How to Become a Teacher in Ohio without an Education Degree

<p>In Ohio, candidates who wish to be an educator but do not have a degree in education can pursue an Alternative Resident Educator License. While the details of the process for attaining this license are given further in the article, the general requirements are shown in the table below. </p> <p /> <table border="1"><tr><td>Education Required</td><td> Bachelor's degree with 2.5 GPA</td></tr> <tr><td>Exam Requirements </td><td> OAE<br />OPI (certain fields)<br />WPI (certain fields)<br />OAE Foundations of Reading (certain fields)</td></tr> <tr><td>License Renewal Period</td><td>Four years</td></tr> <tr><td>Requirements for Renewal </td><td> Required coursework, exams</td></tr> <tr><td>Average Salary (2019) </td><td> $55,602 (teachers in OH)*</td></tr> <tr><td>Estimated Job Growth (2016-2026) </td><td>8% (high school teachers nationally)**</td></tr> </table><p><i>Sources: *Salary.com; **U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics</i> </p> <h3 id="section---InitialEvaluationLeadingToTheLicense">Initial Evaluation Leading to the License</h3> <p>Interested candidates must apply to the Ohio Department of Education for an evaluation. The application form can be downloaded from the website. The candidate must complete this form, submit verified transcripts as proof of their educational background and pay a $50 fee. On the form, the candidate must state which field(s) they would like to be evaluated for. The field options are attached to the form and include designated subject grades for kindergarten through 12th grade, such as business education, industrial technology, life sciences, and music, as well as interventionist specialist areas for grades K-12 and world languages for preschool through grade 12. The evaluation is valid for a year, and if the candidate has not moved further in the process of getting the alternative license, they must apply to be re-evaluated. </p> <h3 id="section---LicensureExams">Licensure Exams</h3> <p>Candidates must then take and pass the Ohio Assessment for Educators (OAE) content assessment for the field in which they would like to be licensed. If the field of interest is a world language then the candidate must complete the Oral Proficiency Interview (OPI) and Writing Proficiency Test (WPT) instead. Persons who are pursuing licensure in the alternative integrated arts and intervention specialist areas must also complete the OAE Foundations of Reading exam. </p> <h3 id="section---BackgroundClearanceAndConfirmationLetter">Background Clearance and Confirmation Letter</h3> <p>All candidates interested in being educators must undergo a background check. This check is conducted by both the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation (BCI) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). If a background check was done prior to starting the process of obtaining an alternative license, it must be no more than a year old in order to be considered. Background checks done in another state will also not be accepted. Once the candidate has passed the relevant exams and the background check, they will be given a confirmation letter from the Ohio Department of Education so they can move on to the next step. </p> <h3 id="section---EnrollmentAndEmployment">Enrollment and Employment</h3> <p>The confirmation letter allows the candidate to enroll in an approved alternative licensure institute. The list of universities with acceptable programs can be found on the Ohio Department of Education website and includes The Ohio State University and Bluffton University. The length of the course at The Ohio State University is 16 weeks. Once the course is completed, the candidate must submit the evidence of completion to the Ohio Department of Education in order to receive a letter of eligibility. That letter of eligibility signals that the candidate has completed all the prerequisites for an alternative license and is fit to be employed. The candidate must secure employment before applying for the license. </p> <h3 id="section---ObtainingTheAlternativeResidentEducatorLicenseAndProfessionalLicense">Obtaining the Alternative Resident Educator License and Professional License</h3> <p>Once employed, the candidate can apply for the alternative license via the Ohio Department of Education website. The license is valid for four years and may either be renewed or upgraded at the end of that period. To apply for a renewal, the candidate must satisfy coursework and exam requirements. To upgrade to a professional license, teachers must also have four years of teaching experience.</p>