Expand AllClick here for a more accessible versionEducators in a licensed private academic school are required to be certified in the subject area they are teaching. A private academic certificate is required if they do not hold the appropriate public school certificate.
A bachelor's degree is required for all subject areas of certification except Assistant Nursery/Kindergarten (N/K). An associate's degree or completion of 60 college credits is required for the Assistant N/K certification.
The General Standards and Subject Specific Guidelines for public certification are used as an example of the acceptable competencies for each comparable subject area. Coursework must cover a variety of competency areas and meet the minimal grade of "C."
A maximum of 3 credits based on CLEP tests can be accepted toward the content credits.
Yes, a one year temporary certificate can be issued if you hold a bachelor's degree and have completed 6 credits in the content area requested.
An application must be submitted through TIMS and include a request from the prospective employer written on school letterhead and signed by the school's PDE approved education director.
A temporary certificate can be
reissued if the applicant completes six of the required credits toward full
certification. If the temporary
certificate expires before the six credits are completed, a new temporary
certificate cannot be issued until the credit requirement is met.
Yes.
A separate TIMS application must be submitted for each subject area that you
are requesting.
After you pay and submit your application in TIMS, you will be provided with a cover sheet that indicates which documents are required for submission. Most documents can be uploaded directly into your application or submitted electronically. If you have documents that cannot be uploaded directly or submitted electronically, they must be submitted to PDE via mail with the cover sheet.
NOTE: If your coversheet only lists "Other", you are not required to submit any documentation. Please do not mail in the coversheet by itself as it is not needed.
No. Only submit clearance documents to PDE if you answered "yes" to any of the background questions on your application. Check your TIMS coversheet for a list of required documents.
Check all details regarding your application from
your TIMS dashboard - select “Track Progress” under the Comments section.
No. Paper certificates are no longer printed and mailed. You must access your TIMS dashboard to print an unofficial copy. Certification can only be officially verified through TIMS or the public link Search for an Educator.
If you hold a public certificate issued before 6/2013 or
a previous private academic certificate, you have already met this requirement
and the health certificate is not required a second time. If required, the approved health certificate
that prints out with your TIMS application cover sheet must be completed. Substitute health assessments are not
acceptable.
Yes. You must submit a copy of your valid permanent resident visa (green card) with your TIMS application.
You must obtain a Foreign Evaluation Report of your
foreign transcripts from a private agency listed on the NACES
or AICE websites. This evaluation must show US equivalent of
all foreign degrees plus a course-by-course evaluation showing semester hour
college credits. You must submit the
original report or a notarized photocopy for the certification application.
A private academic certificate is valid for 99 years.
No. However, the nonpublic/non-licensed school may choose to require certification.
The law does not mandate Act 48 requirements be met to
maintain an active private academic certificate.
Yes, but only in a licensed private academic school that does not require public certification. Private schools that also have Approved Private School status or Pre-K-Counts approval require an active public certificate.
If you have questions
regarding the Private Academic certification process, contact the Bureau
of School Leadership and Teacher Quality.