Individuals educated in a country other than the United States (U.S.) may be eligible for public school educator certification in Pennsylvania provided they have an earned a degree that is the equivalent of a U.S. baccalaureate degree or higher; obtained satisfactory scores on the Pennsylvania certification assessment(s); and demonstrated proficiency in speaking the English language if required. All foreign transcripts must be evaluated by a professional credential evaluation agency. This evaluation must show the U.S. equivalent of foreign degrees plus a course-by-course evaluation showing semester hour college credit and cumulative GPA. Non-U.S. citizen applicants educated solely in a foreign country where the primary and official language is not English must demonstrate proficiency in understanding and speaking the English language. An advanced-mid score is required on the American Council for the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) English Language, Oral Proficiency Interview (OPI or OPIc). This approach is only available to U.S. citizens or permanent residents holding an immigrant visa.
Language: American Sign Language|Arabic|Chinese|French|German|Greek|Hebrew|Hindi|Italian|Japanese|Korean|Latin|Lithuanian|Pashto|Persian Farsi|Polish|Portuguese|Punjabi|Romanian|Russian|Sanskrit|Slovak|Spanish|Swahili|Turkish|Ukrainian|Urdu|Vietnamese
Contact Name: Pennsylvania Department of Education
Contact Phone: 717-783-6788
Contact Email: [email protected]
For more information please visit the state website: https://www.education.pa.gov/Educators/Certification/OutOfState/Pages/Foreign-Educated-Teacher-Certification-Applicants.aspx
Last updated on: February 9, 2021