How to Find a Teacher's Certification

During the school year, your child’s teacher will spend many hours interacting with and teaching children in the classroom. It is critical that your child has a teacher that meets your state’s teacher requirements. Every state requires teachers to be licensed. Licensure information, such as the date the certificate was issued and who issued it, is public record. Parents ought to check the credentials of their children’s teachers.

Write down the teacher’s first and last name. If desired, ask the teacher you are researching to give you her license or teacher-identification number.

Contact your state’s department of education. You can either call the department or visit their website.

Provide the state department of education with the teacher’s information. You do not need to know the teacher’s license or certification number. At the least, however, you must have the teacher’s first and last name.

If you use the state’s teacher license search engine on the department of education’s website, simply input the teacher’s first and last name and click the “submit” or “start search” button.

Review the teacher’s credentials. The clerk at the department of education or the website will be able to tell you when the teacher received his license, whether the teacher is currently active, when it expires and what grades the teacher is able to teach.