Frequently Asked Questions for Out-of-State Prepared Applicants

Applicants who cannot submit two years of annual performance evaluations can instead submit a supplemental evaluation letter. Your site administrator will have to write a letter on school or district letterhead and signed with an original signature verifying that you you have met or exceeded expectations in the following four professional standards for the years being evaluated, with overall ratings for each standard:

1. The use of teaching strategies that motivate all students to engage in the learning process.
2. The ability to establish and maintain high standards for student behavior.
3. A demonstration of deep knowledge of the subject being taught and the use of appropriate instructional strategies that promote student understanding.
4. An ability to plan and implement a sequence of appropriate instructional activities.

As of 6/29/2024, the Basic Skills Requirement can be met by having a bachelor's degree or higher from a regionally accredited college or university. If your credential was issued with an RC renewal requirement that you must meet the Basic Skills Requirement within one year in order to be eligible to continue teaching, this requirement can now be considered met. Once you have met your other requirements and are ready to upgrade your credential to Clear, the Commission will remove the requirement. Or if you would like to have it removed before that, you may submit a paper 41-4 application form and application processing fee through the mail to request that it be removed.

An induction program is a mentor-based, job embedded teacher program that you must complete while being employed as a full-time teacher. This renewal requirement is only listed for out-of-state prepared teachers whose credential was issued under the Route 1 option. A lot of California districts and counties have their own approved induction programs. You should contact your employing agency for details or contact an approved induction program directly. Program tuition and duration may vary between programs, but the program typically takes two years to complete. If your credential was originally issued under Route 1, and you would like to meet the induction program requirement using verification of two years of out-of-state teaching experience, you can submit the following materials at any time to have the induction program renewal requirement removed from your Preliminary credential.

• Application packet
• Verification letter of two or more years of out-of-state teaching experience
• Two summative annual performance evaluations from out-of-state experience or a supplemental evaluation letter

If you're able to get these materials only after you have applied for your Preliminary credential, it would be a good idea to provide copies to your employer so that they know that you don’t need to enroll in induction.

You may start looking for employment at any time. EDJOIN is used by most districts and counties in California, but don’t overlook other job posting websites such as our Educational Opportunities Board), where you can find information about teacher recruitment and hiring fairs and contact information for hiring districts and charter schools.

When you can start a teaching position will be decided by the employing agency (district, charter school, etc). Employers can assist with submitting your application packet, request a Temporary County Certificate from their county office of education to allow you to begin working while your credential application is being processed, and even request an expedited review of your pending application. Whether or not an employing agency will interview an applicant with a pending credential application is up to individual employing agencies.

California does not issue middle-level specific credentials. Intermediate and middle schools in California may hire educators with Multiple Subjects credentials to teach the self-contained classes in the lower grade levels, and hire Single Subject credential holders for the upper grade level positions. If you have only a middle-level grade authorization on your out-of-state license, you may apply for the Multiple Subjects credential or the Single Subject Credential, but not both. In this scenario, your preliminary credential may have a subject matter renewal requirement listed.

• If you have an elementary-grades (self-contained classroom) teaching authorization in addition to a middle grade authorization, you are only eligible to apply for the Multiple Subject Credential.
  
• If you have secondary-level specific subject authorization (typically 6th-12th grades) in addition to a middle grade authorization, you may only apply for the Single Subject Credential.

If your out-of-state license is issued in "Special Education" or in a specialty area that does not align with a California specialty area, you may be issued a California Preliminary credential based on completion of an out-of-state generic program in one of the following specialty areas: Mild to Moderate Support Needs, Extensive Support Needs, or Early Childhood Special Education. Please note that you will need to select one and only one of these options when you apply for your California credential.