You have worked through the process of getting your education. You feel that you can sit back and relax now. However, no one is going to actually help you to get the Texas teacher certification you need until you apply for it. You cannot get this through the college or university you enrolled in.

You cannot get this from the teacher preparation program. Rather, you must apply through the state to obtain your standard certificate of education here.

How to Apply

To apply for your teacher certification, you will need to do that through the state’s board of education, the Texas Education Agency. You will provide all of the necessary documentation to back up your educational requirements. You will need to show the board of education that you have all of the necessary skills to become a teacher.

The Texas certification process is an elaborate one, but it is meant to prepare you for the field. Considering this, you may want to consider what it takes to apply.

• Once you complete all of the requirements set forth by the program you enrolled in to become a teacher, you can then apply online for your teacher’s certificate. Keep in mind this includes all academic education, the teacher preparation course and the required testing. After all of this is complete, you can apply.

• You will need to have a recommendation from the teacher preparation program or your other approved teacher program recommend you. This recommendation allows for the board to know that you have completed all requirements set forth by the state. It allows for the program to vouch for your educational accomplishments. The Standard Certificate recommendation is a must.

• You must then have a formal criminal background check done. This is a thorough investigation of your past to ensure there is no unacceptable level of criminal activity. This can deny your application instantly.

The state will select information to verify at this time. The type of information reviewed can be elaborate or minimal. However, it is never a good idea to provide false information about your ability to qualify for this type of position to the state. It is likely that you will be caught since education, teacher preparation and exam passage is all reviewed as part of the process.

Are you ready to apply to get your Texas teacher certification? If you are not sure, it is a good idea to work with your program instruction and ensure that you meet all requirements. It is a good idea to ensure that not only did you complete all of these requirements, but that they were formally completed by the school or the program you enrolled in. All of the signatures to show you were successful need to be provided.

Once you apply for the teacher certification, the Texas state board will email you to let you know your acceptance. You can then have your formal educator’s license and can begin obtaining applications to work within the state wherever you would like to.

Perhaps you would like to further your skill set after obtaining your Texas teacher certification. Many teachers do want to do this.

In particular, many will need to, or want to obtain their Texas classroom teaching certificate in another area of study. This is common in situations where the teacher wants to be able to teach in other subject areas aside from the original area he or she selected when becoming a teacher.

If it sounds like this is something you need to do, the first step in the process is to complete the required testing in that field. The state’s board of education does have specific requirements for you to follow to make this happen.

Requirements

If you wish to obtain an additional certification, based on examination, you will need to already have a current Texas, classroom teaching certificate. That means you should also have a bachelor’s degree.

If you did not have to have a bachelor’s degree in order to teach in the state (due to the type of coursework you decided to teach) you still must have a bachelor’s degree for the new area of study. If you are unsure if you meet all of the educational requirements to obtain this secondary teacher’s certification, you may want to consider talking to the board of education for approval.

What to Do

If you do meet the requirements to obtain an additional certification based on examination, you will need to complete the right certification examination for the area you hope to teach here. This means that you will need to decide which secondary area you would like to study in.

You will then need to complete any educational requirements necessary to ensure you have the foundational knowledge to teach in those areas. You must then successfully complete the subject area testing in those fields.

This type of certification by examination is not available for everyone. The following situations do not allow for you to simply sit for the examination but may require you to go back to school.

• You cannot use this method to obtain your initial Texas teacher certification.

• You cannot use this method if you have technology or career certification currently that is based solely on your work or skill experience levels.

• You cannot use it if you have a class of certification that is different from classroom teaching. This includes licenses such as counselor, superintendent, learning resources, educational diagnostician or school principal.

• You cannot use this method if there is no specific certification examination in the field of study you plan to take and specialize in at this point.

For those who want to expand their ability to teach into another field, this method is an acceptable option. You will need to take the examinations required for those subject matters and meet any other requirements set forth by the school board. In most cases, individuals can hold several types of classroom teacher subject area certifications, depending on their desires and the amount of foundational coursework they need to take in order to pass in that field.