Active duty military or military spouse applicants stationed in Louisiana must have the following to be eligible for Louisiana’s Military Out-of-State (OSm) certificate:
- Military orders transferring the applicant or spouse to Louisiana for active duty.
- A standard professional level out-of-state teaching certificate* documented with a copy of the certificate issued by another state and the Teacher Preparation and Certification Status form. LDOE will verify that all standard professional level teaching certificates from other states are in good standing.
- A background check will be conducted in accordance with Louisiana statute to verify compliance with standards of practice.
* Applicants who have completed a teacher preparation program, including student teaching or equivalent, in another state but do not hold standard professional teaching certification in another state should submit the standard Out-of-State application.
A letter of eligibility for OSm or professional Level certification will be issued to educators not yet employed as a teacher in Louisiana who meet the requirements above, indicating the certification areas which will appear on the certificate when issued. Teaching areas designated on the letter/certificate are based upon the educator’s teacher preparation concentration area, reciprocity with other state teaching certificate(s) the educator may hold, and certification areas available in Louisiana.
Using the letter of eligibility, the educator may seek employment in a Louisiana school system as a teacher-of-record. Once employed, the school system will submit a letter verifying employment and requesting issuance of the appropriate certificate.
If you are currently employed in a Louisiana school system prior to applying for certification, the application should be routed to your employing school system for verification to allow immediate issuance of the certificate.
For active military or military spouse applicants eligible for OSm certification and with fewer than three years of teaching experience verified as successful, a five-year non-renewable Military OS certificate will be issued. During the five-years on the OSm certificate the educator must earn at least three effective ratings as a teacher to advance to the standard, renewable Level 2 or 3 certificate depending on degree(s) earned and documented experience.
Applicants eligible for OSm certification with at least three years of teaching experience verified as successful using the Out-of-State Experience Verification Attestation form may bypass the five-year Military OS and receive a standard, renewable Level 2 or 3 certificate depending on degree(s) earned and documented experience.
When the certificate is requested by the employing school system, the certification office will determine which certificate to issue based upon the following guidelines:
- If the educator has fewer than three years of verified successful teaching experience, the Military OS is issued.
- If the educator has at least three years of successful teaching experience documented, the Level 2 is issued.
- If the educator has a minimum of five years of verified successful teaching experience, and earned a graduate degree, the Level 3 is issued.