Obtaining Your Out-of-State Teaching License & Finding a Job: Tips & Tricks
Contact that state’s licensing office to find out how they treat licenses from the State of Oregon. Most states have a reciprocity agreement with to accept the Oregon license but still require applicants to take their Civil Rights and other tests.
While most states entered into a reciprocity agreement, it’s not full reciprocity. However, it is often the case that states won’t accept exams from other states and they sometimes require course work on state law or additional training to transfer certain endorsements. The rules change across states frequently so we do not attempt to advise students but revisit the process each year.
Purpose
Because I had a truly difficult experience obtaining my California teaching license, I wanted to ensure that future out-of-state teaching candidates don’t face application barriers as I did. Though my experience was involved with Oregon and California, I have interviewed Cohort 7’s members who have accepting teaching contracts out of state for your reference. If it’s useful, I’d love to see future cohort’s update this guide, rearrange it as necessary, and add additional information. The idea of the licensure guide is to make your life easier, and so I look forward to seeing edits and additions. For now, all of our tips and tricks are in a month-to-month breakdown of what we recommend doing to make your life as easy as possible.
Step One
Wait until you have your OR Teaching license before starting Washington and California’s application process. Once you have that license, you reduce your application fees drastically. Hawaii is the only state where you can receive your Hawaii license before your Oregon license.
COE Contract for Transfering your Oregon License
The Licensure Analyst, Richelle Krotts, in the College of Education is an excellent resource. She processes all UO information for your Oregon license to TSPC. If you have questions about the Oregon licensure process, don’t hesitate to contact her.
Richelle Chambers Krotts, Licensure Analyst/Student Records Coordinator
coelicensure@uoregon.edu, 541.346.3528
A. California – Apply for your CA License: http://www.ctc.ca.gov/credentials/submit-paper.html
Fill out as much as you can until you’re in the state.
- You will need to be fingerprinted for the CA state government before you can send in your application.
- All application materials must be sent as a complete set in one envelope. If you send things in separately, your application will not be reviewed.
- Application form: http://www.ctc.ca.gov/credentials/leaflets/414.pdf
- Fingerprinting Form: http://www.ctc.ca.gov/credentials/leaflets/41-LS.pdf
- Transcripts from your undergraduate & graduate universities
- A money order for $100
B. Washington – issues the Residency Teacher Certificate to most first-time and out-of-state applicants for a regular teaching certificate. The first level certificate is issued as something called the “Residency Certificate (First Issue).” The Residency Certificate is valid until the holder is reported as employed by a Washington school district teacher with 1.5 years or more experience as a full time teacher. The certificate has to be reissued within three years of the expiration date. Before I get into the details of what you need to submit to obtain your license, please create an account.
- Creating an Online Account/Application – https://eds.ospi.k12.wa.us
- Submit your licensure application – http://www.k12.wa.us/certification/certapp/4020E.pdf
C.Hawaii Licensing & Jobs resources
- http://www.hawaiipublicschools.org/ConnectWithUs/Employment/JobOpportunities/Pages/teachers.aspx
- http://www.hawaiipublicschools.org/ConnectWithUs/Employment/JobOpportunities/Pages/Teacher-Application-FAQs.aspx
- http://www.hawaiipublicschools.org/ConnectWithUs/Employment/JobOpportunities/Pages/Out-of-state-recruitment.aspx
D.) Montana Licensing Tests Requirements
Montana requires Praxis exams and does not accept the ORELA/NES exams for licensure. Other states, like Washington, are more open; Washington doesn’t even require licensure in Oregon before transferring. They accept our exams for most endorsements and will license directly based on an Oregon licensure program.
About the initial author
I’m a Cohort 7 graduate (Class of 2016) and a newly licensed teacher in Oregon and soon to be California. I accepted a position in Monterey, CA teaching 9th grade English Language Arts and English Language Development. However, moving through the program, my primary endorsement was Social Studies, as I was a History major and American Ethnic Studies minor at Willamette University. Though I eventually hope to move back into social studies, I’m really happy with my school and my district. Please feel free to contact me about your questions or concerns. I generally answer my email within a day or two. Email: kplunkettfranklin@gmail.com