Certification Requirements

The types of certificates available for career and technical subject teachers vary as do the certification requirements.  Please note, the requirements described below may not be complete and/or may not apply to all career and technical subjects.  To find the requirements for a specific subject, please search for your specific subject area on the New York State Education Department, Office of Teaching Initiatives site here. 

In addition to the requirements listed below, all candidates must be fingerprinted and receive a recommendation from the New York City Department of Education for certification.


Non-Degree Certification Pathway
For most subjects in Agriculture, Health Occupations, and Trade Subjects (click here for subject listing), there is a non-degree pathway (Option B) for candidates who have not completed a New York State approved teacher preparation program and do not have a degree to obtain certification.

Option B - Transitional A Certificate Requirements
The Transitional A Certificate is valid for up to 3 years and leads to the Initial Certificate.  Please note, the Transitional A Certificate may not apply to some subject areas.

  • 4 years of occupational work experience
  • High School Diploma or General Education Diploma
  • Pass the Communication and Quantitative Skills Test (CQST)
  • Completion of the Child Abuse Recognition and Reporting workshop
  • Completion of the School Violence Prevention and Intervention (SAVE) workshop

Option B - Initial Certificate Requirements
The Initial Certificate is valid for 5 years and leads to the Professional Certificate.  In order to be issued an Initial Certificate through Option B, you must meet the requirements for the Transitional A Certificate (Option B) described above in addition to the following:

  • 12 semester hours of coursework
    • College coursework - Human Development & Learning
    • College coursework - Teaching Students with Disabilities
    • College coursework - Curriculum, Instruction, & Assessment
    • College coursework - English Language Arts & Communication Skills
  • 40 days of student teaching in the subject area
  • Pass the Secondary Assessment of Teaching Skills-Written Exam (ATS-W)

Associate Degree Certification Pathway
For subjects in Health Occupations, Agriculture, and Trade Subjects (click here for subject listing), there is an Associate degree pathway (Option A) for candidates to obtain a Transitional A certificate leading to the Initial Certificate.

Option A - Transitional A Certificate Requirements
The Transitional A Certificate is valid for up to 3 years and leads up to the Initial Certificate.

  • Associate Degree
  • Minimum 2.50 Undergraduate GPA
  • 30 semester hours of content core in the subject area
  • 2 years of occupational work experience
  • Completion of the Child Abuse Recognition and Reporting Workshop
  • Completion of the School Violence Prevention and Intervention (SAVE) Workshop

Option A - Initial Certificate Requirements
The Initial Certificate is valid for 5 years and leads to the Professional Certificate.  In order to use an Initial Certificate through Option A, you must meet the requirements for the Transitional A (Option A) described above in addition to the following:

  • 9 semester hours of pedagogic core
    • College coursework - Human Development & Learning
    • College coursework - Teaching Students with Disabilities
    • College coursework - Curriculum, Instruction, & Assessment
  • 40 days of student teaching in the subject area
  • Pass the Secondary Assessment of Teaching-Written Exam (ATS-W)

For technical subjects and subjects in human services and family studies, food and nutrition, and textile and design (click here for subject listing), there is an Associate degree pathway for candidates to obtain Initial certification only (Transitional A certificates do not exist for these areas.)


Baccalaureate Degree Certification Pathway
For some subjects in Agriculture, Business and Distributive Education, Health Occupations, Human Services, Food and Nutrition, Textile and Design, and Technical and Trade Subjects, there is a Baccalaureate Degree pathway to obtain certification.