North Dakota Teacher Licensure Guide for Online Master's Students

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

North Dakota licenses teachers through North Dakota Education Standards and Practices Board, 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 North Dakota are ranked at the in-state price, and the national and specialty lists cover schools in other states.

How Do I Get a North Dakota Teaching License With an Online Master's?

A North Dakota teaching license with an online master's comes from the Education Standards and Practices Board, which issues a two-year Initial In-State License to first-time applicants who meet every North Dakota requirement. The five-year Educator's Professional License follows after 18 months of successful contracted teaching in the state.

Licenses are written by grade band: early childhood from birth to grade 3, kindergarten, elementary for grades 1 to 8, and secondary for grades 5 to 12 in the content area only, with art, world languages, music, physical education and computer education running from prekindergarten to grade 12. Our elementary education and secondary education rankings can narrow the list afterward.

Which Exams Does North Dakota Require for Teacher Licensure?

North Dakota requires Praxis Core Academic Skills for Educators exams in reading, writing and math, plus a Praxis subject test for the endorsement. The Core exams are met either with a qualifying score in each area or with a composite of 466 and minimums of 149, 153 and 143.

Scores from the older Pre-Professional Skills Test remain valid, but the board does not let you mix them with Core scores. A retake is allowed once every 21 days. School counselors take the separate School Counselor subject test, number 5422, as the counselor licensure page notes.

Can I Transfer a Teaching License to North Dakota From Another State?

A teaching license can be transferred to North Dakota as an Other State Educator License when it came from an approved program elsewhere. If you never tested in the sending state and were licensed after 2002, you have two years to finish North Dakota's tests. Someone licensed through an alternative program in another state must pass Praxis Core and subject tests first.

A graduate with no license gets an Out-of-State Reciprocal License after a transcript analysis builds a plan of study, and it can be issued twice, giving five years to finish. The Education Commission of the States' 2020 comparison flagged extra coursework after a transcript analysis and extra assessments for some candidates, which matches that plan of study.

What North Dakota Requirements Apply to Out-of-State Teachers Besides Exams?

Beyond exams, North Dakota applies two requirements to out-of-state teachers: youth mental health competencies under Century Code 15.1-13-35, and beginning reading competencies under House Bill 1231 for initial license applicants, effective July 1, 2023.

Graduates from outside the state meet the mental health rule with district professional development or a course from an accredited provider, documented by a letter, certificate or transcript. Either rule allows a provisional license for up to two years while you finish.

Does NC-SARA Membership Cover Teacher Licensure for North Dakota Online Master's Students?

North Dakota's membership in NC-SARA stops short of teacher licensure for online master's students. The state was approved in April 2014, and NC-SARA says SARA does not address licensing board approval for teacher education; the Education Standards and Practices Board alone decides which license your coursework earns.

Disclosure is what SARA does require: your school must say whether the program fits licensure rules where you live.

What Should I Ask an Online Program Before Enrolling From North Dakota?

An online program should answer in writing, before you enroll from North Dakota, what it found under 34 CFR 668.43. That rule has a school advertising licensure preparation list the states where it does and does not qualify, and alert you ahead of enrollment if yours is unassessed.

Four state-specific points follow. Will the program leave you with a license in its own state, so the Other State Educator License applies? Does it cover youth mental health and beginning reading? Is its leadership program approved in North Dakota? Where can you do student teaching near home?

Which License Do North Dakota Principals and School Counselors Need?

A North Dakota principal needs a credential from the Department of Public Instruction: three years of teaching or administrative experience and a master's in educational administration, or a master's in another field plus 20 graduate credits in a state-approved leadership program. The department no longer reviews transcripts for alignment, so ask the program.

A school counselor needs an educator license from the board and a counseling credential from the department. A master's in counseling from outside the state without a counseling license elsewhere enters through the reciprocal license, with coursework in educational psychology, classroom management, instructional planning and Native American studies.