General Resources | Foreign Language Resources

Certification Procedures for Teacher Certification in Foreign Languages

Before you can become certified to teach in the state of Georgia you must be recommended for certification by the college or university from which you completed your state approved program. In order for Kennesaw State University to recommend you for certification you need to have completed all degree or alternative teacher preparation program requirements and pass the GACE content assessment for your certification area. It is your responsibility to schedule and take the appropriate content tests in a timely manner.

B.A. in Modern Language & Culture (Concentration II):

There will be a mandatory meeting of all students who will be student teaching at the beginning of each semester. At that meeting, you will fill out the appropriate paperwork to begin the process for your teaching certification. At the end of the semester that you student teach, a transcript showing your degree should be sent to the certification officer. Your transcript, along with the paperwork you filled out at the beginning of the semester will be forwarded to the Georgia Professional Standards Commission by the certification officer. The PSC will evaluate all your documentation and issue your teaching certificate. It should take approximately two weeks after graduation to receive your teaching certificate from the state.

Alternative Teacher Preparation Program (ATP):

It is your responsibility to complete the program as recommended and to notify the director of the ATP program when all requirements outlined in your evaluation letter have been met. Once the program has been completed, you must provide the following documentation in order to be recommended for certification:*

• Official transcripts of required university course work, including KSU. Please note that the KSU transcript must list a passing grade for the last semester of the internship.
• Official staff/professional development transcripts
• GACE content assessment scores, including scores for each section (or appropriate substitution), GACE basic skills assessment scores (or appropriate SAT, ACT or GRE scores to exempt), and a copy of the Oral Proficiency Interview (OPI) certificate. For languages such as Chinese and Japanese, where no GACE content assessment is available, a copy of the Writing Proficiency Test (WPT) is also required.
• Appropriate documentation for any requirements that are not listed on transcripts or test result reports.
• A link to the electronic portfolio, and a copy of the portfolio evaluation, signed by the FLED 4498 supervisor. The evaluation must show a score of L3 or higher in every category (Philosophy, three Narratives, and all six Standards), and the appropriate minimum proficiency level for the OPI.
• Evidence that the special Georgia requirement in technology has been completed

*All documentation must be sent directly to the ATP program director in the Department of Foreign Languages.

Once the ATP program director has verified that the program requirements have been completed successfully and all appropriate documentation has been provided, a request for a recommendation for certification will be forwarded to KSU's Certification Officer, who will prepare the recommendation and mail it to the candidate's home address. It is the responsibility of the candidates to forward this recommendation, the accompanying documentation, and application for certification either a) directly to the to the Professional Standards Commission (PSC) with the appropriate fee, or b) to their employer, who will forward all required documents to the PSC. It should take approximately two weeks after the Professional Standards Commission has received the request for certification to get your teaching certificate in the mail.

Kennesaw State University will not be able to recommend anyone for certification who has not passed the required GACE content assessments, successfully completed student teaching, and/or completed all requirements for their particular degree or alternative teacher preparation program here at Kennesaw State University .

For additional information, see http://www.gace.nesinc.com

pdated October 3, 2006.