How to become a teacher in District of Columbia

The Office of the State Superintendent of Education (OSSE) is the designated state education agency, and the State Superintendent is the designated Chief State School Officer for the District of Columbia (DC). OSSE is located at 1050 First Street, NE, Washington, DC 20002.

Completion of the 2023-2024 Title II HEA State Teacher Report Card is a collaborative effort between OSSE, the Educational Testing Service (ETS), and the approved educator preparation providers (EPPs) that operate in DC. This report is the culmination of two years of data collection and reporting. In the spring of 2024, EPPs submitted information on their candidate pipelines and program completers to ETS through its Title II online information system. ETS has an established cohort reporting system for its member states and DC.

OSSE completed a matrix of the testing areas and codes implemented by ETS as well as information provided by the EPPs to determine each institution’s aggregate and disaggregated pass rates on examinations that lead to an educator credential (also referred to as license or certification) in this jurisdiction. Program completers from approved EPPs are eligible for a DC educator credential upon completion of all testing and coursework requirements in each of the subject program areas.

A DC educator credential ensures that candidates meet the stipulated educational and experiential requirements in a specified subject or course of study for teaching, school administration, and/or health-based service providers. The credentialing process applies a set of sanctioned standards to determine whether a candidate meets the required competencies to earn a credential. A valid DC educator credential allows candidates access to practice in the education profession in this jurisdiction as well as the other US states and territories that participate in the interstate reciprocity agreement.

Once a candidate has demonstrated basic skills knowledge (via submission of evidence of passing test scores on the basic skills, content knowledge, and pedagogy examinations adopted by DC or an undergraduate GPA of 3.0 or higher, the educator credentialing process is administratively accomplished through the following pathways: (a) completion of any state-approved educator preparation program within an Institution of Higher Education (IHE) or alternate route organization or institution (AROI); (b) enforcement of interstate reciprocity rules for educators licensed in other states/jurisdictions; (c) possession of an initial DC educator credential and verification of two years full-time effective teaching conducted by an LEA and measured by summative performance evaluations directly in the proposed credentialing subject area; and/or (d) verification of two years full-time effective teaching conducted by an LEA and measured by summative performance evaluations directly in the proposed credentialing subject area.

DC participates in the National Association of State Director of Teacher Education and Certification (NASDTEC) interstate reciprocity agreement on the qualification of educational personnel. Forty-nine US states, the District of Columbia, US territories, the Department of Defense Schools, and some provinces in Canada currently participate in this agreement.

During 2023-24, there were 13 EPPs recognized by OSSE that provide training and preparation for teachers, administrators, and health-based school service providers. In DC, an EPP may operate as a traditional EPP, within or as part of an institution of higher education (IHE), or as an Alternate Route Organization or Institution (AROI), within, as part of, or independently of an IHE.

In February 2020, OSSE announced an 18-month discretionary suspension of EPP approvals and renewals pending the promulgation of new regulations. The new regulations would establish the minimum requirements that enable the operation of EPPs and subject area programs that prepare candidates eligible to earn an educator credential in the District of Columbia to teach in the District of Columbia Public Schools. On April 1, 2021, OSSE issued an Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on its website for 30 calendar days to provide stakeholders an opportunity to provide advanced comments on proposed rulemaking. On January 21, 2022, a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking was published in the D.C. Register, which included revisions based on comments received during the ANPR, for a 30-day public comment period.

On Friday, June 24, 2022, the Office of the State Superintendent of Education (OSSE) finalized regulations establishing requirements for educator preparation providers and subject area programs preparing candidates to earn an educator credential in the District of Columbia. Along with establishing requirements for educator preparation providers and subject area programs, these regulations:

•Require all DC educator preparation providers and subject area programs to meet uniform, national standards;

•Establish a new needs assessment requirement that enables educator preparation providers and subject area programs to describe their recruitment and enrollment strategies to meet local education agency needs in the District;

•Ensure that all elementary, special education, reading, and early childhood subject area programs, as well as any subject area program preparing candidates with primary responsibility for literacy instruction, provide evidence that candidates are required to complete coursework and demonstrate competency in each of the five (5) components (phonemic awareness, phonics, oral reading fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension) of scientifically-based reading instruction; and

•Reinforce OSSE’s commitment to educator data transparency and accountability.

The final regulations went into effect on July 24, 2022 and are found in Subtitle A, title 5, Chapter 17 (5A DCMR § 1700, et seq.).