New York Teacher Licensure Guide for Online Master's Students

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

New York licenses teachers through New York State Education Department, Office of Teaching Initiatives, and the exams it requires are the NYSTCE, the New York State Teacher Certification Examinations.

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

How Do I Get a New York Teaching License With an Online Master's?

Getting a New York teaching license with an online master's starts with the Initial certificate, which the Office of Teaching Initiatives calls the entry-level certificate for classroom teachers, valid for five years. New York does not pre-approve programs completed in other states, so a resident who enrolls in an out-of-state online program is relying on a review that happens after the application is filed.

For completers from other states, the comparable-program pathway asks for a program like a New York-registered one that would lead to a recommendation in its own state, a bachelor's degree, a 2.5 grade point average, passing exam scores, fingerprinting and workshops. Our rankings do not measure comparability, so ask the school.

Does New York Require a Master's Degree for a Professional Teaching Certificate?

New York requires a master's degree for the Professional certificate, because every application to advance from Initial to Professional needs one, with three years of acceptable experience and mentored experience. The degree can qualify in three ways: it leads to educator certification where the institution sits, it is in your certificate's content area or a related area, or it is in any field and includes 12 semester hours of graduate content study.

Special education, curriculum and instruction, educational technology, literacy, bilingual education and teaching English as a second language count as related areas for every title, so an online master's in special education, curriculum and instruction, educational technology, reading and literacy or TESOL can serve any teaching field.

Which Exams Does New York Require for Teacher Certification?

New York certification typically requires tests from the New York State Teacher Certification Examinations, and the Office of Teaching Initiatives names the Educating All Students test, the Content Specialty Tests and the School Leadership Assessments among them. Within that list, Praxis appears only as the speech-language pathology test for the Professional Speech and Language Disabilities certificate.

The edTPA stopped being a requirement on April 27, 2022, and specified Praxis and NES exams can now meet the content knowledge requirement when the test code and score match the office's chart.

Can I Transfer a Teaching License to New York From Another State?

A teaching license from another state can reach New York by endorsement, and the Office of Teaching Initiatives offers three pathways: three years of certified public school experience, a comparable program, or the Enhanced Comparable Program. The out-of-state certificate must be active, regular and in a comparable subject and level, and the office decides acceptability.

The Enhanced Comparable pathway serves classroom teachers who finished a traditional program in a listed state, and its list includes Ohio, New Jersey and Pennsylvania but not Texas or California. It issues only the Initial certificate, and school leaders and counselors likewise start at Initial.

The Education Commission of the States' 2020 comparison recorded New York as not a NASDTEC Interstate Agreement participant, requiring extra training and extra exams for those without enough experience.

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

NC-SARA membership leaves teacher certification untouched for New York online master's students: NC-SARA states that SARA does not address licensing board approval of teacher education programs. New York joined in December 2016, so a participating school can enroll New Yorkers online under a streamlined approval, but the Office of Teaching Initiatives decides licensure and does not pre-approve programs completed elsewhere.

What Should I Ask an Online Program Before Enrolling From New York?

Before enrolling from New York, ask the online program for a written statement of whether it has determined that its curriculum meets New York requirements for your certificate. Federal rule 34 CFR 668.43 obliges a school that advertises licensure preparation to list the states where the program does and does not qualify, and to give notice before enrollment when it found a shortfall for your state or reached no finding.

Then ask the New York questions: would the program lead to a recommendation in its own state, is that state on the Enhanced Comparable list, does a counseling program hold CACREP approval, and does a leadership program follow the Professional Standards for Educational Leaders?

Which Certificates Do New York School Building Leaders and School Counselors Need?

A New York school building leader who completed a program elsewhere applies at the Initial level, and the pathway asks for a bachelor's and a master's, three years of teaching or pupil personnel service, 21 semester hours of leadership coursework with an internship, and exams. The program must align with the Professional Standards for Educational Leaders, and its state or the college must have adopted them.

For school counselors, the office requires CACREP approval before an out-of-state program counts as comparable. Check that before choosing an online master's in school counseling or educational leadership.