§7.1. Certification of teachers; certification of principals and superintendents; certification of school psychologists

            A. In carrying out its responsibility to prescribe the qualifications and provide for the certification of teachers under authority of R.S. 17:7(6), the qualifications and requirements established by the State Board of Elementary and Secondary Education for certification of any applicant for certification who completes an approved teacher education program in Louisiana shall include but not be limited to the following:

            (1) Beginning with the 2024-2025 academic year, that each approved teacher education program shall not require more than one hundred twenty semester hours of college credit for degree completion, inclusive of any classroom observation time or mentorship requirements. Programs designated by the Board of Regents as dual degrees or dual certifications shall be permitted to exceed the one-hundred-twenty-semester-hour credit limit.

            (2) That the applicant shall have attained a 2.20 average on a 4.00 scale as a condition for entrance into a teacher education program.

            (3)(a) That the applicant shall have achieved a 2.50 average on a 4.00 scale at graduation from an approved program.

            (b) An applicant who has passed all requisite examinations covering pre-professional skills and content knowledge but who does not meet the requirement of Subparagraph (a) of this Paragraph may be certified if he completes a post-baccalaureate program, or he may be employed as a teacher for a period not to exceed five years in the following manner:

            (i) The state superintendent of education, upon receipt of a signed affidavit by the president and superintendent of the school board to which such person has applied for employment that there is no other applicant available for employment for a specific teaching position who has met the requirements of this Section, may issue an emergency teaching permit to such person. Such permit shall be in effect for not more than five years.

            (ii) After five years of effective teaching evaluations pursuant to R.S. 17:3902 and upon a signed affidavit of a superintendent of a school system recommending to employ the person for the following school year subject to the receipt of a valid Louisiana teaching certificate, the person shall be granted a valid standard professional level teaching certificate by the state superintendent of education, subject only to passing all provisions of law relative to background checks and criminal history review.

            (4)(a) For applicants who have participated in any undergraduate teacher education program, that the applicant shall complete the prescribed number of semester hours in the teaching of reading as established in policy by the State Board of Elementary and Secondary Education in accordance with the level of certification to be awarded, such requirement to be in addition to requirements for English courses, and such courses in the teaching of reading shall emphasize techniques of teaching reading and the recognition and correction of reading problems of the student. For certification at the secondary level, not more than three semester hours in the teaching of reading shall be considered for purposes of meeting certification requirements.

            (b) For applicants who have participated in any alternate teacher education program as provided pursuant to rules and regulations adopted by the State Board of Elementary and Secondary Education, that the applicant shall be given the option of either completing the same amount of semester hours as required for the teaching of reading for undergraduate program applicants pursuant to this Paragraph or, in lieu of such semester hour requirements, shall possess the reading and literacy competencies identified in scientifically based reading research at the national level and approved by the State Board of Elementary and Secondary Education for the teaching of reading.

            (5) That the applicant shall have spent a minimum of 270 clock hours in student teaching with at least 180 of such hours spent in actual teaching.

            (6) That the applicant shall have completed a substantial portion of his 180 hours of actual student teaching on an all-day basis.

            (7) Repealed by Acts 2022, No. 707, §2, eff. June 18, 2022.

            NOTE: Paragraph (A)(8) as enacted by Acts 2022, No. 448, §1, eff. Jan. 1, 2024.

            (8) That an applicant who is applying for initial certification to teach kindergarten through third grade shall, as part of the examination required pursuant to R.S. 17:7(6)(b), pass a rigorous test of scientifically researched, evidence-based reading instruction and intervention, including data-based decisionmaking principles related to reading instruction and intervention, as approved by the Department of Education.

            B.(1) Any persons applying for initial certification as a principal or vice, assistant, or deputy principal, hereafter referred to as a principal, in addition to any other requirements of the State Board of Elementary and Secondary Education, shall have passed the administrative portion of the educational leadership exam adopted by and at a level determined by the State Board of Elementary and Secondary Education.

            (2) Beginning August 15, 2003, and thereafter, any person applying for initial certification as a principal or superintendent, in addition to any other requirements of the State Board of Elementary and Secondary Education, shall have satisfactorily passed the appropriate assessment instrument selected by the board at a level determined by the board.

            (3) Any principal who holds valid out-of-state certification as a principal, has at least four years of successful experience as a principal in another state as determined by the board, and has completed one year of successful employment as an assistant principal or a principal in a Louisiana public school system shall not be required to take the examination administered in accordance with the provisions of this Subsection or to submit any examination scores from any examination previously taken in another state as a prerequisite to the granting of certification in Louisiana provided that all of the following conditions are met:

            (a) The principal meets all other requirements for a Louisiana certificate as may be required by law or board policy.

            (b) The local superintendent or his designee of the public school system employing the principal has recommended the principal for employment for the following school year subject to the receipt of a valid Louisiana certificate as a principal.

            (c) The local superintendent or his designee has requested, on behalf of the principal, that the principal be granted a valid Louisiana certificate as a principal.

            (4) A principal who holds valid out-of-state certification as a principal, and who applies to the State Board of Elementary and Secondary Education for certification as a principal, shall be granted a three-year nonrenewable provisional certificate to be used while such principal completes the requirements set forth in this Subsection.

            C. The State Board of Elementary and Secondary Education may adopt such rules as are necessary for the orderly implementation of this Section and may make further provisions with regard to qualifications and requirements not inconsistent with this Section.

            D. The State Board of Elementary and Secondary Education shall, by regulation, prescribe the qualifications, provide for the certification, and provide for the supervision of school psychologists in the employ of any public agency regulated by the board, notwithstanding the provisions of R.S. 37:2363 or any other provisions of law to the contrary. The certification requirements shall not be less than those requirements established by the National Association of School Psychology. Nothing herein shall be construed as permitting a person certified under the provisions of this Subsection to offer to render, or to render his services as a psychologist in any setting other than his institutional employment unless he has been licensed under the provisions of R.S. 37:2356 or licensed as a medical psychologist under the provisions of R.S. 37:1360.51 et seq.

            E. Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, any person certified as a Level A school psychologist prior to September 1, 1986, shall be allowed to continue in the employment in which he was engaged and which was not specifically prohibited at the time of receiving such certificate and may use the title "certified school psychologist" in the context of that employment.

            F. In carrying out its responsibility to prescribe the qualifications and provide for the certification of teachers under authority of R.S. 17:7(6), if the State Board of Elementary and Secondary Education enters into any agreement for the certification to teach in Louisiana of teachers certified to teach in another state, such agreement shall:

            (1) Be reciprocal, making applicable to any other state which is a party to such agreement and teachers certified to teach in such other state who seek certification in Louisiana equivalent to requirements as determined by the Louisiana state Department of Education to those the agreement places on Louisiana and teachers certified to teach in Louisiana who apply for certification in another state.

            (2) Provide for the certification in Louisiana of a teacher certified to teach in another state only if such teacher has been employed in a professional educational capacity requiring certification as a teacher for the three years immediately preceding application for Louisiana teacher certification unless the teacher completes such additional educational requirements as shall be approved by the State Board of Elementary and Secondary Education. The provisions of this Paragraph shall not apply to a teacher who has been certified to teach in another state for less than three years and has been employed in a professional educational capacity requiring certification as a teacher for the entire period of certification.

            Added by Acts 1977, No. 756, §1. Amended by Acts 1984, No. 318, §1, eff. July 2, 1984; Acts 1984, No. 836, §1, eff. July 13, 1984; Acts 1985, No. 399, §1, eff. July 10, 1985; Acts 1985, No. 190, §1, eff. July 6, 1985; Acts 1986, No. 259, §1; Acts 1989, No. 209, §1, eff. June 26, 1989; Acts 1992, No. 613, §2, eff. July 2, 1992; Acts 1997, No. 1094, §1, eff. July 1, 1997; Acts 1999, No. 147, §1, eff. June 9, 1999; Acts 2003, No. 28, §1, eff. May 23, 2003; Acts 2003, No. 29, §1, eff. May 23, 2003; Acts 2004, No. 462, §1; Acts 2005, No. 117, §1; Acts 2009, No. 251, §4, eff. Jan. 1, 2010; Acts 2010, No. 326, §1; Acts 2019, No. 388, §1; Acts 2021, No. 238, §2; Acts 2022, No. 244, §§1, 2, eff. May 31, 2022; Acts 2022, No. 448, §1, eff. Jan. 1, 2024; Acts 2022, No. 707, §2, eff. June 18, 2022.