However, students must also apply for their certificates on their own TEACH Accounts. The Initial Certificate is valid for five years, in which time an appropriate master‘s degree must be earned and 3 years of teaching experience need to be accrued and documented. Candidates may apply for a three-year time extension if the required conditions are met: http://www.highered.nysed.gov/tcert/certificate/timeext.html. The Professional certificate requires the completion of 100 hours of professional development called CTLEs (Continuing Teacher and Leader Education) every 5 years in order to maintain certificate validity and registration. For more information, please check:http://www.highered.nysed.gov/tcert/resteachers/ctle.html.

Fingerprint Processing

All candidates for teacher certification in the State of New York are required to apply for verification of their fingerprints and must be processed prior to fieldwork observations. For more information on the fingerprinting process, please check: http://www.newpaltz.edu/schoolofed/certification.html#Fingerprints  Start by applying on your TEACH Account at Fingerprinting | New York State Education Department (nysed.gov).

Required Workshops

Child Abuse Identification, SAVE (School Violence Prevention),
DASA (Dignity for All Students Act), Health & Safety Education, and Autism (Needs of Students with Autism)

In order to graduate, all candidates for teacher certification in the State of New York are required to complete and document on their transcripts a two-hour training in the mandated reporting of child abuse or neglect, a two-hour training in school violence prevention, a six-hour training in the Prevention and Intervention for Harassment, Bullying, Cyberbullying, and Discrimination In Schools, and for candidates in the Students With Disabilities and Speech & Language Disabilities programs, a three-hour training in the needs of students with autism. For more information on all of these workshops, please check http://www.newpaltz.edu/schoolofed/certification.html#Workshops.

Teacher Certification Examinations

As a condition of certification (but not graduation), all candidates must file with NYSED official qualifying scores on the New York State Teacher Certification Exams (NYSTCE). As of 2022, all candidates who do not already have initial certification must pass the Educating All Students (EAS) exam. Additionally, candidates in the MAT and TESOL programs must pass their Content Specialty Test (CST), MST candidates must pass the Multi-Subject Test (MST), and CAS candidates must pass the School Leadership Assessments (SLA). For further test information, please check our webpage at http://www.newpaltz.edu/schoolofed/certification.html#Testing, or visit the NYSTCE websites at http://www.nystce.nesinc.com/.

School of Education Assessments

In April 2020 faculty in the School of Education (SoE) approved a policy regarding the minimum performance levels candidates are expected to achieve on program assessments (e.g., planning, dispositions, P-12 learning, APP). All candidates in programs within the Department of Teaching and Learning, as well as those in the Educational Administration program, should be aware of the policy. If a candidate is unsure about what specific program assessments are utilized and/or when they are implemented during their program of study, the candidate should contact the appropriate program coordinator or department chairperson. The policy is as follows:

“Candidates must earn a rating of Acceptable on a minimum of 80% of the items on each assessment required for their specific program. However, during a culminating experience, candidates may not earn a rating of Unacceptable on any item. Failure to meet either of these expectations may result in a failing grade in the course."

Degree Applications

All students must apply for graduation and submit their application by the first day of the first month of the graduating semester to Records and Registration in Wooster Hall 115. You cannot be recommended by the college for Teacher Certification without a conferred degree, whether or not you have completed the necessary coursework, workshops, and tests. The degree applications are available at http://www.newpaltz.edu/registrar/graduation.html 

Certificate Applications

Student Application Information Sheets with step-by-step directions and Program Codes will show you how to register, log-in, and apply for the appropriate teaching certificate at http://www.newpaltz.edu/schoolofed/certification_infosheet.html.

Additional Certifications