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Licensure/Certification Initial Application Instructions
Before beginning, please print this page
for future reference.
We recommend that applicants keep all licensure/certification-related documents
in a single, easily accessible location.
Applying for Delaware licensure/certification is a three-step process.
The three steps should be completed IN ORDER, and are as follows:
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Unless you are a candidate who holds full and current out-of-state
licensure/certification (see reciprocity),
you must meet Delaware’s Praxis I testing requirement by
submitting passing scores to the Delaware Department of Education. For
information on the requirement, exemption options, and/or registering to take
the test/sending your scores to the Department, please see
testing. (Praxis II is required of most initial applicants at this
time. You can read about Delaware’s use of Praxis II by clicking on
the above testing icon.)
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You must open a user account and apply for licensure/certification using the
online Delaware Educator Data System (DEEDS). You will receive a username and
password as part of the application process (usually within 24
hours of beginning the process). This username/password will enable you to log
in to DEEDS in the future to update your information, to check on the progress
of your application, and/or to complete the application (if you exit the
application prior to completion). You should write down your username and
password and keep them in a secure place, as you will use DEEDS for the
above-stated purposes as well as for purposes of license maintenance.
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After completing the online application process, you must provide appropriate
documentation of the statements you have made in the application
to the Department. Candidates who are not employed by a Delaware public or
charter school at the time of application should direct all documentation to
the following mailing address:
Delaware Department of Education
401 Federal Street
Suite #2
Dover, DE 19901
ATTN: Certification.
*Praxis scores are forwarded to the Department electronically upon your request
(see testing).
Employed candidates should send all documentation (excepting
test scores, which should be sent directly to the Department (see testing for
guidelines)) to their district
personnel office or charter school, which will forward the information to the
Department.
Required documentation (official transcripts,
test scores, certificate copies, and/or forms) will vary according to your
experience/credentials. Based on your answers to the online application
questions, DEEDS will determine the documentation that is required of you and
will generate a personalized documentation checklist, which will be available
to you at the end of the online application process as well as any time you
wish to log in to DEEDS using your username/password to monitor the progress of
your application. All submitted documentation must meet Department
documentation guidelines. As you (or your district/charter school in
the case of employed candidates) send in the relevant documents, the checklist
will indicate that these items have been received. Please keep in mind that
documents will not appear as received until they are manually logged in to the
system, a process which can take several weeks (allowing for third party
processing, postal service, and data entry).
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Processing & Notification. Applications will not be processed
until ALL appropriate documentation is received. The certification office will
attempt to notify you of any missing documentation; however, given the volume
of applications that the Department receives, the onus is on you, the
candidate, to provide the required documentation in the appropriate format (see
documentation guidelines) and to ensure that this documentation has
been received by monitoring your application via DEEDS.
Once all documentation has been received, the Department will evaluate your
credentials in as timely a manner as possible. It is difficult to assign a time
frame to the process as the Department workload varies based on time of year
and other factors. You may apply for employment while your
licensure/certification is pending. (Districts and charter schools
have access to your application information via DEEDS.)
Once the evaluation process is complete, you will receive by mail your
license/certificate(s) or an evaluation letter stating the requirements that
you need to meet (in terms of coursework, testing, experience and/or
documentation) to qualify for the license/certificate(s) you have requested.
To begin the application process, please click
here.
If you have already begun the application OR if you are a first-time applicant
who completed the initial application and wishes to request a
certificate/evaluation in an additional area, please log into DEEDS, access your profile and continue
with your initial application.
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