Information Regarding Revised Credentialing Rules
- Christine Zinkand
October 5, 2020
The New Hampshire State Board of Education has recently adopted a revised set of administrative rules governing educator credentialing structure, application processing, and the corresponding fee structure. The information below is intended to be a brief summary of some of the key changes. This document may be revised with additional information if the Bureau of Credentialing determines it to be necessary or advantageous to applicants.
Educator credential is now called a license
In keeping with the practice of a majority of other states a New Hampshire educator credential will now be referred to by the term license rather than certificate. An Experienced Educator Certificate (EEC) is now an Experienced Educator License (EEL) and a Beginning Educator Certificate (BEC) is now a Beginning Educator License (BEL).
Pathways to New Hampshire educator credentials
The routes to an educator credential have been realigned into three “pathways” for greater clarity and new options have been added to address existing needs. The Educator Information System has been significantly upgraded to reflect these pathways and to better guide the applicant during the application process. These pathways are:
Approved Educator Preparation Program (AEPP)
o AEPPNH – Approved Educator Preparation Program – New Hampshire [was Alt 1]
o AEPPOS – Approved Educator Preparation Program – Out-of-State [was Alt 2]
Demonstrated Competencies (DC)
o DCPOB – Portfolio/Oral Board [was Alt 3A]
o DCNR – National/Regional License [was Alt 3B]
o DCTA – Transcript Analysis [was Alt 3C]
o DCEX – Experience out-of-state [was Alt 2]
Site-Based Licensing Plan (SBLP)
o SHORT – Critical Shortage [was Alt 4]
o CTESA – Career and Technical Education Specialty Area [was Alt 4]
o NOPATH – No Other Available Pathway [new]
o NEWEND – New Endorsement [new]
o BUSAD – Business Administrator [was Alt 4] (repealed 7/1/23)
o CLGCRS – 10 College-Level Courses [was Alt 5]
o EEECE – Elementary Education K-6 or Early Childhood Education [was Alt 5]
o EEK8 – Elementary Education K-8 [was Alt 5]
Licensing Pathway key changes
Pathway | Short-hand | Pathway changes |
Approved Educator Preparation Program | AEPPNH - NH approved program | Institutional recommendations are valid for no more than 3 years. |
AEPPOS - Out of State approved program | Program verifications only accepted within 3 years from program completion date. If out-of-state license was issued in the same state as the program, it cannot have been expired for more than 3 years from application date. | |
Demonstrated Competencies | DCPOB - Portfolio/Oral Board | Requires 4 months of continuous full-time or full-time equivalent experience. All documentation for degree/experience/testing must be received by the Bureau of Credentialing before instructions for portfolio will be sent to the applicant. Candidate has 30 days to submit portfolio after instructions are sent. |
DCNR - National or Regional | Only National Board, National Association of School Psychologists, and US Department of Defense credentials are accepted | |
DCTA - Transcript Analysis | Additional administrator endorsements added to those eligible for this pathway. | |
DCEX - Experience | No changes, still requires experience under full license for at least 3 out of last 7 years. | |
Site-Based Licensing Plan | SBLP
| When issued a Statement of Eligibility is valid for 3 years. Access to this pathway added for endorsements that are not available through any other pathway and for endorsements that are new to New Hampshire All Intern Authorizations are valid for up to 3 school years. |
Application processing fee changes:
Payment options: credit card (online through EIS), cash, money order, cashier’s check, or school employer check.
NOTE: Bureau of Credentialing fees are considered processing fees and are non-refundable. This is not a change.
Deadlines/Application Status
Per NH requirements credential applications will now have deadlines. Enhancements are being made to the Educator Information System to assist the candidate in tracking the status of the application once it is submitted.
o When an application is submitted it will either be determined to be complete and moved to review or deemed incomplete in which case the applicant will be notified of what is still required for the application to be considered complete along with the deadline to submit additional documentation.
o If the applicant does not meet the deadline the application will be closed and the applicant will need to re-apply.
o Applications that are determined to be incomplete will not be processed.
o Complete applications will be reviewed. If the applicant meets all qualifications the credential will be issued. If it cannot be determined if the applicant meets one or more of the qualifications additional documentation may be requested. There will be a deadline for submitting this additional documentation for re-review. Failure to meet the deadline will result in the application being permanently closed.
Endorsement categories:
For the purposes of educator credentialing in New Hampshire the following categories are used:
· “Teacher” means a person who plans, provides, and assesses direct instruction to children at the pre-K, elementary, or secondary level in a content area specified in Ed 507. Teacher does not include paraeducator.
· “Administrator” means a person who provides building-, district-, or school administrative unit (SAU)-level administrative services at the pre-K, elementary, or secondary level including superintendent, assistant superintendent, principal instructional leader, associate principal instructional leader, business administrator (repealed 7/1/23), special education administrator, curriculum administrator, school counseling director, career and technical education director, and district administrator;
· “Educational specialist” means a person who provides non-instructional services to students at the pre-K, elementary, or secondary level including, school counselor, school psychologist, school social worker, specialist in assessment of intellectual functioning, library media coordinator, and school speech-language specialist;
· “Instructional specialist” means a person who provides specialized instructional support to teachers and others who provide direct instruction to children at the pre-K, elementary, or secondary level, including reading and writing specialist, digital learning specialist, library media specialist, and elementary mathematics specialist for grades k-6.
Until the text at the Ed 500 Rule link has been updated, please reference the new rules here:
Ed 501 to Ed 504 - Credential Standards for Educational Personnel
Adopted by the State Board on September 10, 2020
Rules effective October 5, 2020 through October 7, 2030
Ed 505 - How to Obtain a New Hampshire Educator License
Adopted by the State Board on September 10, 2020
Rules effective October 5, 2020 through October 7, 2030
Ed 506 and Ed 508 (various) - Standards for Specific Educator Credentials
Adopted by the State Board on September 10, 2020
Rules effective October 5, 2020 through October 7, 2030
Ed 509, Ed 512, and Ed 513 - Renewal and Denial of Credentials
Adopted by the State Board on September 10, 2020
Rules effective October 5, 2020 through October 7, 2030
Ed 507.40 and Ed 507.41 - Special Education Teacher and Early Childhood Special Education Teacher
Adopted by the State Board on September 10, 2020
Rules effective September 11, 2020 through September 11, 2030
Please submit a Help Desk request with any questions.