NCDPI Licensure

It is vital for Johnston County Public Schools to recruit and retain highly qualified teachers and the licensure process is an essential aspect. JCPS employs a licensure team to work directly with both current and prospective educators. This team assists in the process of applying for licensure, renewing licensure, upgrading and adding experience to a license, and with the online licensure system.

In an effort to better assist our district needs, we have placed a lot of information online. Please communicate with us regarding any questions that you may have.

Contact

Letitia Lee
Director of Licensure
letitialee@johnston.k12.nc.us
919-934-6032 x 8016

Paola Ochoa
Licensure Analyst
paolaochoa@johnston.k12.nc.us
919-934-6032 x 8029

The Beginning Teacher license is issued to an educator with less than three years of public school teaching experience. The license is issued for three years to allow time to complete the three year beginning teacher induction program. Once this program is successfully completed, the license becomes a continuing license (which has a renewal cycle). Beginning teacher licenses are not held to renewal credits except those mandated at the school level.

New state policy requires beginning teachers (including elementary and special education) to "ATTEMPT" required State test(s) during their first year of teaching and "PASS" all required State test(s) by the end of their second year.

In order to be issued a beginning teacher license, one of the following must be completed:
a state teacher education program from a regionally accredited college or university
another state's approved alternative route to licensure, met the federal requirements to be designated as "Highly Qualified", and earned a bachelor's degree from a regionally accredited college
qualify for a N.C. Lateral Entry teaching license

Senate Bill 744 / Session Law 2014-100 Section 8.3 "SECTION 8.22.
Notwithstanding Section 35.11 of this act, only the following teachers and instructional support personnel shall be paid on the "M" salary schedule or receive a salary supplement for academic preparation at the six-year degree level or at the doctoral degree level for the 2014-2015 school year and subsequent school years:

1. Certified school nurses and instructional support personnel in positions for which a master's degree is required for licensure; and

2. Teachers and instructional support personnel who were paid on that salary schedule or received that salary supplement prior to the 2014-2015 school year; and

3. Teachers and instructional support personnel who (i) complete a degree at the master's, six-year, or doctoral degree level for which they completed at least one course prior to August 1, 2013, and (ii) would have qualified for the salary supplement pursuant to State Board of Education policy TCP-A-006, as it was in effect on June 30, 2013."
   
   Graduate degrees will be added to a license if the following criteria are met:
   
   --Completion of a state approved licensure program and the university Dean of Education recommends the upgraded license on the state verification form (Form V)
   
   --Graduation from a regionally accredited university/college

It is important to note that if one course is not completed prior to August 1, 2013, the master’s level license does not guarantee master’s level pay

If you have a master’s degree in an area related to the area assigned to teach or general education, you may qualify for graduate pay approval if you completed one course prior to August 1, 2013. Please contact the Licensure Team for details about graduate pay approval requests.

• Current NC Pearson Testing Requirements

• Current NC Praxis II Testing Requirements

• Phase out Chart – State Board of Education Approved Licensure Testing

• Praxis Test Preparation Website

• Regional Alternative Licensing Center (RALC)

All graduates from approved licensure programs of accredited North Carolina Universities will work through their university to obtain a license. The Licensure Administrator / Dean of Education will work with the student and NCDPI to apply for their license. Graduates will need to register an account with the online licensure system in order to finalize the details of the application and to make the payment for the application for the license. The license processing fee is $70 and must be paid by VISA or Mastercard and is non-refundable.

If the graduate has previous teaching or non-teaching work experience, they should submit the experience with the initial application in order to avoid paying multiple licensure fees.

NCDPI issues all continuing licenses for 5-year cycles. License holders are required to earn 8.0 Continuing Education Units (CEUs) per 5-year renewal cycle in order to have their license renewed for the next 5-year cycle. Of the total 8.0 CEUs that are required to renew a license, the following charts break down the requirements:

• License Renewal Requirements

Brass to Class Eligibility

The NCDPI Licensure Section has established rules according to G.S. 115C-302.3(a) for awarding credit for salary purposes to principals, assistant principals and teachers who served in the Armed Forces of the United States; have retired or who have received an Honorable Discharge.

The policy includes the following provisions:

1. One full year of experience credit shall be awarded for each year of full-time relevant non-teaching work experience completed while on active military duty in the Armed Forces of the United States and earning a bachelor's degree.

2. One full year of experience credit shall be awarded for each two years of full-time relevant non-teaching work experience completed while on active duty in the Armed Forces of the United States and before earning a bachelor's degree.

3. One full year of experience credit shall be awarded for every two years of full-time instructional duties performed in an instructional setting while on active military duty in the Armed Forces of the United States, regardless of academic degree held while serving in instructional roles. This applies to military veterans initially employed by a NC LEA starting July 1, 2014. The experience must be verifiable on government issued service documents. This provision does not apply to JROTC instructors covered under a separate policy.

4. One full year of experience credit shall be awarded for every two years of full-time service in a leadership role while on active military duty in the Armed Forces of the United State, regardless of academic degree held while serving in a leadership role. This applies to military veterans initially employed by a NC LEA starting July 1, 2014. Members eligible for this work experience credit are: commissioned officers, warrant officers, and non-commissioned officers. Junior enlisted members that have not completed formal military leadership training are excluded from eligibility for this credit. The experience must be verifiable on government issued service documents. This provision does not apply to JROTC instructors covered under a separate policy.

Non-Teaching Military Experience can be verified by using Form ME. There is also a $60 processing fee to have experience reviewed by the state. The fee can only be paid by VISA or MasterCard. The fee is non-refundable regardless if the experience is granted.

Educators can request a name change through the online licensure system. If the educator is employed, the school system can assist in making this request. A legal document such as a driver’s license with the new name will have to be scanned and uploaded with the application.

There is a $60 licensure processing fee to request a name change. The fee must be paid by VISA or Mastercard and is non-refundable.

The North Carolina Department of Public Instruction moved to an online licensure system effective August 1, 2015. This new system is how all educators now access their certifications.

All educators must have an account with the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction's Online Licensure System. Registration begins by clicking on NCDPI Registration in the bottom, left corner. Once the account is created and logged into, the educator can view their license data, as well as make applications for licensure changes directly to the Licensure Section. It is preferred that if employed with the school district that the educator opens the account with the assistance of the licensure team.

Most all applications require a licensure processing fee. This fee is non-refundable and must be paid by either VISA or Mastercard.

For additional assistance view the Guide to the Online Licensure System for Educators help guide.

North Carolina will issue a license to out-of-state applicants based on their degree program completed and/or license that is held from another state. The license will be issued in area(s) as close to the other state's as possible, but it may not be exact. For example, a license from New York for grades Kindergarten - 2 will be issued in N.C. as a Kindergarten – 6 license because that is the closest area North Carolina issues. Also, some other areas may require additional course work or testing for licensure in North Carolina than another state may require, thus requiring that the applicant meet a few more requirements to get fully licensed in a certain area.

Applications for a N.C. license are made through the online licensure system. The educator must register for an account and then applications can be created. Documents such as transcripts, test scores, experience forms, etc. will have to be scanned and uploaded with the application.

The license processing fee is $100 and must be paid by VISA or Mastercard and is non-refundable.

Residency License replaces lateral entry as the North Carolina alternative license. It is a one year license with the option to renew twice, within no more than a 3-year time period.

Qualifications:

Candidates for a Residency License must possess each of the following:

• Bachelor degree from a regionally accredited university

• 24 hours relevant coursework - or - Approved NC licensure exam for area taught

• Enrolled in an Educator Preparation Program (EPP)

License Renewal Qualification each Year:

• Teach a minimum of 6 calendar months each fiscal school year

• Continued enrollment in an EPP

• Continued Employment

• Completion of pre-service requirements

Conversion:

Convert to Initial Professional License (IPL) or Continuing Professional License (CPL) upon completion of EPP requirements.

Testing:

Must be completed as outlined by the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction requirement letter, it currently requires testing attempted first year and passed by end of second year.

Educator experience can be added to a license in several ways. The three most common ways to add experience are through the K-12 setting, the college teaching experience, or through relevant non-teaching experience.

For all K-12 educator experience, the Form E is required by NCDPI. Service as a tutor, clerical paraprofessional, or day-to-day substitute teacher is not recognized for professional educator experience credit.

Service as an Instructional Teacher Assistant qualifies for experience credit. It must be completed on the bottom section of Form E. If the experience is prior to a bachelor degree, it takes two years of service to earn one year of credit. If it is after the degree, the service is counted year for year.

At least 6 full months of employment must be worked in order for any K-12 experience to count as a year of service.

For any college teaching, the experience must be submitted on the CE Form required by NCDPI.

Credit for college teaching experience is calculated as follows: teaching two courses (six semester hours or class hours) is considered half-time work; teaching four courses (twelve semester hours or class hours) is considered full-time work.

For relevant non-teaching experience, the NE Form must be completed. NCDPI Licensure Section requires that an official job description be included for each relevant job held. Non-teaching experience must be recommended by the school district after being employed and at least 12 full months of service must be earned in order to submit to NCDPI for review.

Employed educators should submit all experience verification forms to the Johnston County Schools Licensure Team who will work with the educator to submit the experience request to NCDPI. The fee for requesting experience credit is $60 and must be paid by VISA or MasterCard. If the educator is submitting an initial application to NCDPI, the experience should be submitted with that request to avoid multiple fees.

All experience forms can be found on NCPDI’s website.

In North Carolina, validated licenses are issued for three (3) years. Educators with a validated license are required by law to complete 8 continuing education credits (80 clock hours of credit) by the end of the third fiscal school year that the license is validated. A fiscal school year is from July 1 until June 30 of the year hired. Even if hired mid-year, NCDPI still holds the educator to the three year window of time that began with the July of the fiscal school year that the educator was hired. The breakdown for credits is shown below:

• License Renewal Requirements

The fee to request a validated license is $60 and can only be paid by Visa or Mastercard. The fee is non-refundable.