Upon completing your teacher preparation program and graduating from the university, you’ll be ready to apply for your initial teaching certificate.  Since this is your first application for such a certificate, the university will most likely help process your paperwork and submit it to the State Department of Education (SDE) Bureau of Certification.  The process is fairly straightforward:

          1.  You will complete form ED 170, General Application for Certificate, pages 1 & 2.  This is the form that is used for applying for any of the 3 levels of certificates – initial, provisional, or professional.  You should be able to obtain the form from the Education Department at the university, or can download it from the SDE web site (http://www.state.ct.us/sde/dtl/cert/toccert.htm).  The directions for applying are included with the form.

          2.  The university will complete form ED 125, the ‘Statement of Preparing Higher Education Institution,’ which will accompany your application.

          3.  An official transcript from the university must be sent directly to the SDE.

          4.  You must have taken and passed Praxis I and Praxis II to be eligible for certification; those scores must be sent from ETS to the SDE.  Generally, when you take those exams in CT, the scores are automatically sent to the SDE.  If you took the exams outside of CT, you must request that ETS send the scores.

          5.  A non-refundable fee of $50 must accompany your application to begin the processing of it.  The total fee for the initial certificate is $100, which you can send all at once when you first apply.  The SDE does not accept personal checks – it must be in the form of a money order or bank check.

          6.  Once the SDE has received and processed all part of the application, you will be issued an initial certificate, which will be mailed to the address on your application.  This usually takes 6-8 weeks, although it may be longer between the months of May and September.

          When you apply for a certificate for the first time, you should begin a ‘certification file,’ in which you keep all correspondence and records regarding your certificate.  It is recommended that you make photocopies of any application, letter, or other record you submit to the SDE, and keep copies of all correspondence you receive from them.  Keeping complete and accurate records can help insure that your certificate is always accurate and valid.