Each state sets licensure requirements for individuals who wish to seek full time professional employment in its schools. YSU program completers (e.g., teacher candidates, school counselor candidates, and school administrator candidates) must apply for licensure through Youngstown State University to become fully licensed in Ohio and other States. The Ohio Department of Education licensure criteria are subject to change. Applicants must meet the requirements that are in place at the time of application. If a program completer decides to delay application for longer than one academic year, changes may occur in the interim which may result in the applicant having to meet additional requirements before the candidate can be recommended for licensure.

I. Application Information

Application for licensure should be completed during the semester of student teaching. Student teachers attend a seminar, which is devoted to licensure procedures.

Before licensure will be granted, you must:

• Complete a teacher education program
• Demonstrate that you have not been convicted of any criminal offenses which bar employment in a school district
• Satisfactorily complete Praxis II (the State required series of examinations appropriate to your area of licensure)

See the following sections for details regarding fingerprinting and the Praxis II Examinations required in Ohio.

II. Fingerprinting Information

The Beeghly College of Education (BCOE) uses WebCheck (electronic fingerprinting) to ascertain if a teacher education candidate has any violations which prohibits the candidate from working with children and obtaining a teaching license in the state of Ohio. Click on the following link for a list of the rules and statutes in the Ohio Revised Code and the Ohio Administrative Code that are applied by the Ohio Department of Education Office of Professional Conduct. http://www.ode.state.oh.us/GD/Templates/Pages/ODE/ODEDetail.aspx?Page=3&TopicRelationID=520&Content=71972

Background checks are required at three points in the BCOE teacher education program:

• FOUN 1501 Introduction to Education (course fees attached)
• Admittance to the Teacher Education program (Upper Division)
• Student Teaching (course fees attached)

Note: Early Childhood Education majors are also required to submit a current BCI&I and FBI background check for the CHFM 3733L Pre-School Practicum course.

YSU Police do this fingerprinting by appointment for a fee. You must bring with you a valid state issued identification card. To locate additional WebCheck locations, please refer to the WebCheck Community Listing on the Ohio Attorney General’s web page  http://www.ohioattorneygeneral.gov/Services/Business/WebCheck/Webcheck-Community-Listing.aspx.  

On November 14, 2007, Gov. Strickland signed HB 190. In brief, a portion of the bill requires the State Board of Education to request an FBI criminal records check of an applicant for licensure in addition to the BCI&I check in current law. As a result, both the BCI&I and FBI must be completed before the Ohio Department of Education (ODE) issues or renews a license.

**The Ohio Department of Education no longer accepts BCI&I or FBI paper and ink fingerprints.  All BCI&I and FBI fingerprint information must be submitted electronically.

III. Ohio Praxis II Information

The State of Ohio requires that candidates for initial provisional licenses meet or exceed the cut off scores on professional examinations offered through Educational Testing Services (ETS). The tests used by Ohio are selected from the examinations called The Praxis Series. The Ohio Department of Education (ODE) selects the tests required and sets the qualifying scores. Both the selected tests and the qualifying scores are subject to change by ODE.

For more information regarding the tests currently required by Ohio visit the Praxis II web site www.ets.org/praxis/oh.

The State Board of Education has adopted New Teacher Licensure Examinations for licensure to teach WORLD LANGUAGES.  These examinations are provided by the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) and consist of:

• The Oral Proficiency Interview (OPI) which is a global assessment of functional speaking ability.
• Writing Proficiency Test (WPT) which measures how well a person writes in a language by analyzing performance of specific writing tasks. 

For more information regarding the world language tests and to access the ACTFL/LTI web site click on the following link http://www.languagetesting.com/.

Important Note: Make sure you list YSU and ODE as score recipients. All scores must be officially reported to YSU by ETS to verify that passing scores have been met prior to YSU making its recommendation to the State of Ohio.

IV. PENNSYLVANIA CERTIFICATION INFORMATION

For information regarding Pennsylvania Certification click on the following link:
http://www.pde.state.pa.us/portal/server.pt/community/out-of-state_prepared/8821

If you have any additional questions, please contact Crystal Hawthorne, Coordinator of Teacher Licensure at the  Beeghly College of Education, Beeghly Hall, room 2101 or by email at cmhawthorne AT ysu DOT edu.