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Education ÐÇ¿Õ´«Ã½ & Certification Advisor

CERTIFICATION ASSISTANCE

Our Certification Assistance webpage provides detailed information regarding teacher certification at ÐÇ¿Õ´«Ã½. Please click on the links below to navigate to more information on the following certification topics:

The New York State Education Department (NYSED) requires teachers to obtain certification before they can teach in public schools. The steps to become recommended for certification by ÐÇ¿Õ´«Ã½ involve the following: 

ACADEMIC PREPARATION:
You must complete one of our accredited programs of study in education, including an acceptable academic major, the required pedagogical coursework, the Child Abuse ID, SAVE, DASA, and Health & Safety Ed workshops, student teaching placements, and a conferred degree upon graduation.

Notice of Education ÐÇ¿Õ´«Ã½ Changes:
 * The Education Preparation Unit must comply with any new ÐÇ¿Õ´«Ã½ or NYSED regulations required to complete the appropriate programs to be recommended for certification.
 * Because teacher education certification programs and requirements may change, it is the teacher candidate’s responsibility to stay up to date on all requirements necessary for graduation and certification.
 * Education majors should consult with the appropriate program coordinator, attend advising sessions, and make regular appointments with their advisors.
 * All teacher certification questions should be directed to the Certification Officer Chris Whitaker at [email protected] . 

 

FINGERPRINTS:* (See note below)
All teacher candidates must be fingerprinted through IdentoGo upon acceptance into an education degree program. First, you need to self-register to create a before getting fingerprinted. Use your entire name as it appears on your driver's license or state ID.
Here's a video tutorial on .

Then through IdentoGo using the Certification Service Code (14ZGQT) and URL. 

Here's a video tutorial on how to get fingerprinted.

Remember: Your fingerprints must be verified on your TEACH Account, and a screenshot of them must be sent to the Office of Fieldwork at [email protected] to be documented on your campus record before starting any fieldwork placement.
To clarify: your fingerprints are not cleared once on your TEACH Account, just received and available. Only school districts can run a Clearance Check on your fingerprints. If you have other questions, please refer to the helpful and detailed .

*Please note: This program requires an internship, field experience, study abroad component, or clinical experience. Students who have previously been convicted of a felony are advised that their prior criminal history may impede their ability to complete the requirements of certain academic programs and/or to meet licensure requirements for certain professions.  If applicants have concerns about this matter, (or any past legal or background history) please contact the Dean’s Office of the intended academic program.

 

WORKSHOPS:

NYSED now requires all teacher certification workshops be documented on your transcripts, rather than on your Teach Account. Having them on your Teach Account is no longer necessary or encouraged.

Health & Safety Education Workshops: If you are a candidate in one of our undergraduate approved teacher preparation programs, or ANY graduate program that recommends for an Initial certificate, you must pass a 0-credit course called EDI095 Training in Health & Safety Education in order to graduate. Register for EDI095 on your account under Education Interdisciplinary. (This course is required for the School Counseling, Speech & Learning Disabilities, and School Leadership programs as well.)

Here's a video tutorial on .

Child Abuse Identification Workshop (CA ID), School Violence Prevention (SAVE) and Dignity for All Students Act (DASA) trainings need to be completed for your fieldwork observations and for graduation.

The recently revised CA ID Updated 2025 workshop (also called Mandated Reporter) is now offered for FREE by the . * Be sure to save a copy of the workshop certificate of completion at the end of the training to document it on your transcripts! (See below on how to document your workshops.*)

CA ID and SAVE (also called Violence Workshop) are . Enter the registration code NewPaltz9 for the special New Paltz rate. This code only works for ÐÇ¿Õ´«Ã½ students. (See below on how to document your workshops on your record here.*)

DASA (also called Dignity for All Students Act) campus workshops are offered virtually each semester. For Fall 2025: Oct 19 or Nov 9. Proof of completion will be documented on your transcripts and also reported to your TEACH Accounts once the workshops are completed. Register for either one with your credit card .***

***For DASA only: If you received a PELL Grant or an Excelsior Scholarship this year, please email in a copy of your award letter to [email protected] to register and have the DASA workshop fee waived. The document must include both your name, N#, the title your award, and a copy of your award letter (see ).

If neither of these DASA dates work for you, DASA is also . Enter the registration code NewPaltz9 for the special New Paltz rate. This code only works for ÐÇ¿Õ´«Ã½ students. (See below on how to document your workshops on your record here.*)

Autism: The Needs of Students with Autism Workshop: This training needs to be completed for graduation and recommendation by Special Education/Students with Disabilities and Speech & Language Disabilities teacher candidates only. For Fall 2025, a FREE and approved will be offered in-person in Old Main B125 on Thursday Nov 6 from 5-8:00 PM. (new link to come!)

Otherwise, take the Autism . Enter the registration code NewPaltz9 for the reduced New Paltz rate. This code only works for ÐÇ¿Õ´«Ã½ students. See below on how to document your workshops.*

*For all off-campus workshops, you must have your Child Abuse, SAVE, DASA, and/or Autism workshop documented on your permanent record here for graduation by sending a copy of your workshop certificate of completion to Records and Registration in Wooster Hall 115, or by emailing it to [email protected]  Please send the request from your @newpaltz.edu email account, which will allow them to authenticate your identity.

 

CERTIFICATION TESTS: 
Candidates for certification must achieve passing scores on the appropriate tests in the New York State Teacher Certification Examination (NYSTCE) program. Start by creating an account that matches your TEACH Account at .

Candidates will need to pass the EAS and the corresponding CST tests* to become certified. Here are the . 

Here's a tutorial video on . 

*TSSLD candidates will take the  rather than the CST, but this is required at the Professional certificate level. The Institution/Recipient code for the New York State Office of Teaching Initiatives is: 7737.

School Leadership Assessments (SLA): 
Passing scores on both the SDBL, SDL & SBL Revised Parts I and II are NO LONGER required for the CAS degree and certificate recommendation, only to complete the certificate application. However, School Leadership candidates do still need to pass the EAS for both the SDL and SBL certifications.

 

TEST PREPARATION:

Before testing, check out NYSTCE's  and  to know how to pace yourself.

Here's a video tutorial on .

Preparation for the EAS:
Here are the .
In addition to prepare for the demands of the English Language Learner portion of the EAS (Educating All Students) test, please refer to this PowerPoint on ELL for EAS training (still valid!) And here are the documents from our EAS training with Dr. Isaac:
Eas Rubric, RTI Pamphlet, EAS Review Ppt by Dr. Isaac.

Preparation for CSTs:
For preparation guides, test frameworks, passing scores, practice tests, and retake options for all of the CSTs, please select the CST you need to take from the  and click "GO."

Preparation for SLAs: For the dual School Leadership program + . And for the School Business program.

Test Score Reports: NYSTCE test score reports are released according to .

 

***New TEST SAFETY NETS (for Failed or Not Taken Exams):

CST Low Pass Waiver: The Board of Regents has established a waiver process for the CST (content specialty test) requirement for those who don’t pass the CST the first time.

Candidates who score within 0.5 standard error of measurement (SEM) of the passing score on a required Content Specialty Test (CST), and also to have achieved a cumulative GPA of 3.5 or higher in a completed Bachelor’s or Master’s degree (containing at least 30 semester hours) may apply for a waiver of the test after taking it once.

Here's the and also the for this option.


The EAS safety net passing score is 500. Candidates may use the EAS safety net passing score .

 

DEGREE APPLICATIONS:All students must apply for graduation and submit their Degree Application on . The degree application information is available on the Records and Registration website. You cannot get a College Recommendation for Certification from Rec&Reg without first submitting a Degree Application and having a conferred degree, whether or not you have completed the necessary coursework. 

Here's tutorial video on !

Teacher Certification Recommendation Authorization Form:
Remember: ÐÇ¿Õ´«Ã½ cannot recommend you for certification without your permission. Be sure to "sign" / "click" on the release when applying for graduation above, authorizing ÐÇ¿Õ´«Ã½ to recommend you. If you forget to do this, here's how to fix that:
1.   Log into
2.   Click the Students tab if you are not there already
3.   Click School of Education (on the left under RESOURCES)
4.   Click Teacher Certification Recommendation Authorization Form and follow the instructions on the page.

Degree Verification: ÐÇ¿Õ´«Ã½ provides Enrollment and Degree Verification. Please send the request from your @newpaltz.edu email account, which will allow Records & Registration to authenticate your identity.

Receiving Your College Recommendation for Certification on TEACH:
Records & Registration will recommend you for certification after graduation (usually one to two weeks after), and then NYSED requires about 7 days to evaluate your application. 

 

TEACHING CERTIFICATE APPLICATION:
Our Student Application Information Sheets give step-by-step directions on how to apply for the appropriate teaching certificate and include the specific ÐÇ¿Õ´«Ã½ Code that corresponds to your registered degree and program at ÐÇ¿Õ´«Ã½.

Here's a video tutorial on .

The time to  has changed to after you've been recommended for certification by Records & Registration, so wait until 10 days after graduation before applying. You can apply for certification before taking or passing the NYSTCE exams.

TEACH Account New Password Reset:
There's a for students to retrieve their TEACH account user IDs and passwords with no waiting for email responses.

Receiving Your Teaching Certificate:
Records & Registration will recommend you for certification after your degree has been conferred (usually one to two weeks after grades are submitted), and then NYSED requires about 7 days to evaluate your application. Check your TEACH account "Evaluation History" for details on the processing of your application, as you may be missing a requirement, such as a workshop or a test. If all the requirements are met, you will be given a control number on your TEACH account, which you can use as verification for job applications. .

NYSED no longer prints and delivers paper certificates for time-limited certificates such as Initial & Provisional. If you need an original document, you can apply for  of your certificate.

 

PROFESSIONAL CERTIFICATION:

Candidates must complete at least three years of acceptable teaching experience or its equivalent (540 full-time days) for Professional certification.   directly on your Teach Account.

Candidates will also need a completed master's degree and a 1-year mentoring experience when they apply for their first Professional certification. Public school employers are responsible for reporting mentored experience for their certificate holders and .  

Certificate Progression:
If you weren't recommended for a Professional certification that you need to progress from Initial, see our step-by-step CertificateProgressionSP2023 directions (still valid!) on how to progress your Initial certification to Professional using a master’s degree in a different teachable content area from your bachelor's degree. Please send documentation to NYSED to complete your application .

Teacher Registration:
Every teacher applying for Professional certification must now  and apply for initial registration during his/her month of birth and renew his/her registration in the last year of each subsequent five-year period thereafter. Find out more about .

Professional Development for Professional Certificate Holders:
Professional certificate holders in all classroom teaching and school leader titles must complete and keep a record of all  (CTLE) or professional development during their Professional Development Period. 100 hours every 5 years are needed to maintain a Professional certificate and for teachers and school leaders to re-register their Professional certifications. Here are the . All CTLE must be completed with Approved Sponsors and reported using . Please use the  for your own records. Here’s a useful  requirements.

 

ADDING CERTIFICATIONS:
The College can recommend you only for the specific title and type of certification which corresponds to your program. If you are seeking to add other certifications, you must . To identify the specific requirements needed for any given certificate, check NYSED's . See our step-by-step Additional Certificate Directions 2019 (still valid!) on how to apply for an additional certificate. Please send documentation to NYSED to complete your application .

Here's a video tutorial on .

 

CERTIFICATION IN OTHER STATES:

Out-of-State Certification:
Please review ÐÇ¿Õ´«Ã½'s Professional Licensure & Certification Disclosures for out-of-state residents enrolled in any of our teacher education programs as well as our July 2024 Out-of-State Mandatory Eligibility Disclosure Statement.

Interstate Reciprocity:
Those wishing to teach in states other than New York should check the information on each state's  with New York.

Out-of-State Verification:
Those seeking employment as teachers in states other than New York should send the out-of-state verification forms to Bethanne Delgaudio at [email protected] in Records and Registration for the signature of the certification officer and the university seal (an original signature is sometimes required). Please send the request from your @newpaltz.edu email, which will allow Records & Registration to authenticate your identity.

 

PROGRAMS:
Undergraduate degree programs at ÐÇ¿Õ´«Ã½ that lead to Initial certification include:

Bachelor of Science in Elementary Education (Birth-6)

Bachelor of Science or Bachelor of Art in Adolescence Education (7-12)

Bachelor of Science in Art Education (Pre-K-12)

For graduate degree programs at ÐÇ¿Õ´«Ã½ that lead to Initial and Professional certification, including teacher education, school counseling, school leadership, and speech and language disabilities, please check the Graduate School's website.

 

CONTACT & RESOURCES:
School of Education Certification Officer Contact Information: Chris Whitaker, Old Main Building Room 218C, available Mon-Fri 11:00-5:00 for appointments: [email protected].

: 518-474-3901

DASA, SAVE, Child Abuse ID and Autism workshops  

Records & Registration: Wooster Hall Room 115. 845-257-3100.

Commencement Information: 845-257-3972