Certification Information

WELCOME

Welcome to the Human Resources, Certification page. We invite you to explore this website to find valuable information and important links to many of your questions. If you have additional questions outside of the information provided, contact our human resources department.

If you are a prospective employee, we encourage you to visit our “Vacancies” link located on the Lumpkin County Schools website under the Human Resources Tab and review our current job vacancies. https://www.lumpkinschools.com/page/vacancies

To learn more about obtaining certification in the state of Georgia, visit the Georgia Professional Standards Commission’s website for information on the different routes to certification.

IMPORTANT LINKS:

Georgia Professional Standards Commission – Public Site
MyPSC – Personal Login Page

DIFFERENT ROUTES TO BECOMING A CERTIFIED EDUCATOR IN THE STATE OF GEORGIA:

EDUCATIONAL LEADERSHIP:

Educational Leadership has two tiers of certification;
Tier I is for entry level leadership. These leadership positions do not evaluate other administrative/leadership staff. These positions are below a principal at the building level.

Tier II is for advanced level leadership positions such as principals and higher at the building level or system level. Tier II allows you to supervise and evaluate other administrative/leadership positions.

STANDARD RENEWAL (SRT, SRS): Educators who have completed an education degree and have earned more than three years of successful teaching experience. This certificate is a five-year certificate.

PERFORMANCE PROFESSIONAL RENEWAL CERTIFICATE (PRT): Must have completed three years of successful experience within the last five years. All three years must have been earned in a Georgia public school system with a summative performance rating of “Proficient” or “Exemplary” on the state evaluation system; TKES

  • Must apply to request if an educator holds a Standard Renewable certificate- SRT

  • PSC will automatically issue the PRT for individuals who are converting the I5T or BT certificates as long as the experience has been verified by PSC and evaluations of “Proficient” or “Exemplary” are reported on TKES

INDUCTION PATHWAYS: These pathways are for individuals who have less than three years of successful teaching experience and hold certification or completed an approved state program. A Standard Professional Renewal or Professional Performance based teaching certificate can be obtained after completing three years of successful teaching experience and completing any other requirements outlined by the Georgia Professional Standards Commission.

https://www.gapsc.com/Certification/TieredCertification/induction.aspx

5-YEAR INDUCTION CERTIFICATE: This pathway is for individuals who have less than three years of teaching experience and completed a traditional state approved educator preparation program in the state of Georgia or individuals who completed an out of state program and fulfilled field and clinical experiences in Georgia. They must satisfy the following requirements: 

  • Passing score on the appropriate GACE content assessment. (This is the subject/area you desire to teach)

  • Complete course in Identifying and Educating Exceptional Children with a grade "B" or better.

  • Passing score on the GACE Georgia Educator Ethics Assessment (GACE 360)

Out of state educators with less than three years teaching experience must satisfy the following requirements:

  • Completion of state approved out of state educator preparation program and fulfilled field and clinical experience out-of-state or hold a Professional out-of-state certificate with less than three years of successful experience must satisfy the following:

    • Complete course in Identifying and Educating Exceptional Children

    • Passing score on the GACE Georgia Educator Ethics Assessment (GACE 360)

    • If a state content assessment was not required for the out of state certificate or if you did not pass your required out of state assessments then you will be required to pass the Georgia GACE Content Assessment.

    • If you passed the out of state assessment, but you are not able to provide a copy of your official score report or a letter on letterhead from Out of State DOE indicating first name and date passed, then you will be required to pass the Georgia GACE Content Assessment

    • PSC Experience Verification form completed for any certified experience earned out of state by school system in which the experience was earned.

To convert the 5-Year Induction Certificate to a Professional Certificate

  • Complete three years of successful Georgia teaching experience

  • Service years must be verified on PSC experience verification form; All fields on form must be completed

  • And conversion must be requested by applying


PROVISIONAL BT4: This pathway is a provisional pathway for individuals who desire to become an educator who have a bachelor’s degree or higher, but the degree is not in education. Qualifications for this pathway are:

  • A bachelor's degree or higher. If your highest degree is a bachelor's degree and it was earned less than 10 years prior to the date of application, you must have a minimum overall GPA of 2.5. If you do not, you may still qualify by submitting proof of acceptance into a GaPSC-accepted educator preparation program;

  • Induction level or higher passing score on the appropriate GACE content assessment. These scores are transmitted electronically to the GaPSC;

  • A passing score on the GACE Georgia Educator Ethics Assessment (Test Code 360). This score is also transmitted electronically to the GaPSC;

  • In order to convert to any other Induction Pathway or a Provisional certificate, you must complete all the requirements of a state-approved educator preparation program and all applicable Special Georgia Requirements.

OUT OF STATE EDUCATORS:
Educators holding out of state certificates need the following to apply for Georgia certification:

  • Hold a valid professional out of state certificate and provide a copy of certificate

  • Copies of state certification assessments (See below)

    • Scores printed from an online educator account will not be accepted unless they are publicly verifiable. If you are unable to acquire official score reports, please ask the certification office in your state to write an official letter verifying the name and date of the certification assessments you passed.

  • Official Transcripts from all colleges/universities attended

  • PSC Experience Verification form- verify the most recent years of educator experience within the last five years from the date of the application for Georgia certification.

INTERNATIONAL EDUCATORS (XT):
Educators from a foreign country need the following to apply for Georgia certification:

Foreign Credential Report which includes English translations and information showing detailed, course-by-course evaluations and appropriate U.S. degree equivalency.

The foreign credential report MUST be an independent review prepared by an agency approved by the GaPSC. https://www.gapsc.com/MovetoGeorgia/FromOutSideUSA/foreignCredentialReports.aspx

Passing GACE Content Assessment for the area/subject you plan to teach

Any Special Georgia Requirements the PSC requires to be met: Georgia PSC will issue a correspondence to your account once your certificate has been issued. *Please review your correspondence.    

https://www.gapsc.com/Certification/SpecialGeorgiaRequirements.aspx

CERTIFICATION RENEWAL: (Criminal Background Check is Required for Employee Renewals)

Link to PSC Certificate Renewal Information: https://www.gapsc.com/CurrentEducator/takeCareYourCertificate/RenewCertificate.aspx

Professional certificates expiring 2018 or after:

  • Complete an Individualized Professional Learning Goal or Professional Learning Plan

  • Completion on any outstanding Georgia Special Requirements that were outlined when initial certification was issued

  • Must be employed with a school system

  • Fingerprinting for criminal background check

  • An educator who has received any combination of 2 Unsatisfactory, Ineffective, or Needs Development annual performance evaluations in the previous 5-year certificate validity period may not receive a renewable certificate until the performance deficiencies have been satisfactorily remediated.

Professional certificates expired 2011 – 2017:

  • No renewal credit (coursework) is required to renew these certificates. The PSC waived the credits to renew from 2011-2017.

  • Completion of any outstanding Georgia Special Requirements that were outlined when initial certification was issued.

  • Must be employed with a school system

  • Fingerprinting for criminal background check

Professional certificates expired 2018 or later and 2010 or earlier: (Complete one of the following)

  • Earn 10 PLUs or 6 college semester hours or 10 college quarter hours or 10 CEU units within 5 years of the date of renewal. Credits earned must be from a PSC approved program or institution with a grade "C" or better

  • One hundred (100) hours BFTS-approved trainings

  • Retake and pass GACE Content Assessment for field desiring to renew. This will not renew all fields on certificate, only the fields that GACE was retaken and passed.

  • One year of acceptable out of state educator experience within the validity period of out-of-state professional certificate. This must be documented on the PSC Experience Verification form.

  • Professional Learning Verification can be verified for educators employed in Georgia LUA after April 1, 2017 for at least one year during their validity period may request previous employing LUA to verify completion at professional learning goal for renewal using the Professional Learning Verification form. 

  • Valid National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS) certification.

  • For some service fields, valid state or national licensure as outlined in the specific rule for that field.

  • Employed by a school system.

CERTIFICATION UPGRADES:
The Georgia Professional Standards Commission has developed a tool for educators to use to verify if the institution and program are acceptable for an upgrade. The system will cross-reference the educator’s current certification and the information from the program and institution to inform the educator if the higher degree will lead to an upgrade. https://www.gapsc.com/Commission/Policies_guidelines/UpgradeUtility/Upgrade_Initial.aspx

ADDING A NEW FIELD TO YOUR CERTIFICATE:
The Georgia Professional Standards Commission requires passing the appropriate GACE, completing an endorsement program or in some cases passing the required GACE and completing a certification program to add a new field to an educator’s current certificate.

Most fields of certification can be added to your current teaching certificate with testing with the exception of Elementary Education. The Georgia Professional Standards Commission requires an educator to complete an Elementary Education certification program and pass the GACE for Education to add Elementary Education to a current teaching certificate.

A service field or Educational Leadership cannot be added with testing to a teaching certificate and a teaching field cannot be added to a service or Educational Leadership certificate with testing. An educator must complete a certification program for the field and testing to add the field to the certificate.

Service fields: School Counselor, Media Specialist, Curriculum and Instruction, Instructional Technology, Teacher Leadership, School Psychologist, School Social Worker, School Nutrition Director, Speech and Language Pathologist, Audiologist

PARAPROFESSIONAL CERTIFICATION REQUIREMENTS:
Requirements for paraprofessional certificate: (One of the following)

  • Earned 60 college semester hours

  • Earned 90 college quarter hours

  • Hold an associate’s degree or higher

  • Pass GACE Paraprofessional Assessment

Registration for the GACE Paraprofessional Assessment cannot be completed on-line. You must contact the GACE Paraprofessional Assessment test sites to register through the testing site.

**Please note: GACE has new Prometric test centers. Testing center information is available at https://www.gace.ets.org/paraprofessional/test_takers/register/