Educator Qualifications Under ESSA

Educator Qualification Requirements

Teacher Certification: Under ESSA, teachers and paraprofessionals in Title I schools must meet state certification requirements. Pursuant to sections 22-63-201 and 22-32-126, C.R.S., a Colorado license or authorization is required for employment as a teacher, special services provider or principal in a Colorado school or school district.[5] All licenses and authorizations must be endorsed to indicate the grade levels/developmental levels and specialization area(s) which are appropriate to the applicant's preparation, training and experience.[6]

Types of Colorado teacher licenses include:

• Alternative teacher license - Valid for 1, 2, or 3 years depending on preparation program duration.
• Initial license - Valid for 3 years.
• Initial Special Services license - Valid for 3 years.
• Professional license - Valid for 5 years.
• Master Certificate - Valid for same period as professional license is valid and renewable.

Types of Colorado teacher authorizations include:

• Emergency Authorization - Valid for 1 year, with possible reissue upon approval of State Board of Education.
• Career and Technical Authorization - Valid for 3 years, cannot be renewed.
• Substitute Authorization – Valid for a period of 1, 3 or 5 years, when the applicant has met relevant requirements.
• Others (see CCR 301-37)

Paraprofessional Qualifications: According to Colorado statute, school districts retain flexibility for further regulation of paraprofessionals, including certification or licensing (C.R.S. 23-1-121.7 (1, e-g)). This means requirements can vary across LEAs. A paraprofessional working in a Title I program may demonstrate qualifications in several ways, including:

• Completion of at least two years of postsecondary study;
• Obtaining an associates or higher degree; or
• Successfully taking an assessment selected by the state or by the employing school district that meets state and federal standards and that demonstrates knowledge of and the ability to assist in instruction of reading, writing, and mathematics.

For more information, see our paraprofessional guidance webpage.

Waivers: There are a number of waivers that charter schools can request from CDE.[7] Several of these waivers implicate in-field and effectiveness teacher indicators under the Equitable Distribution of Teachers (EDT) analyses. When conducting the EDT analyses, CDE incorporates all relevant, LEA-reported teacher experience, qualification, and effectiveness data submitted via the HR data pipeline.

Commonly Requested Non-Automatic Waivers

1. Must teachers qualify as ‘in-field’ as defined by Colorado’s ESSA State Plan before they can be hired?
   • No. While CDE encourages LEAs to prioritize the hiring of teachers who have demonstrated subject matter competency in the subject area they will be assigned to teach, teachers’ status as in- or out-of-field will only be used to monitor and publicly report the rates at which low-income and minority students are being taught by inexperienced, out-of-field, and ineffective teachers.
2. How is an in-field teacher defined in Colorado?
   • A teacher must hold at least one of the following in the subject area in which they have been assigned to teach in order to be considered in-field:
     • Endorsement on a Colorado teaching license
     • Degree (B.A. or higher)
     • 36 semester credit hours
     • Passing score on a State Board of Education approved content exam (currently the ETS Praxis Series)
3. What courses count toward the 36 semester credit hours?
   • LEAs and charter schools should use the endorsement content evaluation worksheets to identify the first 24 credit hours. For the remaining 12 credit hours, LEAs may determine alignment based on a sound rationale –whether that be an existing LEA policy regarding relevant coursework that informed the in-field decision, or a cogent explanation of how the coursework being considered as in-field aligns to the course(s) taught.
4. Will teachers who demonstrated 24 semester credit hours be grandfathered in as in-field?
   • Teachers who demonstrated in-field via 24 credit hours were considered in-field through the 2017-18 and 2018-19 school years. As of 2019-20, teachers need to meet one of the four ways listed in the definition of in-field.
5. Must teachers now have 36 semester credit hours to qualify for a subject area endorsement on their teaching license?
   • ​No. The definition of in-field is used only for federal reporting purposes and does not affect Colorado statute or rule related to teacher licensure.  Endorsement requirements are detailed on the Licensing Office site. 
6. Can teachers with a secondary endorsement be considered in-field in 6^th grade?
   • ​​The Federal Programs Unit at CDE has determined that secondary teachers may be considered in-field in 6^th grade if:
     • The secondary endorsement(s) held aligns with the course(s) taught; and
     • The school is structured such that teachers are leading subject area content (in alignment with secondary endorsement) throughout day, rather than covering multiple subjects.
7. Can the state grant an exception for Title I teachers to teach between submitting paperwork for licensure and receiving the license?
   • ​​The Federal Programs Unit, in coordination with the Educator Licensing Team, has determined that, according to federal and state law, teachers must hold some type of educator authorization or endorsement to teach students. Teachers awaiting licensure, and without some type of authorization (e.g., substitute teacher authorization), do not meet compliance to teach.
8. Must Title I school principals continue to utilize the principal attestation form?
   • ​​No. This form is no longer required.
9. How do these changes affect parent notification requirements?
   • ​​Parents’ right to know:  All LEAs receiving Title I funds must notify parents of each student attending a Title I school of their right to request information on their child's teacher's qualifications. This is to be done at the beginning of every school year.  This requirement remains the same under the ESSA.
   • Four-week rule:  Under the NCLB, if a student was receiving instruction for longer than four weeks by a teacher/substitute teacher who was not highly qualified, a letter informing the students’ parents of this information was required to be sent in a timely manner.  Under the ESSA, a school that receives Title I funds must provide timely notice to the parent of any student who has been assigned, or has been taught for 4 or more consecutive weeks by a teacher who does not meet applicable State certification or licensure requirements at the grade level and subject area in which the teacher has been assigned.
   • CDE provides sample letters that LEAs may edit and use to meet these requirements.
10. What are the pathways to becoming an educator in Colorado?
    • ​​Visit our website for aspiring educators to find out more about the traditional and alternative pathways to becoming an educator in Colorado

For Additional Information Contact:

Rachel Echsner
ESEA Title I and II Specialist
echsner_r@cde.state.co.us