Educator Certification
Out of State Applicant Information
The following information is designed to assist out of state applicants in learning more about teacher certification in Illinois and in preparing an application for a certificate. Please note that transcript evaluation is available only to individuals who have (1) Completed a state approved education program for the certificate sought; or (2) Hold a valid and comparable certificate from another state or territory. This information applies to professional teaching certificates.
Types
of Certificates
The Illinois State Board of Education issues the following types of professional certificates:
-
Teaching Certificates
Administrative Certificates
School Service Personnel Certificates
Out-of-State Application Checklist 
November 2012) - Updated! Testing Requirements
Teaching Certification
Individuals seeking certification as a teacher in Illinois must pass the following tests:
- the Basic Skills; and
- the appropriate content area test; and
- the appropriate Assessment of Professional Teaching (APT) test.
- Learning Behavior Specialist I
- Teacher of Students Who Are Blind or Visually Impaired
- Teacher of Students Who Are Deaf or Hard of Hearing
- Speech-Language Pathologist: Teaching
Administrative Certification
Individuals seeking certification as an administrator in Illinois must pass the following tests:
- the Basic Skills; and
- the appropriate content area test.
School Service
Personnel Certification
Individuals seeking school service personnel certification in Illinois must pass the following tests:
- the Basic Skills; and
- the appropriate content area test.
Please visit the Illinois Certification Testing System Website for information regarding test registration, test dates, fees, study guides, and much more!
Provisional
Certificates
A provisional certificate may be issued when an applicant who holds a valid, comparable certificate from another state does not meet all Illinois requirements. A provisional certificate is valid for at least two full fiscal years. A fiscal year begins on July 1 and ends on June 30 of the next calendar year, so if a provisional certificate is issued after July 1 of any year it is valid for 2 full fiscal years after the following June 30; in other words, a provisional certificate issued on July 1 is valid for 3 fiscal years.
A provisional certificate may be used during the period of its validity for appropriate employment. During the validity period, the holder must remove all listed deficiencies. Before requesting a provisional, the applicant should be aware of the following:
- If all deficiencies are removed during the fiscal year in
which the certificate was issued, the provisional will be
exchanged for a regular certificate; no additional fee is
required. If deficiencies are removed after June 30 following issuance of the provisional certificate, a new application and fee will be required for issuance of the regular certificate.
- Only one provisional certificate of a given type may be issued to an applicant.
