The path to your New York Professional teaching certificate runs through two earlier certificates first. This guide walks through what each certificate is, what's required to earn it, and where to apply once you're ready for your Professional certificate.

Table of Contents

• The Path to Professional Certification
  • Transitional B Certificate
  • Initial Certificate
  • Professional Certificate
• Applying for Your Professional Teaching Certificate

The Path to Professional Certification

Earning your Professional teaching certificate in New York is the last stop on a three-certificate journey. While you're enrolled at Relay, you'll move from a Transitional B certificate, to an Initial certificate, and ultimately to a Professional certificate. 

Keep in mind: your certificates aren't printed at the time they're issued. You can confirm the status of any certificate through your TEACH account.

Transitional B Certificate

Your Transitional B certificate is a provisional certificate that allows you to teach your own classroom while you're still a Relay student. It only covers the specific subject and grade level it was issued for. Once you leave Relay GSE, whether by graduating, withdrawing, or taking a leave of absence, New York State deactivates this certificate.
Valid for: Up to 3 years or until you complete your program, whichever comes first. 

To become eligible for your Transitional B certificate, you'll need to:

1. Complete your introductory coursework
2. Finish three required New York State workshops: the Dignity for All Students Act (DASA) Workshop, the School Violence Prevention Workshop, and the Child Abuse Identification Workshop
3. Complete 40 hours of field experience
4. Pass the Educating All Students (EAS) exam and your applicable Content Specialty Test (CST)
5. Receive fingerprint clearance
6. Pay the appropriate Transitional B application fee and upload proof of payment (a screenshot of your TEACH account showing your name and payment confirmation) to your Relay student status page
7. Receive Relay's institutional recommendation

Initial Certificate

Your Initial certificate replaces your Transitional B certificate, and is the entry-level certificate you receive once you've completed your Relay program. You become eligible once you've graduated, received Relay's institutional recommendation, and met your remaining requirements, most of which you'll have already satisfied on your way to your Transitional B certificate.

Valid for: 5 years.

To become eligible for your Initial certificate, you'll need to:

1. Graduate from Relay's New York State Registered Program
2. Receive Relay's institutional recommendation
3. Pass your applicable CST and the EAS exam
4. Complete DASA training
5. Receive fingerprint clearance

Professional Certificate

Your Professional certificate is the advanced-level certificate most teachers hold long-term. When you graduate from Relay, we recommend you to New York State for both your Initial and Professional certificates. If you're a Dual Certificate graduate, we recommend you for both the Initial and Professional certificates in both your Students with Disabilities and Generalist endorsement areas. 

Valid for: Indefinitely, as long as you complete 100 hours of Continuing Teacher and Leader Education (CTLE) during each five-year registration period.That period starts the month your certificate is issued and runs until the month before your birthday, five years later. 

To become eligible for your Professional certificate, you'll need to:

1. Complete three years of paid, full-time classroom teaching experience under your Initial certificate
2. Submit an Experience Verification Form, completed by your employer(s), as part of your application
3. Hold proof of U.S. citizenship or permanent residence
4. Have already completed your mentored teaching experience (most Relay graduates will have finished this during their two years at Relay)
5. Meet any remaining requirements specific to your certificate area, which you can confirm using the NYSED eligibility tool below

Checking Your Specific Requirements

🖱️You can use this NYSED tool to check your Check your specific eligibility requirements [LINK NEEDED]

To use the tool: 

1. Under "Area of Interest," select Classroom Teacher
2. Under "Subject Area," select the area aligned to your major at Relay. (Dual Certificate students will need to repeat this process twice — once for each certificate area.)
3. Under "Grade Level," select the grade level band aligned to your major at Relay
4. Under "Title," select the title aligned to your major at Relay
5. Under "Type of Certificate," select "Professional"

Things to Know

• Many of the requirements for your Professional certificate were also required for your Trans-B or Initial certificate, and these will remain on file to satisfy your Professional certificate requirements.
• If you're a Dual Certificate teacher (holding both a Generalist and a Students with Disabilities Initial certificate), your three years of teaching experience can count toward both certificates, even if you only taught in one classroom setting.
  For example: If a teacher holds both a Childhood 1-6 Initial certificate and a Students with Disabilities 1-6 Initial certificate, and taught in a 3rd-grade classroom for three years, they would apply for their Childhood 1-6 Professional certificate first, through the "Approved Teacher Prep Program – Certificate Progression" pathway. They could then apply for their Students with Disabilities 1-6 Professional certificate through the "Approved Teacher Prep Program – Additional Certificate" pathway, since the classroom setting they taught in doesn't need to match both certificate areas.

Applying for Your Professional Teaching Certificate

Once you've confirmed you meet the requirements above, you're ready to apply. We walk you through creating your TEACH account, entering your program code, and tracking your application status in a separate guide.

[Read: Applying for the Transitional B, Initial, and Professional Certificates with TEACH →]

If you have additional questions about your Professional certificate, email us with your graduation year so we can best assist you.