How to become a teacher in Kansas

Traditionally, Kansas has had a strong system of public education. The State Constitution acknowledges the responsibility of the state to provide a uniform system of common schools and schools of higher grades to ensure its social and economic well-being. In 1973, the Kansas Supreme Court determined that the State Board of Education had “self-executing powers,” which gave it the power to adopt rules, regulations, and policies concerning how schools are accredited, how teachers are licensed, minimum high school graduation requirements, and similar matters. This framework for educational supervision remains today. The Kansas State Board of Education approves the procedures and regulations governing accreditation of educator preparation providers, the approval of educator preparation programs, and the issuance of educator licenses in Kansas.

Accreditation of Educator Preparation Programs

In Kansas, the accreditation process examines each professional education unit, each Educator Preparation Provider (EPP). The program approval process focuses on specific content areas that lead to licensure. After an educator preparation provider is accredited and programs are approved, completers are eligible to be licensed to teach in Kansas elementary or secondary schools provided the applicant meets the established regulatory requirements. Today, Kansas has twenty-four accredited colleges and universities, plus one consortium, with 423 state approved educator preparation programs.

In 1988 Kansas entered into a partnership agreement with the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) and has been conducting joint accreditation visits since that time. A partnership agreement with the successor accreditation body, Council of Accreditation for Educator Preparation (CAEP), was established in 2013 and was renewed in 2021. Seventeen of the twenty-four Kansas accredited institutions of higher education also hold CAEP accreditation. In July 2017 the Kansas State Board of Education approved regulations adopting the CAEP standards as the Kansas accreditation standards.

Educator Preparation and Licensure

The Kansas Vision is that Kansas leads the world in the success of each student. A college degree became the requirement for a teaching certificate in 1959. Today an applicant for an initial license must hold a baccalaureate degree with a content major, complete an approved educator preparation program at an accredited institution, and pass required licensure examinations in pedagogy and content. . Preparation program content standards for teachers, administrators and school support personnel are being revised on a 10-year cycle, with 5 of the 46 sets of standards in final review and an additional 10 sets currently under revision. One additional license area is in the regulations creation process.

Licenses are issued at the following levels: early childhood (birth to kindergarten and birth to grade 3), elementary (K-6), middle (5-8), secondary (6-12), and all level (PreK-12). Regulations require a preservice candidate work sample to be completed as part of an initial program. License renewal requirements are based on additional college courses and/or professional development.

Substitute teachers in Kansas must also be licensed. A substitute teaching license may be issued to any applicant who has a baccalaureate degree and has completed a state-approved teacher education program. A person holding a substitute-teaching license may not teach more than 90 days in the same assignment. Kansas also issues Emergency Substitute Licenses for individuals with a minimum of 60 semester credit hours from a regionally accredited college or university. Beginning in 2022-2023, emergency substitute applicants were allowed to use successful completion of Greenbush Service Center training modules in lieu of 60 credit hours. Emergency Substitute license has limitations on the number of days the individual can spend in any one assignment.

Kansas educator preparation programs are built upon an outcomes-based design that demands teacher candidates demonstrate what they know and what they are able to do. Data inform the decisions made in the programs. Licenses are issued on a continuum of three phases that reflect the educator's progress from novice educator to accomplished practitioner. It is believed this system ensures the continuing strength of the Kansas public education system. The expectation continues to be one of improving the teaching and learning of children in all schools regardless of geographic location. In 2010, the Kansas State Board of Education adopted the Kansas College and Career Ready Standards for K-12 schools and has established equally high standards for the educators who will be working with those children. The newest Kansas initiatives continue to drive and support our high standards for education in our state.

Moving Forward

Kansas Education Systems Accreditation, or KESA, is a K-12 accreditation model approved by the Kansas State Board of Education in June of 2016. KESA officially began with the 2017-2018 school year. The KESA framework employs a systems approach to school improvement, accrediting systems instead of schools. It requires systems (Unified School Districts and accredited private schools) to engage in a transparent, data-based school improvement process.

Beginning in the 2024-2025 school year the Kansas State Department of Education will launch KESA 2.0. This new accreditation framework will continue maintain a focus on data-based school improvement, with an increased emphasis on four “fundamental” components of school improvement that form the basis for student achievement.

KSDE continues to address teacher vacancy and supply issues. The Commissioner of Education's Blue Ribbon Task Force established the Teacher Vacancy and Supply Committee as a standing committee of Teacher Licensure and Accreditation, to monitor teacher vacancy and supply data and report on the status of recruitment and retention efforts across the state.

In 2018-2019 and 2019-2020, the State Board of Education piloted two new alternative licensure pathways in Elementary Education and High Incidence Special Education. The pilots, developed and approved by the Kansas State Board of Education in response to recommendations by the Teacher Vacancy and Supply Committee, allowed higher ed institutions to use their current approved Elementary Education and High Incidence Special Education programs to train individuals with a Bachelor’s degree and who were recommended by school districts, and for the High Incidence Special Education Pilot who had at least one year of experience as a Special Education paraprofessional, through a Limited Residency process. Limited Residency Pilot candidates completed a supervised field experience in the first semester, and if successful were issued a Limited Residency License for the second semester, in which they could be hired as an Elementary or SPED teacher, respectively, while completing the program coursework within two years (including the coursework taken before being issued the Limited Residency License). The first pilot cohorts entered programs in Fall 2018. In 2020, the State Board approved the Limited Apprentice License for High incidence. The Elementary Limited Apprentice License (LAL) pilot was not renewed. A new Limited Elementary Residency Program (LERP) license was created in Fall 2023. In the 2024-2025 academic year the Limited Residency License for Special Education was expanded to support both High and Low Incidence.

The WSU TAP program routes to the LTAP license for Early Childhood Unified and Elementary Education.

Residency programs

In 2022-2023 KSDE hired a coordinator to build, develop, and implement a federal registered teacher apprenticeship program. KSDE registered federal apprenticeship approved by the Kansas Office of Apprenticeship in May 2023 for piloting in Fall 2023. The program was piloted for the 2023-2024 academic year. The first full statewide cohort was in the 2024-2025 academic year.