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Department of Education: alternate-pathway educational-leader applicants must include course certificate starting March 1
Summary
The Department of Education reported it processed over 3,000 certification applications in January and announced that applicants using the 240-hour educational-leader portfolio route who submit on or after March 1 must first complete a designated LDOE professional-learning course and include the certificate of completion with their application.
The Department of Education reported steady progress on educator certification processing and set a new documentation requirement for a key alternate pathway.
“you can see that we processed over 3,000 applications in the month of January,” the host said, noting the office processed applications within 32 business days and answered 3,247 questions, while the background credentialing team cleared 1,281 educators in January. (Dr. Jefferson)
At the center of Monday’s update was a change to the Educational Leader alternate pathway two — the 240-hour portfolio route. Ms. Norman of the certification office said any educator submitting an application on or after March 1 must, before submission, complete the specified course on the LDOE professional-learning platform, pass the platform assessment, and include the platform-issued certificate of completion with the portal application. Ms. Norman warned that if the certificate is missing it will count as a missing item and — if other items are also missing — could force resubmission and an additional fee.
The requirement applies only to applications submitted on or after March 1. Ms. Norman also said that educators denied for missing or insufficient portfolio hours will be required to wait a minimum of 30 days before reapplying so they can review Bulletin 746 and Bulletin 146 and prepare a corrected submission.
Why it matters: the portfolio route is used by many educators seeking an alternate path to leadership credentials; requiring a prior course and a certificate is intended to standardize baseline knowledge and reduce incomplete submissions that slow processing.
Department staff encouraged district certification and HR teams to share the update with system leaders, school boards and preparation providers so candidates can complete the required course in advance. The office reiterated links and guidance are available on the School System Support calendar and teachlouisiana.net.
Next steps: applicants planning to use the portfolio route should complete the listed LDOE course, keep the certificate of completion for upload, and confirm all supporting documents before submission to avoid resubmission fees. The department said help is available through the teacher certification help portal.
