The Department of Education, Bureau of School Leadership and Teacher Quality has two divisions which work together to ensure educators are properly prepared and certified to work in Pennsylvania's schools. The Professional Education and Teacher Quality (Educator Preparation) division and the Certification division both contribute to this initiative by supporting certification and staffing guidelines and policy to assist all local education agencies (LEAs) to ensure they employ appropriately certified professional employees. It is imperative that the superintendent or chief school administrator make certain that every professional employee serving students has a valid, active certification and is appropriately certified or properly permitted for the position they hold. This includes any individual who serves students under your care in a professional capacity (requiring certification) whether directly employed by you or contracted through a 3rd party.
Permanent Certification
LEAs are also an integral step in the process of educators achieving permanent certification. It is important to know and understand the process for professional staff to reach permanent certification.
The information found at the links below provides you important information in ensuring you employ appropriately certified staff and can assist your staff in transitioning to Level 2.
If you have questions regarding staffing, email them to ra-edcertstaff@pa.gov. Questions regarding Act 48 should be sent to ra-edact48@pa.gov. Questions regarding Educator Effectiveness should be sent to RA-PDE-Evaluation@pa.gov