Okla. Admin. Code § 210:20-9-98

Current through Vol. 42, No. 7, December 16, 2024

Section 210:20-9-98 - Administrative requirements of teacher certification

(a)Evaluation of foreign credentials. Foreign credentials must be either analyzed by a recognized translation service or an Oklahoma college before the State Department of Education will accept them.

(b)Noncitizens of the United States. Requirements for noncitizens seeking an Oklahoma teaching credential are as follows:

(1) Noncitizens of the United States will be required to submit documentation proving lawful presence with the application before an Oklahoma teaching credential may be issued or reissued.

(2) The Oklahoma teaching credential may be issued/reissued for no longer than the validity of the documentation proving lawful presence. If the documentation proving lawful presence does not have an expiration date that affects the duration of a noncitizen's lawful presence, then the teaching credential shall have the same validity period as the teaching credential of a U.S. citizen.

(c)Noncitizen Visiting Teacher Certification. The State Board of Education may, upon request of a local school district, issue an international visiting teacher certification pursuant to 70 O.S. § 3-104(6).

(1) An international visiting teacher certification may be issued to applicants who meet the following criteria:

(A) Applicant presents a document from an accredited public school district in this state offering employment following certification;

(B) Applicant must be a citizen of a country other than the United States and hold a J-1 visa issued by the United States Department of State;

(C) Applicant holds the equivalent of a bachelor's degree or higher from an accredited college or university in the subject area the applicant intends to teach and in the case of world languages, if the applicant is not a proficient native speaker of the target language to be taught, applicant has completed a major in the target language to be taught;

(D) Applicants who seek to teach world languages must have a minimum of three years of teaching experience in the target language requested to be taught unless the applicant is a proficient native speaker of the target language to be taught;

(E) Applicant is a participant in a visiting teacher program approved by the Oklahoma State Department of Education;

(F) Applicant must demonstrate proficiency at the advanced-low level of the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages' (ACTFL) proficiency scale in both spoken and written English; and

(G) Applicant must complete an orientation program prior to employment and must be assigned a mentor teacher by the district.

(2) Applicants meeting all qualifications shall be granted a one-year teaching credential which may be renewed on a year-to-year basis for a maximum of five (5) years upon request of the employing district.

(d)Native American Language Teacher Certification. The State Board of Education may, upon application, issue a teacher certification in Native American Languages. For purposes of this subchapter, a "Native American Language" means the historical, traditional languages spoken by Native Americans. For purposes of this subchapter, "Native American" shall have the meaning set forth in 25 U.S.C § 2902(1)-(2).

(1) A Native American language certification may be issued to applicants who meet the qualifications set forth in 210:20-9-104(b) and provide documentation that the applicant has met the following criteria:

(A) Applicant has obtained a certification of proficiency in the language sought to be certified in accordance with the provisions of 210:20-9-104(b);

(B) Applicant has completed a background check conducted by the State Department of Education in accordance with the provisions of 70 O.S. § 5-142; and

(C) Applicant has submitted a portfolio documenting applicant's experience in teaching the Native American language in which the applicant has been certified by a tribe and any other experience related to education.

(D) Any applicant who does not hold an Oklahoma traditional or alternative teaching credential must complete a school orientation program prior to employment and must be assigned a mentor teacher by the district.

(2) Applicants meeting all of the criteria set forth in this subsection shall be granted a provisional Native Language teacher certification for a period of one year. After the expiration of the one year provisional term, the Native Language teacher certification may be renewed in accordance with the following provisions:

(A) For an applicant who does not hold an Oklahoma traditional or alternative teaching credential, the Native Language certification may be renewed on a year-to-year basis if:

(i) Renewal is requested by the employing district; and

(ii) As a condition of the first two renewals of the teaching certificate, applicant provides evidence of completion of 60 clock hours/points of a professional teaching development program each year. For purposes of (ii) of this subparagraph, a professional teaching development program may include:

(I) Programs, seminars, or conferences recognized for professional development credit by an Oklahoma public school district at the time the teacher attends; or

(II) Higher education coursework in teacher education from an accredited college or university.

(B) For an applicant who holds an Oklahoma traditional or alternative teaching certificate, the Native Language teacher certification may be renewed for a five (5) year period.

(e)Privacy and access. Any person, with proper identification, that makes a written or oral request, will be informed of the certification status of any individual subject to certification. No other information will be given to a third party without the written consent of the person about whom the information is sought.

(1) College transcripts and other supporting documents will neither be duplicated by nor released by the State Department of Education.

(2) An original out-of-state teaching certificate may be returned, upon written request, to the applicant.

(f)Multiple applications. When application is made at the same time for two (2) or more certificates of the same class, only a single processing fee will be charged.

(1) Applications may be made for multiple classes of certificates on one (1) form. There is a fee for each class.

(2) When application is made at different times for two (2) or more certificates, a fee will be charged for each certificate requested.

(g)Duplicate/update certificates. A certificate may be duplicated or updated by submitting a written request and paying the fee.

(h)Change of name. A legal change of last name on a certificate may be accomplished at any time upon written request and paying the fee.

(i)Refusal of certification. No certificate will be issued unless all requirements for the certificate in question are fully met. In addition, no certificate will be issued if the attempt to become certified is based on misrepresentation, forgery, or fraud.

(j)Grounds for cancellation of certificates. Any certificate, credential, or endorsement obtained by misrepresentation, forgery, fraud, or issued by error will be cancelled. Upon written request the holder must surrender the certificate in question to the State Department of Education.

(k)Felony as grounds for noncertification. No person shall receive an Oklahoma certificate who has been convicted of a felony, any crime involving moral turpitude, or a felony violation of the narcotics laws of the United States or the State of Oklahoma, provided the conviction was entered within the ten (10) year period immediately preceding application for teacher certification.

(l)Revocation of teaching certificate. Teaching certificates issued by authority of the Oklahoma State Board of Education may be revoked by the board for willful violation of any rule or regulation of the board or any federal or state law or other proper cause. A certificate will be revoked only after a sufficient hearing has been given to the teacher before the State Board of Education in accordance with the hearing procedures set forth at 210:1-5-6.

(1) No person whose certificate has been revoked in Oklahoma or any other state shall be issued an Oklahoma certificate unless the revoked certificate has been fully reinstated by the revoking state and grounds for the revocation do not conflict with Oklahoma law.

(2) A person who has either voluntarily surrendered a teaching certificate in another state, been denied certification in another state or has had a certificate suspended in another state is not eligible for Oklahoma certification until an investigation has resolved the issues surrounding the surrender, denial, or suspension of certification.

(m)Extending provisional certificates. A request for extension of validity of any expired provisional certificate will be presented to the State Board of Education only when extenuating circumstances seem to justify its consideration. These requests shall be submitted in writing by the employing superintendent. A superintendent who holds an expired provisional certificate needs to have the president of the local board of education make the written request.

(n)Degree/college credit accepted for certification regulations. Only degrees conferred by state or regionally accredited colleges and universities recognized by the Oklahoma State Board of Education will be accepted by the Professional Standards Section as part of the requirements for teacher certification. Only work completed in state and regionally accredited colleges and universities, or transfer credit validated by them, will be accepted as a basis for teacher certification. For purposes of Oklahoma certification, state-accredited colleges and universities are considered to be colleges and universities accredited by the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education or their counterpart in other states (a statewide higher education coordinating board/agency of control). Regionally accredited colleges and universities are considered to be colleges and universities accredited by regional institutional accrediting bodies recognized by the United States Department of Education.

(o)Fee for duplicate certificates. The State Board of Education shall charge and collect reasonable fees for the issuance and duplication of certificates.

Okla. Admin. Code § 210:20-9-98

Added at 10 Ok Reg 1587, eff 5-13-93 ; Amended at 12 Ok Reg 3612, eff 7-31-95 (emergency); Amended at 13 Ok Reg 1331, eff 5-13-96 ; Amended at 17 Ok Reg 2893, eff 7-13-00 ; Amended at 24 Ok Reg 138, eff 10-8-06 (emergency); Amended at 24 Ok Reg 1219, eff 5-25-07 ; Amended at 29 Ok Reg 1594, eff 7-12-12 ; Amended at 30 Ok Reg 1613, eff 7-11-13

Amended by Oklahome Register, Volume 33, Issue 23, August 15, 2016, eff. 8/25/2016

Amended by Oklahoma Register, Volume 34, Issue 24, September 1, 2017, eff. 9/11/2017