Office of Teacher Candidacy and Certification

Welcome to the Office of Teacher Candidacy and Certification.  We assist and monitor undergraduate and alternate certification candidates on their path to Louisiana teacher certification.

The Office tracks the progress of undergraduate students from their first education class through formal admission to the teacher education program, student teaching, and graduation.

This process includes the following steps:

  1. Undergraduate students must seek admission to the teacher education program (referred to as Teacher Candidacy) and meet all criteria for admission.
  2. Undergraduate students must formally apply for admission to teacher candidacy by completing the application and securing their advisor’s signature.

    Undergraduate students whose application for admission to candidacy is denied may file a formal appeal for conditional admission to candidacy, if they have mitigating circumstances to support the appeal.

  3. Undergraduate students must maintain teacher candidacy status once admitted to a teacher education program. This includes maintaining a minimum overall GPA of 2.50/4.00, complete all degree applicable courses with a grade of C or better, earn favorable professional disposition and characteristics evaluations, and document all required field experiences and course artifacts in PASS-Port.
  4. Undergraduate students file an application for student teaching with the Director of Field Experience and Clinical Practice during the semester preceding the one in which an assignment is desired. The Office of Teacher Certification and Candidacy verifies eligibility for admission to student teaching.

    Undergraduate students also complete an application for graduation when they apply for student teaching.

  5. Undergraduate students complete the application for a Level 1 teaching license during a professional development seminar held toward the end of the student teaching semester.  The applications are forwarded to the Louisiana Department of Education following graduation.

The Louisiana Department of Education requires passing scores on the Praxis I Pre-Professional Skills Tests, Reading, Writing, and Mathematics, as well as the Praxis II Content test/s and Praxis II Principles of Learning and Teaching tests for teacher certification.  The NSU College of Education and Human Development requires passing scores on the Praxis I Reading, Writing, and Mathematics tests for admission to teacher candidacy.  Passing scores on the Praxis II Content test/s and the Principles of Learning and Teaching test are required for admission to student teaching.

Praxis registration information, test sites, test dates, and study guides may be found on the ETS Web site:www.ets.org.

Praxis II tests are required for completion of an undergraduate education program at Northwestern.

Praxis I and II information may be found at TEACHLouisiana.

Northwestern offers three alternate certification pathways for aspiring teachers who have non-education degrees.  The Office of Teacher Candidacy and Certification is the first point of contact for processing applications and verifying eligibility for admission to these programs.

Alternate Certification Information

Praxis

Passing scores on the Praxis I Pre-Professional Skills Tests, Reading, Writing, and Mathematics, as well as the Praxis II Content test/s are required for admission to an alternate certification program.  In addition, a passing score on the Praxis II Pedagogy Test is required for enrollment in the Internship in Teaching for MAT and non-master’s candidates.

Praxis registration information, test sites, test dates, and study guides may be found on the ETS website:www.ets.org.

Praxis I and II tests required for alternate certification students may be found at TEACHLouisiana.

Upon completion of a certification program, the Office of Teacher Certification and Candidacy procesess and submits the new teacher’s application for Louisiana licensure.

NSU also offers certified teachers the opportunity to pursue add-on certifications in 11 areas.

Add-on Certification Areas and Application

For information about Northwestern’s teacher certification programs, please contact us at 318-357-6144, or by email:

Ms. Suzanne Williams, Coordinator of Teacher Candidacy and Certification, TEACHNorthwestern@nsula.edu

Ms. Kathy Shaw, Administrative Assistant 2, shawk@nsula.edu