Applying for a Professional academic teacher license? New forms to assist in navigating the 12 credits in the content area requirements are now available from DESE. Updated with April 2023 12-Credit Option: Educator Reference Guide.
The Office of Educator Licensure at the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education has published new documents to support educators who are preparing for a first Professional license.
The Course Pre-Approval Form will allow educators to request a course is pre-approved towards the 12 graduate credits in the field of the license.
For a graduate course to be considered in the content area of the license, the course content must include the content related to the subject matter knowledge requirements (SMKs) of the license or pedagogy related to the SMKs.
DESE revised the Subject Matter Knowledge 12-Credit Option: Educator Reference Guide (April 13, 2023). to reflect recent regulator changes to license names and grade spans.
As a reminder, teachers applying for their first Professional academic teacher license are required to document the following:
* Three years of employment under the Initial license
* Completion of a district-based Induction and Mentoring program
* One of the following:
(a) National Board for Professional Teaching Standards Certification (NBPTS)
(b) A Massachusetts approved program for Professional Licensure
(c) Any Master’s degree with 12 graduate credits in the field of the license
More forms and guidance documents are available at the Office of Educator Licensure website at www.doe.mass.edu/licensure.
ARCHIVED – 2021 Version. The DESE has published an updated list of the 12 Credit SMKs for each license for reference.
