Educator Licensure

About the Office of Educator Licensure

Welcome to the Office of Educator Licensure at the Massachusetts Department of Elementary & Secondary Education (ESE). We are excited that your commitment to education has led you here to seek out licensure information and resources. This page provides the current processing dates for licensure applications and document scanning. Call Center average wait times and helpful tips can also be found on this page.

Structured Guidance & Supports

The Structured Guidance & Supports (SG&S) process is one path for completing the Competency Review. The Competency Review is the mechanism for determining whether the subject matter knowledge requirements for a license have been met in a field for which there is no subject matter knowledge test. The SG&S process is a performance-based assessment for a teacher licensure candidate.

How to Become an Educator in Massachusetts

Educators, including teachers, support personnel, and administrators are required to hold a license issued by the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education in order to be eligible to teach in Massachusetts Public Schools. This page provides general information specific to obtaining a license in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

Managing Your ELAR Account

If this is your first time using the ELAR system, you will need to create a profile. This page provides information related to how to create a profile, find your User Name, and/or reset your password. Once a profile is created the ELAR system will generate a Massachusetts Education Personnel ID (MEPID) number for you. See our section below on MEPIDs for further information.

Massachusetts Education Personnel ID (MEPID)

The MEPID is a unique identifier assigned to all educators and to school district staff in Massachusetts. A MEPID will be assigned to anyone who creates a profile in ELAR. Once an applicant creates a profile, their MEPID can be found in the Personal Information section on the Inquiry Activity - Summary page in ELAR.

Massachusetts Tests for Educator Licensure (MTEL)

All educators seeking a Provisional or Initial license in MA are required to take and pass the Communications and Literacy Skill MTEL test. Many licenses require educators to take and pass additional subject matter knowledge tests. This page includes general information about the MTEL tests as well as a link to the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education's MTEL homepage and a chart of required subject matter knowledge tests.