Alaska Teacher Licensure Guide for Online Master's Students

Who Licenses Teachers in Alaska, and Which Exams Does It Use?

Alaska licenses teachers through Alaska Department of Education and Early Development, Teacher Certification, and the exams it requires are the Praxis tests from ETS.

For the programs themselves, the online master's in education programs at universities in Alaska are ranked at the in-state price, and the national and specialty lists cover schools in other states.

How Do I Get an Alaska Teaching License With an Online Master's?

Getting an Alaska teaching license with an online master's begins with the Initial Two Year or Three Year Teacher Certificate, which the department issues to new teachers who finished a preparation program. Applicants need a bachelor's degree from a regionally or nationally accredited university, passing scores on a basic competency exam and a content exam, a fingerprint card and completed trainings.

A master's is not among those conditions. The preparation program is verified on a State Approved Program Verification Form, so ask whether a school will complete one for Alaska. Federal graduate and tuition counts drive the elementary education and secondary education lists here, and those counts cannot show whether a school will sign.

Which Exams Does Alaska Require for Teacher Certification?

Alaska requires an approved basic competency exam and an approved content area exam for teacher certification, and the department lists Praxis II, Pearson's National Evaluation Series and ACTFL language tests among the current choices. ETS names the Praxis Core Academic Skills for Educators as one way to meet the basic competency requirement.

Teachers of grades K-3 also need the Alaska Reads Act endorsement, which the department's exam page ties to the Praxis Teaching Reading tests or Pearson's Foundations of Reading. Tell ETS to send scores to the department, state code 7027, because ETS does not forward them automatically when you test outside Alaska.

Can I Transfer a Teaching License to Alaska From Another State?

A teaching license can transfer to Alaska from another state as the Professional Out-of-State Teacher Certificate, which asks for a current, valid, regular certificate and two years of teaching under it. A regular certificate is renewable and rests on a bachelor's and an approved program with student teaching, not a provisional, emergency, substitute or temporary document. It must still be valid when an Alaska district contract begins.

The Alaska certificate lasts two years and can be extended three more once the Alaska studies and multicultural courses are finished. The 2020 Education Commission of the States comparison recorded extra coursework, and its assessment table extra assessments, for some out-of-state teachers, and the extension courses are where that shows today.

Does NC-SARA Membership Cover Teacher Certification for Alaska Online Master's Students?

NC-SARA membership covers Alaska online master's students only as far as a school's authority to serve them goes, and teacher certification lies outside it, since SARA does not address licensing board approval of teacher education programs. Alaska has belonged since May 2014. A participating school still owes you a statement of whether its program meets licensure requirements where you live, and the department makes the certification decision.

What Should I Ask an Online Program Before Enrolling From Alaska?

Before enrolling from Alaska, request the program's written statement on whether it meets Alaska requirements: 34 CFR 668.43 has schools that advertise licensure list the states where the program does and does not qualify, and notify you before enrollment if the answer is no or was never worked out.

The Alaska questions follow: will the school sign the State Approved Program Verification Form, can the student teaching or clinical placement happen near your home, which exams does the curriculum prepare you for, and does coursework carry credit toward the department's approved Alaska studies and multicultural lists?

Which Alaska Studies Courses and Trainings Does an Alaska Teaching Certificate Require?

An Alaska teaching certificate requires Alaska studies and Alaska multicultural coursework plus four mandatory trainings, and a course counts only if it appears on the department's approved list, and some are offered by distance delivery.

The trainings cover sexual abuse, alcohol and drug-related disabilities, dating violence and suicide awareness, and they must be completed within five years before you apply. Only trainings approved by an Alaska school district or the department qualify.

Which Certificate Do Alaska Principals and School Counselors Need?

An Alaska principal needs a Type B Administrative certificate, and the provisional version asks for a master's degree or higher, an approved school administration program and three years as a certificated teacher or special service provider. The regular five-year version adds the Alaska studies and multicultural courses.

A school counselor needs a Type C Special Services certificate, and the regular version asks for a bachelor's degree or higher, completion of a program in the service area and the preparing institution's recommendation. Both lists are what an online master's in educational leadership or school counseling has to line up with.