Beginning Teacher Pathway
Definition: Beginning Teacher – a teacher who has not completed a teacher program (they hold an alternative license).
Beginning teachers adding the endorsement to an initial license must satisfy the following requirements for the license:
- 24-36 semester hours in language arts (see coursework listed below) and
- Passage of the following PRAXIS exam: English Language Arts (5038), or
- For Elementary, Early Childhood, Middle Level, Special Education, and Deaf & Hard of Hearing licenses, Passage of the following PRAXIS exam: Middle School English Language Arts (5047)
Teacher with Existing License Pathway
Definition: Existing Teacher – a teacher who has completed a teacher program (standard or alternative).
Teachers seeking to add the endorsement to an existing NM teaching license of any level can either:
- Passage of the following PRAXIS exam: English Language Arts (5038), or
- For Elementary, Early Childhood, Middle Level, Special Education, and Deaf & Hard of Hearing licenses, Passage of the following PRAXIS exam: Middle School English Language Arts (5047), or
- Earn 24-36 semester hours of credit in language arts (please see coursework listed below) ;
- if adding to an early childhood license, no upper-division credit hours are required;
- if adding to an elementary license, 6 of the hours must be upper division credit;
- if adding to a middle-level license 6 of the hours must be upper-division credit;
- if adding to a secondary, pre k-12 specialty, special education, or deaf & hard of hearing licenses, 12 of the hours must be upper division credit; or
- Be certified by the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards in language arts
Accepted Language Arts Coursework
- communication
- composition
- drama
- literature
- poetry
- rhetoric
- theatre
- writing
- English
- English as a second language
- English grammar
- handwriting
- journalism
- linguistics
- public speaking
- reading
- speech
- Some American studies or philosophy coursework specific to this area may be counted