Arkansas Teaching Certification
Becoming a certified teacher in Arkansas requires a bachelor’s degree, an approved educator preparation program with supervised student teaching, and completing the assessments currently required by the Arkansas Division of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) for your licensure area. DESE issues your Standard License once you clear a criminal background check and apply through the Arkansas Educator Licensure System (AELS).
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Think back to the teacher who first made a subject click for you, the one who explained fractions with pizza slices or turned the Louisiana Purchase into a story you still remember. Arkansas needs more of those teachers, and the state’s Division of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) lays out a defined path to becoming one. Here’s how the traditional route works, what the alternative and reciprocity options look like, and what you can expect to earn once you’re in front of a classroom.
Use the links below to jump to Arkansas’s certification steps, exam and coursework requirements, application process, and salary outlook.
- How to become a certified teacher in Arkansas
- Education and preparation program requirements
- Praxis exams and professional development coursework
- Student teaching and field experience
- Applying for your Arkansas teaching license
- Alternative certification, renewal, and reciprocity
- Arkansas teacher salary and job outlook
How to Become a Certified Teacher in Arkansas
The traditional path to Arkansas certification follows four steps. Most candidates move through them as part of a single bachelor’s degree program rather than as separate hurdles.
- Earn a bachelor’s degree from a regionally or nationally accredited college or university.
- Complete a DESE-approved educator preparation program, typically built into your bachelor’s degree or completed afterward as a post-baccalaureate program.
- Complete the assessments currently required by DESE for your licensure area, along with the professional development coursework DESE requires before licensure.
- Apply for your Standard Teaching License through the Arkansas Educator Licensure System (AELS) after clearing your background check.
If you already hold a bachelor’s degree in a field other than education, you don’t have to start over. Alternative teaching certification lets you begin teaching under a provisional license while you finish the remaining coursework and exams. Licensed teachers are needed across Arkansas to help close persistent staffing gaps, particularly in rural districts and in math, science, and special education.
Education and Preparation Program Requirements
DESE requires every teacher candidate to hold a bachelor’s degree and complete an approved educator preparation program before applying for an initial license. The Arkansas Division of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) offers licensure across multiple grade-level bands, and your program of study needs to align with the band you want to teach.
Licensure Levels and Approved Programs
- Early Childhood (Preschool-4th Grade)
- Preschool/Early Adolescence (Preschool-8th Grade)
- Preschool/Young Adulthood (Preschool-12th Grade)
- Middle Childhood/Early Adolescence (Grades 4-8)
- Adolescence/Young Adulthood (Grades 7-12)
Within each of these bands, DESE also offers content-specific licensure areas, so a secondary candidate might be licensed in math, English, or a world language rather than a general credential. A list of DESE-approved educator preparation programs is available directly from the department, and most are built into bachelor’s degree programs at accredited Arkansas colleges and universities. If your educator preparation program was completed outside of Arkansas, you can still qualify for initial licensure as long as the program is regionally or nationally accredited.
Arkansas History Coursework Requirement
Certain licensure areas, historically including Early Childhood Education, Middle School, and Secondary Social Studies, require Arkansas history coursework. Applicants should verify current DESE requirements for their specific licensure area, since these requirements can change.
Praxis Exams and Professional Development Requirements
Praxis Exams for Arkansas Certification
Arkansas licensure typically involves multiple assessments, but the exact combination depends on your licensure area and DESE’s current testing requirements, which have changed over time. Some educator preparation programs require an admissions assessment or other qualifying measure before you’re accepted. Later in your program, you’ll generally complete a content-area assessment specific to the grade level or subject you plan to teach, along with a pedagogy assessment. Candidates should verify current testing requirements with both their preparation program and DESE directly, and confirm specific test requirements using ETS’s Praxis state requirements tool before registering for any exam.
Exam performance isn’t just a licensing formality. In a review of research on teacher quality published in The Review of Educational Research, Andrew J. Wayne and Peter Youngs found that teachers with higher certification exam scores tended to have a more positive effect on student achievement than peers with lower scores. That’s part of why Arkansas, like most states, treats the content-area exam as a real checkpoint rather than a box to check.
Required Professional Development Coursework
Beyond your required licensure assessments, DESE requires new teacher candidates to complete a set of short professional development courses before licensure, covering topics including parental involvement, child maltreatment recognition, teen suicide awareness and prevention, and dyslexia awareness. Most educator preparation programs build this coursework directly into the degree. If yours doesn’t, DESE offers it through the Arkansas IDEAS portal.
Student Teaching and Field Experience
Every Arkansas teacher preparation program includes a supervised field placement, typically lasting one semester and sometimes running a full school year, depending on your college or university’s policies. You’ll be placed with a mentor teacher in a classroom that matches your intended grade level or content area, building lesson plans, leading instruction, and taking part in student assessment under supervision.
New teachers typically participate in a state-required mentoring and induction process, as applicable to their license type, working with a site-based mentor for a period of one to three years, depending on performance.
Applying for Your Arkansas Teaching License
Once you’ve completed your education, exams, and field experience, and cleared the background checks below, you’ll apply for your license by creating an account in the Arkansas Educator Licensure System (AELS). Your application typically includes:
- Official, unopened college transcripts documenting your bachelor’s degree and educator preparation program
- Assessment score reports for any exams required in your licensure area (scores are usually forwarded to DESE automatically once you complete testing)
- Confirmation that your criminal history check and Central Registry check are complete or in process
- Application fees
- Verification from your educator preparation program that you’ve met initial licensure requirements
Criminal History Background Check
Every Arkansas teacher candidate completes a statewide and national criminal background check through the Arkansas State Police and FBI, plus a Child Maltreatment Central Registry check through the Arkansas Department of Human Services, before licensure. Your college, university, or DESE’s Professional Licensure Department can direct you to fingerprinting locations and the correct submission process.
Alternative Certification, Renewal, and Reciprocity in Arkansas
Not everyone starts down the traditional path, and DESE builds in options for candidates in different situations:
- Arkansas’s alternative certification route, for candidates who already hold a bachelor’s degree outside education and want to teach while completing licensure requirements.
- Reciprocity for out-of-state teachers. Arkansas doesn’t grant automatic reciprocity. Instead, DESE reviews your existing license against Arkansas requirements, often through the NASDTEC Interstate Agreement, before issuing a comparable license.
- Certification renewal. Standard Licenses run on a five-year cycle, and DESE requires ongoing professional development hours to keep yours current.
- Administrator and principal certification, for licensed teachers moving into school leadership.
- Substitute teaching, a lower-barrier way to get classroom experience without a full teaching license.
Arkansas Teacher Salary and Job Outlook
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Arkansas elementary school teachers earned a median annual salary of $52,700 as of May 2025, while secondary (high school) teachers earned a median of $59,660. Unlike the national picture, where BLS projects a slight decline in teaching positions overall, Arkansas’s own state labor projections show growth across every K-12 teaching category between 2024 and 2034.
| Occupation (Arkansas) | Median Annual Wage | Job Growth (2024-2034) |
|---|---|---|
| Kindergarten Teachers | $52,060 | 12.0% |
| Elementary School Teachers | $52,700 | 11.9% |
| Middle School Teachers | $59,570 | 11.6% |
| Secondary (High) School Teachers | $59,660 | 11.9% |
Arkansas’s Department of Workforce Services projects about 1,000 average annual openings for elementary teachers and 900 for secondary teachers through 2034, driven mostly by retirements and turnover rather than new positions. That steady demand is worth factoring in if you’re weighing Arkansas against a state with a more saturated job market.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long does it take to become a certified teacher in Arkansas?
Most candidates complete a bachelor’s degree and an educator preparation program in about four years, including a semester or more of student teaching. If you already hold a bachelor’s degree in another field, alternative certification can shorten the timeline, since you start teaching while completing the requirements.
Do I need an education degree to teach in Arkansas?
No. A bachelor’s degree in any field combined with a DESE-approved educator preparation program qualifies you for traditional certification. If your degree is in another field entirely, alternative certification lets you begin teaching under a provisional license while you complete the required coursework and exams.
Does Arkansas offer reciprocity for out-of-state teachers?
Not automatically. DESE reviews your current license against Arkansas’s requirements, often using the NASDTEC Interstate Agreement for Educator Licensure as a reference point, before issuing a comparable Arkansas license. Review requirements on the Arkansas teacher reciprocity page before you apply.
What background checks does Arkansas require for teacher licensure?
Every candidate completes state and national criminal history checks through the Arkansas State Police and the FBI, along with a Child Maltreatment Central Registry check through the Arkansas Department of Human Services. Both must clear before DESE issues your license.
How much do Arkansas teachers earn?
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the median annual salary for Arkansas elementary school teachers was $52,700 as of May 2025, and for secondary school teachers, $59,660. Actual pay varies by district and experience level.
- The traditional path consists of four steps: a bachelor’s degree, a DESE-approved preparation program, required assessments for your licensure area, and licensure through AELS.
- Alternative certification is available for candidates who already hold a bachelor’s degree outside of education and want to start teaching sooner.
- Reciprocity isn’t automatic. DESE reviews out-of-state licenses individually before granting a comparable Arkansas license.
- Arkansas’s own job market is growing even though the national outlook for teaching occupations is flat to slightly declining.
- Renewal happens every five years and depends on ongoing professional development hours, not just time served.
Select your state below to find accredited teacher certification programs, application links, and licensing requirements for your jurisdiction.
May 2025 US Bureau of Labor Statistics OEWS wage estimates and 2024-2034 employment projections for Kindergarten and Elementary School Teachers, Middle School Teachers, and High School Teachers, reflect state and national data, not school-specific outcomes. State or district job-growth projections are sourced separately from national BLS outlook data. Conditions vary by school sector, subject area, and district. Data accessed July 2026.
