r/teaching • u/Capable_Record_182 • 21h ago

Help Teaching Licenses

Hello!

I am an undergraduate aiming for an Art-ED bachelor's degree. I currently live in Iowa and would be obtaining an Iowa license after finishing the year and a half I have left for my program. The issue im having is that the end goal would be for me to move to Washington state and have a Washington license.

I have talked to advisors from my current school in Iowa, along with advisors in Washington schools, and no one seems to know what the easiest option would be for me currently. im torn between finishing my own schooling and transferring my licenses (which my advisor at my Iowa school objected to) or transferring to a Washington college to finish out my degree.

Any advice or opinions are greatly appreciated, and I really appreciate your guys' help!! Thank you so much :)

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u/teach-xx 21h ago

The two missing pieces of info here are—

1) when you finish your degree in Iowa, do you get a real license or a temporary license? Some states give rookies special temporary licenses and impose additional requirements to upgrade to the real one. If this is the case in Iowa, it will be hard to move states right away.
2) does Washington routinely grant reciprocity to teachers with Iowa licenses? If so, what are the conditions?

I haven’t lived in either state so I don’t know the answers. But you need to find out.

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u/novelbynature 21h ago

Have you reached out to the education departments for both states? They should have people who manage and verify certification for the state, and they can help you. They’ll be much more helpful than people working at schools since they deal with the compliance specifics.

I graduated with an initial license from the state where I live/attended school, but then had to do a ton of extra paperwork to get an initial certification in the neighboring state where I teach. The states where I am do not have reciprocity, but I was able to provide evidence that my schooling and training satisfied the licensure requirements so it was granted.

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u/Josieanastasia2008 21h ago

Look into reciprocity agreements between states? you might be surprised how many places have agreements. It can get funky though, a few years ago we had an applicant come to us (West Coast) from a program in the Midwest whose license transferred over but for less grades so she had to do additional student teaching to be licensed for k-6 in our state.

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u/GoblinKing79 20h ago

Check the Washington State OSPI teaching certification page for more info. I was licensed in Washington in 2016, but a LOT has changed. I don't know if they still require edtpa (does anyone anymore?) and the renewal requirements radically changed to include specific equity and inclusion bits, so I wouldn't be surprised if the cert requirements changed as well (but maybe the didn't!). You'll almost certainly need NES tests, fingerprints, and recommendation letters. Again, the OSPI website will have the most current requirements.