Issuance of a teaching certificate or license is the responsibility of each state or country, not the School of Education. Finding, understanding and meeting the requirements for licensure are the sole responsibility of each student. Currently, the Hawaii Teacher Standards Board (HTSB) requirements that must be met prior to issuance of a Hawaii teaching license to U.S. students include:

1. Recommendation from an accredited School of Education (see "Note" below).
2. A completed application for a teacher license (an application form may be obtained online at http://www.htsb.org/).
3. Passing scores (which are set by the HTSB) on all required Praxis exams (see Academic Advisor for current information).

Note: In Hawaii, the School of Education notifies the HTSB, in writing, of all students being "recommended" for teacher licensure. This "recommendation" is determined by the respective department chair and faculty of the teacher education program (elementary, secondary, special education), with final approval by the Dean of the School of Education.

The decision to "recommend" is based upon the successful completion of all requirements for graduation from the institution and the successful completion of all performance expectations during the professional field experiences. (Completion of requirements for graduation from the University does not automatically guarantee that a student will be recommended for teaching licensure by the School of Education.)

Upon "recommendation" by the institution and successful completion of the state's requirements, the individual is issued a teaching license, which is required in order to be employed as a public school teacher. This license is transportable to 39 other U.S. states because of reciprocity agreements between these states. The remaining states have their own unique requirements.

It is the responsibility of each student who plans to teach in another state or country to enquire early in their program about the teacher licensing requirements in that country and arrange to meet these additional requirements (see Academic Advisor for information).