Massachusetts participates with every state and the District of Columbia through the National Association of State Directors of Teacher Education and Certification (NASDTEC) Interstate Agreement to accept candidates' state approved educator preparation program or possession of the equivalent of at least an Initial license/certificate and three years of employment under such valid license/certificate during the previous seven years. Please note that the interstate agreement does not exempt candidates from degree, testing and/or prerequisite requirements applicable to the requested license. In addition, candidates that have completed an educator preparation program sponsored by a college or university outside Massachusetts that has been accredited by the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) may be eligible for an Initial license.
Candidates from outside of Massachusetts may meet requirements for an Initial license if they have met one of the following:
- Completed a "traditional" state/jurisdiction approved educator preparation program outside of Massachusetts. A traditional program means from a regionally accredited higher education institution.
- Completed the appropriate educational employment in another state/jurisdiction under a valid license from that state/jurisdiction within three of the past seven years.
- Completion of a state/jurisdiction approved "alternative/non-traditional" educator preparation program and possession of the equivalent of an Initial license from that state/jurisdiction.
- Completion of an educator preparation program sponsored by a college or university outside of Massachusetts that has been accredited by the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE).
Upon application, candidates should submit an official transcript verifying possession of a bachelor's degree. In addition to verifying one of the four routes referenced above, please submit the appropriate documentation noted below.
- Applicants seeking Massachusetts licensure through the completion of a traditional program must submit an official transcript and an endorsement confirming completion of a state/jurisdiction approved program from the preparing higher education institution.
- Applicants utilizing the employment option must submit a copy of their valid license and official verification of their employment.
- Applicants that have completed a non-traditional approved program will need to submit official program completion documentation, an endorsement from the approved program and a copy of their valid license.
- Applicants seeking licensure through completion of an educator preparation program sponsored by a college or university accredited by NCATE must submit an official transcript and an endorsement from the higher education institution validating completion of the program.
Since licensure names, fields (subject area) and grade levels may vary from state-to-state, applicants may be considered for the closest grade-level and/or field that is issued in the Commonwealth.
If you are seeking a license as a School Psychologist, School Nurse, or Speech, Language, and Hearing Disorders specialist teacher and completed your preparation outside of Massachusetts, then please visit https://www4.doemass.org/elar/licensurehelp/LicenseRequirementsCriteriaPageControl.ser for information regarding licensure requirements as Massachusetts does not include these licenses within the NASDTEC agreement.
In order to facilitate licensure in Massachusetts, here are some helpful links and forms:
Verification of an out of state program:
http://www.doe.mass.edu/educators/verifyreciprocal.pdf
Verification of employment:
http://www.doe.mass.edu/educators/employmentform.pdf
Testing information: http://www.doe.mass.edu/mtel
An overview of licensure and access to Licensure Help, an online tool where you select the desired license and specific requirements are provided: http://www.doe.mass.edu/Educators/e_license.html?section=k12
last updated: February 11, 2011
last updated: March 9, 2011
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