AL certification
Alabama teacher certification
Teaching credentials in Alabama
Each row is a credential Alabama reported to Title II. Initial means a first credential for a new teacher. Years is the length of validity.
| Credential | Initial | Years | Renewable | Grade levels |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adjunct Instructor License | Yes | 3 | No | 6-12, 6-12 |
| Apprenticeship License | Yes | 2 | No | PK-6, 4-8, 6-12 |
| Bachelor's Equivalent 1 Health Science, Career and Technical | Yes | 2 | No | 6-12 |
| Bachelor's Equivalent 1Technical Education, Career and Technical | Yes | 2 | No | 6-12 |
| Bachelor's Equivalent 2 Health Science, Career and Technical | No | 5 | Yes | 6-12 |
| Bachelor's Equivalent 2 Technical Education, Career and Technical | No | 5 | Yes | 6-12 |
| Career and Technical Education Temporary Certificate | Yes | 1 | No | 6-12 |
| Class A Professional Educator (Alternative Approach) | Yes | 5 | Yes | K-6, 4-8, 6-12 |
| Class A Professional Educator Certificate (Traditional Approach) | No | 5 | Yes | K-6, 4-8, 6-12 |
| Class AA Professional Educator Certificate | No | 5 | Yes | K-6, 4-8, 6-12 |
| Class B Professional Educator Certificate | Yes | 5 | Yes | K-6, 4-8, 6-12 |
| Computer Science Course Specific Permit | No | 3 | No | 6-12 |
| Conditional Certificate in a Teaching Field | Yes | 4 | No | 4-8, 6-12 |
| Emergency Certificate | Yes | 1 | No | K-6, 4-8, 6-12 |
| Interim Certificate | Yes | 1 | No | K-6, 4-8, 6-12 |
| Junior Reserve Office Training Corps (ROTC) Certificate | Yes | 5 | No | 6-12 |
| Long-term Student Substitute License | No | 1 | No | PK-6, 4-8, 6-12 |
| Master's Equivalent 3 Health Science, Career and Technical | No | 5 | Yes | 6-12 |
| Master's Equivalent 3 Technical Education, Career and Technical | No | 5 | Yes | 6-12 |
| Master's Equivalent 4 Technical Education, Career and Technical | No | 5 | Yes | 6-12 |
| Provisional Certificate in a Teaching Field (PCTF) | Yes | 1 | Yes | 6-12 |
| Sixth-year Equivalent 4 Health Science, Career and Technical | No | 5 | Yes | 6-12 |
| Sixth-Year Equivalent 5 Technical Education, Career and Technical | No | 5 | Yes | 6-12 |
| Temporary Special Education Certificate | Yes | 1 | No | 4-8, 6-12 |
Requirements
Yes means the state reports the item as required for that credential. Tests shows only whether tests are required; Title II does not name the tests.
| Credential | Bachelor's | Master's | Education degree | Prep program | Tests | Performance assessment | Clinical | Coursework | Credit hours | Min. GPA | Transcripts | Employment | Mentoring | Recency | Background check | Fingerprint | Police check |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adjunct Instructor License | No | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Apprenticeship License | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Bachelor's Equivalent 1 Health Science, Career and Technical | No | No | No | No | Yes | No | No | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes | Yes | No |
| Bachelor's Equivalent 1Technical Education, Career and Technical | No | No | No | No | Yes | No | No | Yes | No | No | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes | Yes | No |
| Bachelor's Equivalent 2 Health Science, Career and Technical | No | No | No | No | Yes | No | No | Yes | No | No | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes | Yes | No |
| Bachelor's Equivalent 2 Technical Education, Career and Technical | No | No | No | No | Yes | No | No | Yes | No | No | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes | Yes | No |
| Career and Technical Education Temporary Certificate | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Class A Professional Educator (Alternative Approach) | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Class A Professional Educator Certificate (Traditional Approach) | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Class AA Professional Educator Certificate | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Class B Professional Educator Certificate | Yes | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Computer Science Course Specific Permit | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | Yes | No | No | No | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Conditional Certificate in a Teaching Field | Yes | No | No | No | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Emergency Certificate | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Interim Certificate | Yes | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Junior Reserve Office Training Corps (ROTC) Certificate | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Long-term Student Substitute License | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | Yes | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Master's Equivalent 3 Health Science, Career and Technical | Yes | No | No | No | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes | Yes | No |
| Master's Equivalent 3 Technical Education, Career and Technical | No | No | No | No | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes | Yes | No |
| Master's Equivalent 4 Technical Education, Career and Technical | Yes | No | No | No | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes | Yes | No |
| Provisional Certificate in a Teaching Field (PCTF) | Yes | No | No | No | Yes | No | No | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Sixth-year Equivalent 4 Health Science, Career and Technical | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes | Yes | No |
| Sixth-Year Equivalent 5 Technical Education, Career and Technical | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes | Yes | No |
| Temporary Special Education Certificate | Yes | No | No | No | Yes | No | No | No | No | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Verify a teaching license in Alabama
Teaching licenses in Alabama are verified on the lookup service run by Alabama State Department of Education. Search there by the teacher's name or certificate number to see current status.
PT3 does not verify licenses and holds no records of individual teachers.
Renewal
Renew times is how many times the credential can be renewed; renewal years is the length of each renewal.
| Credential | Renewable | Renew times | Renewal years | Details |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adjunct Instructor License | No | Not reported | Not reported | Not reported |
| Apprenticeship License | No | Not reported | Not reported | Not reported |
| Bachelor's Equivalent 1 Health Science, Career and Technical | No | Not reported | Not reported | Not reported |
| Bachelor's Equivalent 1Technical Education, Career and Technical | No | Not reported | Not reported | Not reported |
| Bachelor's Equivalent 2 Health Science, Career and Technical | Yes | 100 | 5 | State license and professional development |
| Bachelor's Equivalent 2 Technical Education, Career and Technical | Yes | 100 | 5 | professional development and occupational proficiency |
| Career and Technical Education Temporary Certificate | No | Not reported | Not reported | Not reported |
| Class A Professional Educator (Alternative Approach) | Yes | 99 | 5 | See pages 240.12-240.30 of the Teacher Certification Chapter of the Administrative Code adopted on April 24, 2016, and accessible via this link: http://www.alsde.edu/html/sections/doc_download.asp?section=66&id=13422&sort=7. |
| Class A Professional Educator Certificate (Traditional Approach) | Yes | 99 | 5 | See pages 240.12-240.30 of the Teacher Certification Chapter of the Administrative Code adopted on April 24, 2016, and accessible via this link: http://www.alsde.edu/html/sections/doc_download.asp?section=66&id=13422&sort=7. |
| Class AA Professional Educator Certificate | Yes | 99 | 5 | See pages 240.12-240.30 of the Teacher Certification Chapter of the Administrative Code adopted on April 24, 2016, and accessible via this link: http://www.alsde.edu/html/sections/doc_download.asp?section=66&id=13422&sort=7. |
| Class B Professional Educator Certificate | Yes | 99 | 5 | See pages 240.12-240.30 of the Teacher Certification Chapter of the Administrative Code adopted on April 24, 2016, and accessible via this link: http://www.alsde.edu/html/sections/doc_download.asp?section=66&id=13422&sort=7. |
| Computer Science Course Specific Permit | No | Not reported | Not reported | Not reported |
| Conditional Certificate in a Teaching Field | No | Not reported | Not reported | Not reported |
| Emergency Certificate | No | Not reported | Not reported | Not reported |
| Interim Certificate | No | Not reported | Not reported | Not reported |
| Junior Reserve Office Training Corps (ROTC) Certificate | No | Not reported | Not reported | Not reported |
| Long-term Student Substitute License | No | Not reported | Not reported | Not reported |
| Master's Equivalent 3 Health Science, Career and Technical | Yes | 100 | 5 | Professional development and occupational proficiency |
| Master's Equivalent 3 Technical Education, Career and Technical | Yes | 100 | 5 | Professional development and occupational proficiency |
| Master's Equivalent 4 Technical Education, Career and Technical | Yes | 100 | 5 | Professional development and occupational proficiency |
| Provisional Certificate in a Teaching Field (PCTF) | Yes | 2 | 1 | This is a progressive credential. The first PCTF, second PCTF, and third PCTF each have specific requirements. After an applicant has completed the requirements for the third PCTF, the applicant may apply for a renewable Professional Educator Certificate. |
| Sixth-year Equivalent 4 Health Science, Career and Technical | Yes | 100 | 5 | Professional development and occupational proficiency |
| Sixth-Year Equivalent 5 Technical Education, Career and Technical | Yes | 100 | 5 | Professional development and occupational proficiency |
| Temporary Special Education Certificate | No | Not reported | Not reported | Not reported |
Emergency and temporary credentials
| Credential | Initial | Years | Renewable | Grade levels |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adjunct Instructor License | Yes | 3 | No | 6-12, 6-12 |
| Apprenticeship License | Yes | 2 | No | PK-6, 4-8, 6-12 |
| Bachelor's Equivalent 1 Health Science, Career and Technical | Yes | 2 | No | 6-12 |
| Bachelor's Equivalent 1Technical Education, Career and Technical | Yes | 2 | No | 6-12 |
| Career and Technical Education Temporary Certificate | Yes | 1 | No | 6-12 |
| Computer Science Course Specific Permit | No | 3 | No | 6-12 |
| Conditional Certificate in a Teaching Field | Yes | 4 | No | 4-8, 6-12 |
| Emergency Certificate | Yes | 1 | No | K-6, 4-8, 6-12 |
| Interim Certificate | Yes | 1 | No | K-6, 4-8, 6-12 |
| Temporary Special Education Certificate | Yes | 1 | No | 4-8, 6-12 |
Out-of-state teachers
Title II lists no separate out-of-state credential for Alabama. Ask Alabama State Department of Education how it reviews licenses from other states.
Newly licensed teachers prepared out of state: 3,364.
Substitute teaching
| Credential | Initial | Years | Renewable | Grade levels |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Long-term Student Substitute License | No | 1 | No | PK-6, 4-8, 6-12 |
Alternative routes
- Alternative Class A (master's level) Program Approach (teach while completing)
- Computer Science (teach while completing)
- Conditional Certificate in a Teaching Field (CCTF) (teach while completing)
- Provisional Certification in the Teaching Field (PCTF) (teach while completing)
- Temporary Special Education Certificate (teach while completing)
About Alabama certification
Alabama issues Professional Educator Certificates (PECs) for educators at three levels: Class B (bachelor’s degree), Class A (master’s degree), and Class AA (education specialist degree). At the Class A level, Alabama offers Alternative A programs tailored for initial certification and traditional Class A programs intended for advanced certification in various teaching fields. Certificates for instructional support personnel, including library-media specialists, school counselors, and instructional leaders, are awarded at the Class A and AA levels. Subsequent sections of this report will not address instructional support programs.
Certification standards were initially established and adopted by the Alabama State Board of Education (ALSBE) during the 1977-1978 academic year. Each subsequent iteration of these standards has become progressively less prescriptive while simultaneously demanding higher levels of accountability from the institutions in Alabama that prepare teachers and educational support personnel. The current standards delineate the requisite knowledge and competencies that prospective teachers and instructional support staff must demonstrate before completing their programs. These standards are aligned with those of Specialized Professional Associations (SPAs) and the Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation (CAEP), placing a significant emphasis on performance assessments and the evaluation of content knowledge before certification. Collectively, these standards underpin the development of preparation programs and the state approval process.
On January 27, 2010, after nearly a 30-year testing hiatus, Alabama was released from a federal court order pertaining to the testing of prospective teachers. Historically, the completion of basic skills and content knowledge assessments was mandated for certification. Evaluation Testing Services (ETS) was selected as the primary vendor to administer these assessments in the state.
Alabama deleted basic skills testing as a requirement for unconditional admission to an Alternative A program in 2019 and a Class B program in 2020. Additionally, Pearson was added as a test vendor for the edTPA pedagogical content performance-based assessments (2018) and the Foundations of Reading assessment (2022).
The Alabama State Board of Education (ALSBE) also adopted standards that allow superintendents to request alternative certificates to employ qualified applicants with subject matter expertise while they meet the requirements for a PEC. Alabama only allows three years of employment based on holding an alternative certificate. To obtain the PEC, these individuals must also meet coursework and testing requirements. These routes are not institution-based programs and will not be addressed in subsequent sections of this report.
How to become a teacher in AlabamaAlabama teacher preparation providers
Frequently asked questions
How do I get a teaching certificate in Alabama?
Alabama reports 24 credentials to Title II, 13 of them initial. 7 initial credentials require a bachelor's degree, 3 require a preparation program and 9 require tests. Apply through Alabama State Department of Education.
How do I verify a teaching license in Alabama?
Licenses are verified on the lookup service run by Alabama State Department of Education. PT3 does not verify licenses.
Can I renew a Alabama teaching certificate?
12 of 24 Alabama credentials are reported as renewable. Renewal details by credential are listed in the Renewal section.
Does Alabama issue emergency or temporary teaching certificates?
Yes. Title II lists 10: Adjunct Instructor License; Apprenticeship License; Bachelor's Equivalent 1 Health Science, Career and Technical; Bachelor's Equivalent 1Technical Education, Career and Technical; Career and Technical Education Temporary Certificate.
Can I teach in Alabama with an out-of-state license?
Title II lists no separate out-of-state credential for Alabama. Ask Alabama State Department of Education how it reviews licenses from other states.
Is there alternative teacher certification in Alabama?
Yes. Alabama reports 5 alternative routes to Title II.