Applying for Additional Certification to Teach Bilingual Students

• You must have initial New York State certification in effect (verify on your TEACH account). Note that that the bilingual extension covers the grades of the base certificate(s). For example, if you have early childhood initial certification, the bilingual extension will be for bilingual early childhood teaching.
• You must complete the course work and certification requirements. All current workshops are also required, including the updated mandated reporter training described here.
• Forward copies of your workshop certificates to the Certification Officer if they are not posted on your TEACH account and if you don’t have a previous college recommendation for certification The DASA workshop is now required for all titles. Be sure to block out your Social Security number except the last four digits if you are sending workshop certificates by fax or e-mail.
• You must complete the BEA (Bilingual Education Assessment).
• If your college recommendation for certification has not been posted on your TEACH account, and if you completed your program, contact the Certification Officer.
• Be sure the teaching title you have or will have can be used as a “base” certificate for bilingual teacher certification. You cannot add a bilingual extension to TSOL/ELL/ENL or foreign language teacher titles such as Spanish or French teacher, for example. How to check: Go to the NYSED website and search certification requirements, Other extensions, Bilingual education, Pre K–12, Bilingual education extension, Initial extension annotation (if you have initial certification). Open the link under Existing Valid Base NYSED Certification. Be sure the title you have or will have is on the list.
• The Bilingual extension PPS title is only for School Counselors and School Psychologists and other Pupil Personnel Service titles, which you can see listed if you go to the NYSED website. Search certification requirements, select Other extensions, Bilingual education, Pre K–12, Bilingual education extension PPS/Admin, Provisional extension annotation (if you have provisional certification), Existing Valid Base NYSED Certification. The courses required for a bilingual extension for PPS titles is different than the list below. To see the courses needed, check these links: School Counselors and School Psychologists.
• If you have professional certification already or not, if your employer did not send in a work experience form recently, you should have it sent in. For experience completed within the state of New York, the preferred method for an employer to verify it is by entering a Superintendent Statement onto TEACH. If the employer cannot enter a Superintendent Statement, they need to send the appropriate “Verification of Paid Experience” form.
• After you have your first professional certificate, the experience requirement should  be satisfied for any future professional classroom teaching certificate applications.

To Apply

• Log in to your TEACH account.
• Verify and update your profile.
• Select your certificate:

Bilingual Education related to the Advanced Certificate program only.

• Area of interest: Other Extensions
• Select a subject area: Bilingual Education
• Select a grade level: Pre-K–12 All Grades
• Select a title: Bilingual Education Extension
• Type of certificate: Initial Extension Annotation (if this is your first certificate in this area), or Professional Extension Annotation (if you have three years of teaching experience in any age group/subject)
  • Program code 31826 for traditional programs
  • Program code 32521 for Transitional B programs including the NYC Teaching Fellows
• Pathway for your first application: Approved Teacher Prep Program

If you have the initial extension annotation, when you apply for the professional extension annotation, use pathway: certificate progression.

What’s Next

Monitor your TEACH account, and check for any application evaluations that may be posted. Automated evaluations are posted when the computer has completed an evaluation. Manual evaluations are posted when your transcript and other documentation has been examined by an officer at the Office of Teaching Initiatives. Certificate effective dates will be posted on your TEACH account. You can pay a $25 fee to have a printed initial certificate if you wish. Certification can also be confirmed by going to the “Certificate Holder Lookup” link on the Office of Teaching Initiatives website.