Mo. Rev. Stat. § 168.021 — MO Code / Chapter 168 / Section 168.021
168.021 Issuance of teachers' licenses and scholars certificates, requirements, ...
Status: in_force

168.021. Issuance of teachers' licenses and scholars certificates, requirements, procedure — fees — effect of certification in another state and subsequent employment in this state — certificate issuance for military members. — 1. Certificates of license to teach in the public schools of the state shall be granted as follows:

(1) By the state board, under rules and regulations prescribed by it:

(a) Upon the basis of college credit;

(b) Upon the basis of examination;

(2) By the state board, under rules and regulations prescribed by the state board with advice from the advisory council established by section 168.015 to any individual who presents to the state board a valid doctoral degree from an accredited institution of higher education accredited by a regional accrediting association such as North Central Association. Such certificate shall be limited to the major area of postgraduate study of the holder, shall be issued only after successful completion of the examination required for graduation pursuant to rules adopted by the state board of education, and shall be restricted to those certificates established pursuant to subdivision (2) of subsection 3 of this section;

(3) By the state board, which shall issue the professional certificate classification in both the general and specialized areas most closely aligned with the current areas of certification approved by the state board, commensurate with the years of teaching experience of the applicant, and based upon the following criteria:

(a) a. Recommendation of a state-approved baccalaureate-level teacher preparation program;

b. The department of elementary and secondary education shall develop and maintain an eighteen-hour (one thousand eighty minutes) online teacher preparation program related to subjects appropriate for elementary and secondary education settings. Any charitable organization registered in Missouri that is exempt from federal taxation under the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, may submit a teacher preparation program to the department of elementary and secondary education for approval. Once approved, the charitable organization shall be certified to develop and maintain a teacher preparedness program. Approved teacher preparedness programs created by a charitable organization shall be made available by the department of elementary and secondary education. An individual with a bachelor's degree may complete an eighteen-hour online training program, either created by the department or by a charitable organization, and receive a teacher certificate. Such certificate shall not be accepted by Missouri public schools but may be accepted by private schools and private school accrediting agencies;

(b) a. Successful attainment of the Missouri qualifying score on the exit assessment for teachers or administrators designated by the state board of education;

b. (i) Applicants who have not successfully achieved a qualifying score on the designated examinations will be issued a two-year nonrenewable provisional certificate;

(ii) During the two-year nonrenewable provisional certification, an individual teacher may gain full professional certification by:

i. Achieving a qualifying score on the designated exam; or

ii. Successfully achieving an acceptable score on the state-approved teacher evaluation system from seven walk-through evaluations, two formative evaluations, and one summative evaluation for each of the two probationary years and being offered a third contract by the employing district. For any applicant who has a change in job status because of a reduction in the workforce or a change in life circumstances, the scores required under this item may be scores achieved in any school district during the two-year nonrenewable provisional certification period; and

(iii) The employing school district shall recommend to the department of elementary and secondary education that the individual teacher be awarded a full professional certification by the state board under rules prescribed by the state board; and

(c) Upon completion of a background check as prescribed in section 168.133 and possession of a valid teaching certificate in the state from which the applicant's teacher preparation program was completed;

(4) By the state board, under rules prescribed by it, on the basis of a relevant bachelor's degree, or higher degree, and a passing score for the designated exit examination, for individuals whose academic degree and professional experience are suitable to provide a basis for instruction solely in the subject matter of banking or financial responsibility, at the discretion of the state board. Such certificate shall be limited to the major area of study of the holder and shall be restricted to those certificates established under subdivision (2) of subsection 3 of this section. Holders of certificates granted under this subdivision shall be exempt from the teacher tenure act under sections 168.102 to 168.130 and each school district shall have the decision-making authority on whether to hire the holders of such certificates;

(5) By the state board, under rules and regulations prescribed by it, on the basis of certification by the American Board for Certification of Teacher Excellence (ABCTE) or Teachers of Tomorrow and verification of ability to work with children as demonstrated by sixty contact hours in any one of the following areas as validated by the school principal: sixty contact hours in the classroom, of which at least forty-five must be teaching; sixty contact hours as a substitute teacher, with at least thirty consecutive hours in the same classroom; sixty contact hours of teaching in a private school; or sixty contact hours of teaching as a paraprofessional, for an initial four-year ABCTE or Teachers of Tomorrow certificate of license to teach, except that such certificate shall not be granted for the areas of early childhood education, gifted education, or special education. For certification in the area of elementary education, ninety contact hours in the classroom shall be required, of which at least thirty shall be in an elementary classroom. Upon the completion of the following requirements, an applicant shall be eligible to apply for a career continuous professional certificate under subdivision (3) of subsection 3 of this section:

(a) Completion of thirty contact hours of professional development within four years, which may include hours spent in class in an appropriate college curriculum;

(b) Validated completion of two years of the mentoring program of the American Board for Certification of Teacher Excellence, Teachers of Tomorrow, or a district mentoring program approved by the state board of education;

(c) Attainment of a successful performance-based teacher evaluation; and

(d) Participation in a beginning teacher assistance program;

(6) (a) By the state board, under rules and regulations prescribed by the board, which shall issue an initial visiting scholars certificate at the discretion of the board, based on the following criteria:

a. Verification from the hiring school district that the applicant will be employed as part of a business-education partnership initiative designed to build career pathways systems or employed as part of an initiative designed to fill vacant positions in hard-to-staff public schools or hard-to-fill subject areas for students in a grade or grades not lower than the ninth grade for which the applicant's academic degree or professional experience qualifies the applicant;

b. Appropriate and relevant bachelor's degree or higher, occupational license, or industry-recognized credential;

c. Completion of the application for a one-year visiting scholars certificate; and

d. Completion of a background check as prescribed under section 168.133 .

(b) The initial visiting scholars certificate shall certify the holder of such certificate to teach for one year. An applicant shall be eligible to renew an initial visiting scholars certificate a maximum of two times, based upon the completion of the requirements listed under subparagraphs a., b., and d. of paragraph (a) of this subdivision; completion of professional development required by the school district and school; and attainment of a satisfactory performance-based teacher evaluation; or

(7) By the state board, which shall issue an additional professional subject-area certification for specific content knowledge or for a specialty area to a certificate holder who:

(a) Applies for an additional professional subject-area certification;

(b) Successfully achieves an acceptable score on the state-approved teacher evaluation system from seven walk-through evaluations, two formative evaluations, and one summative evaluation of the applicant teaching specific content knowledge or the specialty area for which the additional professional subject-area certification is sought;

(c) Receives a recommendation from the applicant's employing school district that the applicant be awarded an additional professional subject-area certification by the state board under rules prescribed by the state board; and

(d) Completes a background check as prescribed in section 168.133 .

2. All valid teaching certificates issued pursuant to law or state board policies and regulations prior to September 1, 1988, shall be exempt from the professional development requirements of this section and shall continue in effect until they expire, are revoked or suspended, as provided by law. When such certificates are required to be renewed, the state board or its designee shall grant to each holder of such a certificate the certificate most nearly equivalent to the one so held. Anyone who holds, as of August 28, 2003, a valid PC-I, PC-II, or continuous professional certificate shall, upon expiration of such person's current certificate, be issued the appropriate level of certificate based upon the classification system established pursuant to subsection 3 of this section.

3. (1) Certificates of license to teach in the public schools of the state shall be based upon minimum requirements prescribed by the state board of education which shall include completion of a background check as prescribed in section 168.133 . The state board shall provide for the following levels of professional certification: an initial professional certificate and a career continuous professional certificate.

(2) The initial professional certificate shall be issued upon completion of requirements established by the state board of education and shall be valid based upon verification of actual teaching within a specified time period established by the state board of education. The state board shall require holders of the four-year initial professional certificate to:

(a) Participate in a mentoring program approved and provided by the district for a minimum of two years;

(b) Complete thirty contact hours of professional development, which may include hours spent in class in an appropriate college curriculum, or for holders of a certificate under subdivision (4) of subsection 1 of this section, an amount of professional development in proportion to the certificate holder's hours in the classroom, if the certificate holder is employed less than full time; and

(c) Participate in a beginning teacher assistance program.

(3) (a) The career continuous professional certificate shall be issued upon verification of completion of four years of teaching under the initial professional certificate and upon verification of the completion of the requirements articulated in paragraphs (a) to (c) of subdivision (2) of this subsection or paragraphs (a) to (d) of subdivision (5) of subsection 1 of this section.

(b) The career continuous professional certificate shall be continuous based upon verification of actual employment in an educational position as provided for in state board guidelines and completion of fifteen contact hours of professional development per year which may include hours spent in class in an appropriate college curriculum. Should the possessor of a valid career continuous professional certificate fail, in any given year, to meet the fifteen-hour professional development requirement, the possessor may, within two years, make up the missing hours. In order to make up for missing hours, the possessor shall first complete the fifteen-hour requirement for the current year and then may count hours in excess of the current year requirement as make-up hours. Should the possessor fail to make up the missing hours within two years, the certificate shall become inactive. In order to reactivate the certificate, the possessor shall complete twenty-four contact hours of professional development which may include hours spent in the classroom in an appropriate college curriculum within the six months prior to or after reactivating the possessor's certificate. The requirements of this paragraph shall be monitored and verified by the local school district which employs the holder of the career continuous professional certificate.

(c) A holder of a career continuous professional certificate shall be exempt from the professional development contact hour requirements of paragraph (b) of this subdivision if such teacher has a local professional development plan in place within such teacher's school district and meets two of the three following criteria:

a. Has ten years of teaching experience as defined by the state board of education;

b. Possesses a master's degree; or

c. Obtains a rigorous national certification as approved by the state board of education.

4. Policies and procedures shall be established by which a teacher who was not retained due to a reduction in force may retain the current level of certification. There shall also be established policies and procedures allowing a teacher who has not been employed in an educational position for three years or more to reactivate the teacher's last level of certification by completing twenty-four contact hours of professional development which may include hours spent in the classroom in an appropriate college curriculum within the six months prior to or after reactivating the teacher's certificate.

5. The state board shall, upon completion of a background check as prescribed in section 168.133 , issue a professional certificate classification in the areas most closely aligned with an applicant's current areas of certification, commensurate with the years of teaching experience of the applicant, to any person who is hired to teach in a public school in this state and who possesses a valid teaching certificate from another state or certification under subdivision (4) of subsection 1 of this section, provided that the certificate holder shall annually complete the state board's requirements for such level of certification, and shall establish policies by which residents of states other than the state of Missouri may be assessed a fee for a certificate of license to teach in the public schools of Missouri. Such fee shall be in an amount sufficient to recover any or all costs associated with the issuing of a certificate of license to teach. The board shall promulgate rules to authorize the issuance of a provisional certificate of license, which shall be valid for three years and shall allow the holder to assume classroom duties pending the completion of a criminal background check under section 168.133 , for any applicant who:

(1) Is the spouse of a member of the Armed Forces stationed in Missouri;

(2) Relocated from another state within one year of the date of application;

(3) Underwent a criminal background check in order to be issued a teaching certificate of license from another state; and

(4) Otherwise qualifies under this section.

6. The state board may assess to holders of an initial professional certificate a fee, to be deposited into the excellence in education fund established pursuant to section 160.268 , for the issuance of the career continuous professional certificate. However, such fee shall not exceed the combined costs of issuance and any criminal background check required as a condition of issuance. Applicants for the initial ABCTE certificate shall be responsible for any fees associated with the program leading to the issuance of the certificate, but nothing in this section shall prohibit a district from developing a policy that permits fee reimbursement.

7. Any member of the public school retirement system of Missouri who entered covered employment with ten or more years of educational experience in another state or states and held a certificate issued by another state and subsequently worked in a school district covered by the public school retirement system of Missouri for ten or more years who later became certificated in Missouri shall have that certificate dated back to the member's original date of employment in a Missouri public school.

8. Within thirty days of receiving an application from a spouse of an active duty member of the Armed Forces of the United States who has been transferred or is scheduled to be transferred to the state of Missouri, or who has been transferred or is scheduled to be transferred to an adjacent state and is or will be domiciled in the state of Missouri, or has moved to the state of Missouri on a permanent change-of-station basis and has successfully completed the background check described under subsection 5 of this section and section 168.133 , the state board shall issue to such applicant a full certificate of license to teach, provided that the applicant has paid all necessary fees and has otherwise met all requirements to be issued such a certificate.

(L. 1963 p. 200 § 9-2, A.L. 1973 H.B. 158, A.L. 1984 H.B. 1457 & 1501, A.L. 1988 S.B. 797, A.L. 1990 H.B. 1142, A.L. 1998 H.B. 1469, A.L. 2000 H.B. 1808, A.L. 2003 S.B. 296, A.L. 2008 H.B. 1678 merged with S.B. 1066, A.L. 2009 S.B. 291, A.L. 2011 S.B. 54, A.L. 2013 S.B. 17, A.L. 2014 S.B. 782, A.L. 2018 H.B. 1665, A.L. 2020 S.B. 656, A.L. 2022 S.B. 681 & 662, A.L. 2024 H.B. 2287 merged with S.B. 727, A.L. 2025 S.B. 68) (Source: RSMo 1959 §§ 168.030 , 168.260)