Guide to Out-of-State Bilingual Authorizations

May 2017

Individuals who hold teaching credentials from another state with one of the authorizations listed in the following chart may request that the corresponding Bilingual authorization be listed on their California teaching credential. For additional information, see Coded Correspondence 17-05 regarding Bilingual authorizations.

This is a guide and may not contain all acceptable Bilingual authorizations issued by each state. The Commission continues to research this information and changes will be made as additional information becomes available.

An individual who holds a document with a Bilingual authorization not included in the guide must provide a letter from the state agency that issued the document that verifies that the document issued authorized the holder to provide the equivalent English language development (ELD), specially designed academic instruction in English (SDAIE), primary language development, and content instruction delivered in the primary language services at the time the individual earned the document. Primary language development is defined as instruction for English learner students to develop their listening, speaking, reading, and writing skills in their primary language. Content instruction delivered in the primary language is defined as instruction for English learner students in a subject area delivered in the students’ primary language.

The Commission reserves the right to make the final determination regarding the equivalency of any authorization submitted for evaluation.

State	Bilingual Authorization/Endorsement
Alabama	None
Alaska	None
Arizona	Bilingual Education- Must be Full Endorsement. Provisional Bilingual not acceptable.
Arkansas	None
Colorado	Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Bilingual Education
Connecticut	Bilingual Elementary Education (K-8) Secondary Bilingual (7-12)
Delaware	Bilingual Teacher (K-12)
District of Columbia	Bilingual Education/Bilingual Special Education (Only acceptable if they hold ESL and Bilingual)
Florida	None
Georgia	None
Hawaii	None
Idaho	Bilingual Education
Illinois	Bilingual Education Transitional Bilingual Educator NOT comparable
Indiana	None
Iowa	None
Kansas	None
Kentucky	None
Louisiana	None Bilingual Specialist- NOT acceptable
Maine	None
Maryland	None
Massachusetts	Transitional Bilingual Learning Endorsement
Michigan	Bilingual
Minnesota	Bilingual/Bicultural Education K-8 and 5-12
Mississippi	None
Missouri	None
Montana	None
Nebraska	Bilingual Education
Nevada	Bilingual Endorsement
New Hampshire	None
New Jersey	Bilingual/Bicultural Education
New Mexico	Bilingual Education
New York	Bilingual Education Extension- only valid if also holds ESOL Supplementary Bilingual Education Extension NOT acceptable.
North Carolina	None
North Dakota	Bilingual Education K-12
Ohio	(Supplemental Bilingual Education not comparable)
Oklahoma	None
Oregon	ESOL/Bilingual Bilingual “specialization” alone is not comparable
Pennsylvania	None
Rhode Island	Bilingual and Dual Language Education Teacher PK-12 (Only acceptable if they hold ESL and Bilingual).
South Carolina	None
South Dakota	None
Tennessee	None
Texas	Bilingual Generalist Bilingual Supplemental
Utah	Dual-Language Immersion (only acceptable if they hold ESL in addition to Dual-Language Immersion)
Vermont	Bilingual Education (only acceptable if they also hold ESL or ELL endorsement)
Virginia	None
Washington	Bilingual Education
West Virginia	None
Wisconsin	Bilingual-Bicultural Education
Wyoming	None

Information

Updated July 22, 2025