§8.1. Certification of teachers; parental notification
A. In carrying out its responsibility to prescribe the qualifications and provide for the
certification of teachers under authority of R.S. 17:7(6), the qualifications and requirements
established by the State Board of Elementary and Secondary Education for certification of
any applicant who completes an approved teacher education program in Louisiana shall
include but not be limited to the following:
(1)Beginning with the 2024-2025 academic year, that each approved teacher
education program shall not require more than one hundred twenty semester hours of college
credit for degree completion, inclusive of any classroom observation time or mentorship
requirements. Programs designated by the Board of Regents as dual degrees or dual
cert
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§8.1. Certification of teachers; parental notification
A. In carrying out its responsibility to prescribe the qualifications and provide for the
certification of teachers under authority of R.S. 17:7(6), the qualifications and requirements
established by the State Board of Elementary and Secondary Education for certification of
any applicant who completes an approved teacher education program in Louisiana shall
include but not be limited to the following:
(1) Beginning with the 2024-2025 academic year, that each approved teacher
education program shall not require more than one hundred twenty semester hours of college
credit for degree completion, inclusive of any classroom observation time or mentorship
requirements. Programs designated by the Board of Regents as dual degrees or dual
certifications shall be permitted to exceed the one-hundred-twenty-semester-hour credit limit.
(2) That the applicant shall have attained a 2.20 average on a 4.00 scale as a
condition for entrance into a teacher education program. However, an applicant who has not
attained a 2.20 average may be granted conditional acceptance into a teacher education
program. In order for a student granted conditional acceptance to continue in a teacher
education program that awards credit hours, the student shall achieve a 3.00 average on the
first twelve credit hours of the program. In order for a student granted conditional acceptance
to continue in a teacher education program that does not award credit hours, the student shall
demonstrate mastery of competencies as required by the program and by the school system
in which the applicant completes required clinical practice.
(3)(a) That the applicant shall have achieved a 2.50 average on a 4.00 scale at
graduation from an approved program.
(b) An applicant who has passed all requisite examinations covering preprofessional
skills and content knowledge but who does not meet the requirement of Subparagraph (a) of
this Paragraph may be certified upon completion of a postbaccalaureate program or may be
granted a provisional teaching permit pursuant to R.S. 17:8.3.
(4) The applicant shall meet at least one of the following requirements:
(a) Complete the prescribed number of semester hours in the teaching of reading as
established in policy by the State Board of Elementary and Secondary Education in
accordance with the level of certification to be awarded. This requirement shall be in
addition to requirements for English courses. The courses in the teaching of reading shall
emphasize techniques of teaching reading and the recognition and correction of reading
problems of the student that are based on the science of reading and designed for educators
and that include information on instructing students regarding phonemic awareness, phonics,
fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension.
(b) Possess the reading and literacy competencies identified in scientifically based
reading research at the national level and approved by the State Board of Elementary and
Secondary Education for the teaching of reading.
(5) That the applicant shall have spent a minimum of two hundred seventy clock
hours in student teaching with at least one hundred eighty hours spent in actual teaching.
(6) That the applicant shall have completed a substantial portion of the one hundred
eighty hours of actual student teaching on an all-day basis.
(7) That an applicant who is applying for initial certification to teach kindergarten
through third grade shall, as part of the examination required pursuant to R.S. 17:8.2, pass
a rigorous test of scientifically researched, evidence-based reading instruction and
intervention, including data-based decisionmaking principles related to reading instruction
and intervention, as approved by the Department of Education.
(8)(a) That the applicant has met at least one of the following requirements:
(i) Has completed the prescribed number of semester hours in the teaching of
foundational numeracy as established in rule by the State Board of Elementary and
Secondary Education in accordance with the level of certification to be awarded. The
components of the foundational numeracy courses shall be as provided in R.S. 17:7.2(A)(4).
(ii) Has completed numeracy training appropriate to the certification area and
approved by the state Department of Education in alignment with the numeracy
competencies identified in scientifically based mathematics research at the national level and
approved by the state board for the teaching of mathematics.
(b) That an applicant who is applying for initial certification to teach kindergarten
through eighth grade has completed either the prescribed number of semester hours in
accordance with Subparagraph (a) of this Paragraph or the numeracy professional
development pursuant to R.S. 17:24.13.
(c) The provisions of this Paragraph shall be implemented beginning on September
1, 2028.
(9) That an applicant complete a crisis intervention training program created or
approved by the state Department of Education.
B. The State Board of Elementary and Secondary Education may adopt any rules
necessary for the orderly implementation of this Section and may make further provisions
with regard to qualifications and requirements not inconsistent with this Section.
C. Additionally, whenever there is a qualification or condition established by law or
board policy, or both, that a teacher holding a standard professional level teacher certificate
shall comply with in order for the teacher to be issued a standard professional level teacher
certificate, and it is not possible for a teacher at a nonpublic school to comply with the
qualification or condition due to the teacher being employed at a nonpublic school, the board
shall establish an alternative method or process by which the nonpublic school teacher may
meet the qualification or condition. A teacher employed in a nonpublic school who meets the
qualifications or conditions pursuant to the alternative method or process established
pursuant to this Subsection shall be issued a standard professional level teacher certificate
which shall be valid for all purposes in this state and under all of the same conditions as if
it had been issued to a teacher who complied with the qualifications or conditions as
otherwise established by law or board policy. Prior to establishing an alternative method or
process, the board shall direct the nonpublic school commission to formulate, develop, and
recommend to the board the alternative method or process by which the nonpublic school
teacher may meet the qualification or condition, and the method or process established by
the board shall be consistent with the recommendations of the nonpublic school commission.
D. In carrying out its responsibility to prescribe the qualifications and provide for
the certification of teachers under authority of R.S. 17:7(6), if the State Board of Elementary
and Secondary Education enters into any agreement for the certification to teach in Louisiana
of teachers certified to teach in another state, the agreement shall:
(1) Be reciprocal, making applicable to any other state which is a party to the
agreement and teachers certified to teach in the other state who seek certification in
Louisiana equivalent to requirements as determined by the Department of Education to those
the agreement places on Louisiana and teachers certified to teach in Louisiana who apply for
certification in the other state.
(2) Provide for the certification in Louisiana of a teacher certified to teach in another
state only if the teacher has been employed in a professional educational capacity requiring
certification as a teacher for three years preceding application for Louisiana teacher
certification unless the teacher completes the additional educational requirements as shall be
approved by the State Board of Elementary and Secondary Education. The provisions of this
Paragraph shall not apply to a teacher who has been certified to teach in another state for less
than three years and has been employed in a professional educational capacity requiring
certification as a teacher for the entire period of certification.
E.(1) Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, the State Board of
Elementary and Secondary Education shall grant a valid five-year standard Louisiana
teaching certificate to an applicant who holds a valid out-of-state teaching certificate and
who is military personnel or the spouse of military personnel serving in Louisiana, provided
the applicant meets all other requirements for background checks and criminal history
reviews as may be required by law and board policy.
(2) The board shall notify an applicant of the board's determination relative to the
applicant's Louisiana certification not later than twenty days from receipt of a complete
application.
(3) For purposes of this Subsection, "military personnel" means either of the
following:
(a) A member of the armed forces of the United States.
(b) A United States Department of Defense civilian or contract employee.
F. The principal of each public school may notify the parents of any child assigned
to the classroom of a temporary, uncertified teacher that the teacher is not certified; the
teacher has a nonstandard teaching certificate and, if so, what type of certificate; or the
teacher has been granted authorization to teach without certification.