Checklist for Holders of Preliminary Teaching Credentials Who Want to Upgrade to a Clear
Applying for:
Upgrading a Preliminary Teaching Credential to Clear
Allows you to:
Obtain a Clear Teaching credential, which has no further requirements to meet besides submitting a renewal application every 5 years.
Before You Apply
You will need to obtain your fingerprint clearance specifically for the Commission. If you already have valid fingerprints on file with the Commission, it is not necessary to fingerprint each time you apply for a credential or permit. However, if your fingerprints are expired then you must re-establish fingerprints. Details on how to check your fingerprint status can be found at Check Application Status.
The online application will require you to answer questions related to your professional fitness. Please review How to Complete the CTC Online Professional Fitness Questions before completing the application. If you must answer "yes" to any of the professional fitness questions, please gather all documentation, including any required police reports, certified court records, and miscellaneous documents related to the incident and have them ready to upload as attachments along with the materials for verifying academic requirements listed below. If any of the records have been purged or are otherwise not available, provide an original statement from the agency on its official letterhead verifying that fact.
Ready to Apply?
The items below are required for this application. The Commission reserves the right to request the original(s) of any supporting documentation by mail to ensure authenticity.
A Preliminary Teaching Credential
- You must have a Preliminary Teaching Credential issued by the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing. The credential need not be currently valid.
- The following are considered acceptable types of teaching credentials:
- Multiple Subject Teaching Credential
- Single Subject Teaching Credential
- Education Specialist Instruction Credential
- PK-3 ECE Specialist Instruction Credential
- The following are NOT ACCEPTABLE types of teaching credentials:
- A teaching credential that is not Preliminary level, including emergency permits such as Provisional Internship Permits, Short-Term Staff Permits, and intern credentials.
- Designated Subjects Teaching Credentials, including Career Technical Education (CTE) Credentials and Adult Education Credentials.
- Any type of Services credential that was issued as Preliminary level, including Administrative Services Credentials, School Nurse Services Credentials, Pupil Personnel Services Credentials, and Speech-Language Pathology Services Credentials. (Services credentials are different from teaching credentials and do not authorize teaching.)
- Any kind of permit, including substitute teaching permits and Child Development Permits. These documents are not issued at the Clear level, so it is not possible to apply to upgrade them to Clear.
- NOTE: It is not necessary to attach anything as proof, since the Commission will already have this information if you were issued a document satisfying this requirement.
Verification of meeting the requirements listed on the Preliminary Teaching Credential
- If your Preliminary Teaching Credential has the induction requirement listed on it, you must complete an induction program in order to clear your credential, and your induction program will recommend you for your Clear credential. If you have completed an induction program, DO NOT continue with the application process, as you CANNOT apply directly to the Commission for your Clear credential. Your induction program must recommend you for the Clear instead.
- You may have other requirements besides induction listed on your credential, and if that is the case, you must complete them as well and provide proof of completing them to your induction program. If you have questions about what types of documentation you need to provide as proof, your induction program can advise you.
- There is one alternative to completing induction. If you have completed two or more years of out-of-state teaching experience, you may provide verification of that instead.
- To verify experience, you must submit a copy of your out-of-state teaching credential, a verification letter of two or more years of teaching experience, and two summative annual performance evaluations. Details regarding the letter and evaluations can be found by searching in the Glossary for “verification letter of two or more years of teaching experience (for out-of-state prepared teachers)” and “summative annual performance evaluations (for out-of-state prepared teachers).”
- NOTE: Private school experience in California and out-of-country experience will not be accepted to satisfy this requirement. The experience MUST be from another state in the U.S. and you must also have an out-of-state teaching credential.
- If you completed any coursework to satisfy requirements listed on your Preliminary Teaching Credential, you must provide the transcript(s).
- The college or university must be regionally accredited.
- If you earned your degree outside of the U.S., you cannot provide the official transcripts. You must obtain a foreign transcript evaluation from an approved agency.
- Submitting paper transcripts or foreign transcript evaluations:
- Upload a scan of the original, official paper transcripts or foreign transcript evaluation. Clear photographs will also be accepted. All pages, front and back, must be included in the upload.
- Submitting electronic transcripts or foreign transcript evaluations:
- Upload the original file sent to you by the college, transcript service provider, or foreign transcript evaluation agency.
- If you completed any exams to satisfy requirements listed on your Preliminary Teaching credential, upload a copy of your official passing score report or certificate of passing.
- If you have the requirement to earn a California English Learner Authorization:
- If you have already been granted it, it is not necessary to attach anything as proof, since the Commission will already have this information if you were issued an English Learner Authorization.
- If you have not obtained a California English Learner Authorization but passed all the CTEL exams, you can attach a copy of your official passing score report for all the subtests and the Commission will grant the Clear credential with an English Learner Authorization attached.
- If you have not obtained a California English Learner Authorization but completed the CTELs through coursework or through a combination of exams and coursework, you must apply for the English Learner Authorization through your CTEL program first and it must be granted before you are eligible to apply to upgrade your credential to Clear.
- If you have any other requirement that is satisfied by providing a letter:
- The letter must be on official letterhead and signed by the appropriate person.
- The letter must be a scanned copy of an original letter or an electronic PDF. If the letter is a scanned copy, the original letter that was scanned must be signed with a wet ink signature. If the letter is an electronic PDF, it must be signed with an acceptable electronic signature. Screenshots are not acceptable.
- It is also possible to upgrade to Clear and satisfy ALL requirements listed on the Preliminary Teaching Credential if you obtained your National Board Certification in a qualifying subject AFTER obtaining your Preliminary Teaching Credential through the California-prepared or out-of-state-prepared routes:
- If you have a Multiple Subject Teaching Credential, the National Board Certification must be in Early Childhood (ages 3-8)/Generalist or Middle Childhood (ages 7-12)/Generalist.
- If you have a Single Subject Teaching Credential, there is a list of National Board certification areas that correspond to Single Subject areas in Table 1 on CL-560C and CL-560.
Important Notes:
- This checklist is ONLY for submission of an online application.
- This web-based checklist is a guide and does not need to be uploaded with the online application.
Commission on Teacher Credentialing
651 Bannon Street
Sacramento, CA 95811