Human Resources → Educator Certification → Current Educators → Adding Additional Certification Areas

Options and Information About Adding Additional Certification Areas to your Maryland Educator Certificate

1) Adding New Endorsements to Your Educator Certificate VIA CONTENT OPTION

 
The Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE) allows a certified teacher to add a new certification area/ endorsement by completing college/university content coursework. The coursework must be completed through a regionally accredited college or university. Please review the MSDE website, Adding Endorsements.  

I think I have enough or most of the coursework toward a certification area.  How can a request for a review of my previous coursework be submitted? Please review below and DO NOT submit the Add Endorsement request via MSDE TEACH until eligibility is confirmed. 

• Via email:  Send an email request to Marie_Bercaw@mcpsmd.org for a review of your previous coursework on file and the desired area of the certification area/endorsement. We can honor one request per educator per year. The evaluation will be sent via email in approximately 4-8 weeks and will include any next steps you must complete at that time.  

I completed a program that leads to certification in another teaching subject, specialist area, or administrator.   How can a request for the new certification area/endorsement be made to update my Educator certificate AND how long will it take to update my Educator certificate?  Requests can take 4-8 weeks depending on the current workload.

• Via pony/regular mail:  Send the official transcript with a written request to add the new certification area/endorsement to Marie Bercaw, certification coordinator.
   
• Via email:  If you have previously submitted the official transcript(s), send an email request to add the new certification area/endorsement to Marie_Bercaw@mcpsmd.org.
  
  
• Once your request and official transcript have been received in our office, we'll send a confirmation email indicating the anticipated time it will take to update your Educator certificate and will include any next steps you must complete at that time.  
  
  

2) Adding New Endorsements to Your Educator Certificate VIA TESTING OPTION

 
The Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE) allows a certified teacher with a teaching certification area/endorsement on their Educator certificate to add a new certification area/endorsement by passing the applicable subject area assessment test. Applicants must meet current acceptable tests and qualifying scores at the time of application for a new certification area/endorsement. Assessments and qualifying scores are subject to change without notice. Retain the original test score report for your records since ETS only keeps score information a limited number of years. 

Praxis and ACTFL Testing Information (PDF) - information about the content tests needed for the testing option.

 If you believe you now qualify to add a new endorsement, please send your PDF score report via email attachment with an email requesting the new endorsement to Marie_Bercaw@mcpsmd.org.
Once registered in TEACH, and the MCPS Certification Unit has confirmed your eligibility, then you MUST complete the application to add an endorsement on TEACH, using our MCPS TEACH Application Guide-Adding Endorsements (click the link and follow the instructions) to guide you through each step and the pages you do NOT need to worry about. You should upload your score report during that process when you come to the Testing page.  It typically takes MCPS 4-6 weeks to add the endorsement.  You will receive a confirmation email via TEACH upon completion. 

3) Adding Administrator II to your Educator Certificate (Must be certified in Administrator I and have passed the current SLLA)

 
Applicants must meet current acceptable tests and qualifying scores at the time of application for a new certification area/endorsement. Assessments and qualifying scores are subject to change without notice.  

If you believe you now qualify to add a new endorsement, please send your PDF score report via email attachment with an email requesting the new endorsement to Marie_Bercaw@mcpsmd.org.
Once registered in TEACH, and the MCPS Certification Unit has confirmed your eligibility, then you MUST complete the application to add an endorsement on TEACH, using our MCPS TEACH Application Guide-Adding Endorsements (click the link and follow the instructions) to guide you through each step and the pages you do NOT need to worry about. You should upload your score report during that process when you come to the Testing page.  It typically takes MCPS 4-6 weeks to add the endorsement.  You will receive a confirmation email via TEACH upon completion.