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Office of Teaching Initiatives

Getting Started

Individual Evaluation of U.S. Credentials

PLEASE NOTE: In most cases your application will not be "Ready for Review" (See Status Here) until our office received your college transcripts. Note: if you have a foreign transcript, it must be evaluated by an acceptable credential evaluation service (credential evaluation reports) and be submitted by the organization. We will not evaluate transcripts that are not evaluated through one of these organizations.

  • Transcripts
  • Foreign Credentials: More information and a list of acceptable credential evaluation services organizations
  • Notice of Individual Evaluation Deadline

You may submit an application for an evaluation of your credentials for a certificate. Before applying for a Certificate, please search for the requirements for the certificate you are requesting using the .

If you satisfy those requirements, the State Education Department will issue the appropriate certificate. If you do not qualify, we will provide a detailed written evaluation listing the remaining requirements you need to meet in order to receive the specified certificate.

Evaluation through Regional Certification Offices

Individual evaluation (in most certificate areas) is available through any of the Regional Certification Offices located at Boards of Cooperative Educational Services throughout New York State. Applications submitted through the Regional Certification Offices are forwarded for review by the State Education Department. Regional Offices accept applications ONLY from those living within the office's jurisdiction or employed by one of its member school districts.

Review Policy

Please note that applications are valid for 3 years from the date they were submitted, or two manual evaluations - whichever comes first. If you do not satisfy the requirements within the lifetime of your application, your application will be disapproved and will no longer be active. If this happens, you may apply for certification again in the certification you applied for is still available. Then, you will have to submit documentation that satisfies all requirements listed on the application at that time.

Satisfaction of Unmet Requirements

First, go to Coursework to Satisfy Unmet Requirements for information about how to satisfy certification requirements.

If you have not met all requirements for a certificate, you should complete all remaining course, assessment, and/or experience requirements first, and then submit the necessary original transcripts and other documentation at ONE time.

DO NOT SUBMIT INDIVIDUAL DOCUMENTS AS YOU COMPLETE EACH REQUIREMENT.

If you are required to submit transcripts, you must have official transcript(s)Ìýsent directly to this office by each of the institutions you attended. If coursework appears as transfer credit, an official transcript showing the coursework must be submitted from the college at which the courses were completed.

If you have a maiden name, please make sure that it is listed in the Personal Information section of your TEACH profile. Also, all institutions of higher education that you attended must be identified in your TEACH account in the "Education Information" table when you apply for a certificate in TEACH. You may also update this information by going to the "Update/Add Education, Employment and Personal Information" link in your TEACH account.

  • If you requested a transcript to be sent to the Office of Teaching Initiatives by your institution or a third party service and it is not recorded in your TEACH account within two to four weeks (please confirm you had them sent to the Office of Teaching Initiatives), it may be that your identifying information was not included on your transcript. If you believe a transcript may have been received by our office but not recorded, please email us at notinteach@nysed.govÌýand include the following in the body of your email: full name, either your date of birth or the last four digits of your SSN, and specific information about the transcript(s) that are not in TEACH. This information should include the institution, the type of degree, which was awarded, your graduation date and a screen shot of your transcript receipt. You can resend the same document if you do not see your document in TEACH after six weeks.
  • More information on submitting documents: Submitting Documents
  • To see if your document has been processed, go to the "Documents" table within the "Correspondence" section of your TEACH account.
Verification of Work Experience

NYS public schools, BOCES, and NYS charter schools must submit verifications by entering an electronic Superintendent Statement ("Classroom Teaching Experience") onto the applicant's TEACH account. Approved private schools in NYS and schools outside of NYS may use these forms. The employer(s) submit the completed forms to your TEACH account by emailing them at OTIEXPVERIF@91°µÍø.GOV.

For other employers, this form must be completed and submitted by one of the following individuals: Superintendent, Superintendent's designee, Director of Human Resources, Chief School Officer of the approved nonpublic/independent school, or in the case of Speech and Language Disabilities or Students with Disabilities experience only, the authorized official listed for the approved contracting agency.

Note:ÌýAll experience must be directly verified by the employer. Please have your electronically submit a superintendent statement directly onto your account or complete and submit the appropriate formÌýverifying your classroom teacher experience.

For the NYC DOE, you must contact Human Resources Directors to enter the verification of experience electronically into your TEACH account.