Elementary Teaching Certification
Elementary teacher certification requires a bachelor’s degree, a state-approved teacher preparation program with supervised student teaching, and passing state licensing exams such as the Praxis Subject Assessments. Each state’s licensing agency sets its own coursework hours and exam cutoffs, though nearly every state follows this same basic path from degree to classroom license.
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Think back to your first-grade teacher. Maybe you remember learning about American history, or that insects have six legs while spiders have eight. What it took for that teacher to stand in front of your classroom is a specific, state-regulated process: a bachelor’s degree, supervised field experience, and certification exams that test both subject knowledge and teaching skill.
For a closer look at day-to-day life in the role, TeachElementary.org covers the certification process from a working elementary teacher’s perspective.
Use the links below to jump to the certification steps, subject-matter requirements, teaching strategies, and salary outlook for elementary teachers.
- How to become certified to teach elementary school
- What elementary teachers must know before certification
- How teaching strategies factor into certification
- Whether certification improves student achievement
- Elementary teacher salary and job outlook
How to Become Certified to Teach Elementary School
Certification is the public’s assurance that a teacher has the subject knowledge and classroom skill to do the job. Requirements differ from state to state, but most states follow a similar overall sequence:
- Earn a bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university
- Complete an elementary education program that includes supervised student teaching
- Complete coursework hours in a content area such as math, science, language arts, reading, or history
- Pass state certification exams that test basic skills, teaching competency, and content-area expertise, such as the Praxis Subject Assessments or a state-specific alternative
Many states require Praxis Subject Assessments or other state-approved licensure exams, while others, including Ohio and Arkansas, use their own testing programs instead. The state department of education or educator licensing agency reviews every application and decides who’s eligible to sit for those exams in the first place, so check your state’s certification page for the exact tests and coursework hours required.
A license earned in one state doesn’t automatically transfer to another. NASDTEC membership helps states evaluate each other’s credentials, but it’s a framework for that evaluation, not a guarantee of automatic reciprocity. Some states ask out-of-state applicants for added coursework or exams before issuing a new license, so confirm the specifics with the receiving state’s board before you move. If you’re ready to compare options, you can also browse accredited teacher preparation programs by state.
What Elementary Teachers Must Know Before Certification
It might seem obvious that teaching a subject requires understanding it first. But certification exams go further than that, testing whether a candidate can also translate that knowledge into lessons an elementary-aged student can grasp. Certification programs organize this around four core subject areas: literacy and English language arts, science, math, and social studies.
Literacy and English Language Arts
Teaching a child to read shapes the rest of their education. To certify, teachers need to demonstrate a working knowledge of grammar, vocabulary, and sentence structure, along with how context clues and reading comprehension develop in young readers.
That includes knowing how to break a sentence into its parts (subject, verb, object, modifiers) so students build the foundation they’ll need in middle and high school. Writing instruction covers the same ground from the other direction: pre-writing, drafting, and revision, taught alongside vocabulary building and reading comprehension.
Those figures, from the American Federation of Teachers report Teaching Reading Is Rocket Science, are part of why literacy instruction carries so much weight in elementary certification exams. Candidates need to understand not just how reading works, but why it fails for specific groups of students.
Science
Elementary teachers know that curiosity is the raw material of a science classroom, and that experimentation, not lecture, is what turns it into learning. Certification tests a candidate’s grasp of the scientific process itself: predicting outcomes, observing experiments, and gathering and analyzing data, alongside the underlying content, from cell biology to the geologic forces that shaped the modern Earth.
Math
Certification exams test math content knowledge directly: basic operations, geometric shapes, and algebraic methods. Elementary standards generally introduce multiplication and division early, so candidates need to understand the number patterns behind them well enough to teach them using objects, pictures, and graphs, not just abstract rules.
Because today’s classrooms lean on calculators, tablets, and learning software as teaching tools, many teacher preparation programs and state licensure standards include technology integration competencies alongside core math instruction.
Social Studies
Social studies certification covers civics, government, and economics, along with world history and geography. The goal isn’t memorization. It’s helping students understand why events and institutions took the shape they did, and how they connect to the democratic process students will eventually take part in themselves.
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How Teaching Strategies Factor Into Certification
Subject knowledge alone doesn’t make an effective teacher. Researcher Richard L. Allington, writing in The Phi Delta Kappa Journal, found that the most effective elementary teachers share a trait he calls being “active”: they adapt their strategies in real time and keep students engaged directly, rather than falling back on an assign-and-assess routine.
An assign-and-assess approach (assign the reading, then quiz on it) breaks down fast when a student struggles with the material itself. Active teachers walk students through the process instead of just checking the output afterward. Allington’s research focused on reading instruction specifically, but certification programs apply the same principle across every subject.
Because a one-size-fits-all lesson plan doesn’t work across a full classroom, teacher preparation programs train candidates to adjust assignments by student and to build confidence with easier tasks before increasing difficulty. Certification exams and student-teaching evaluations both look for this kind of adaptive practice, not just content mastery.
Does Certification Improve Student Achievement?
Researchers don’t fully agree on how much certification itself moves the needle, but the data leans toward yes. In “Teacher Characteristics and Student Achievement Gains: A Review,” published in The Review of Educational Research, authors Andrew J. Wayne and Peter Youngs found that teachers with higher college grades and higher certification-exam scores had the strongest positive effect on student outcomes.
Subject-specific research points the same direction. In “Effects of Teachers’ Mathematical Knowledge for Teaching on Student Achievement,” published in The American Educational Research Journal, Heather C. Hill and colleagues studied achievement data from 1,190 first graders and 1,773 third graders alongside their teachers’ math knowledge. Teachers with stronger mathematical knowledge for teaching, not just math knowledge itself, produced measurably better student results.
Elementary Teacher Salary and Job Outlook
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, elementary school teachers earned a median annual salary of $63,970 as of May 2025, with kindergarten teachers earning a median of $62,680. Both figures sit close to the national median across the K-12 teaching occupations the BLS tracks.
| Occupation | Median Annual Wage | Job Growth (2024–2034) |
|---|---|---|
| Kindergarten Teachers | $62,680 | -1.7% |
| Elementary School Teachers | $63,970 | -2.0% |
The BLS projects a slight national decline in both roles between 2024 and 2034, driven mainly by enrollment trends rather than a shrinking need for teachers. That national number still adds up to 91,000 average annual openings for elementary teachers and 12,800 for kindergarten teachers, largely from retirements and turnover. Individual states often buck the national trend, so check your state’s own labor market projections rather than assuming the national figure applies where you plan to teach.
Frequently Asked Questions
What degree do you need to become an elementary teacher?
Most states require a bachelor’s degree, typically in elementary education, along with a state-approved teacher preparation program that includes supervised student teaching. Some states also accept a bachelor’s degree in another field paired with an alternative certification program.
Do all states require the same certification exam?
No. Many states require Praxis Subject Assessments or other state-approved licensure exams, while others, including Ohio and Arkansas, use their own testing programs. Check your state’s department of education or educator licensing agency for the exact test required in your certification area.
Can you become an elementary teacher with a degree in a different field?
Yes, through an alternative certification pathway. Depending on state law, these programs may allow candidates who already hold a bachelor’s degree to teach under a provisional, intern, resident, temporary, or other state-authorized credential while completing remaining requirements.
How long does it take to become a certified elementary teacher?
A traditional path, including a bachelor’s degree and student teaching, typically takes about four years. Alternative certification can move faster since candidates already hold a degree, though timelines vary by state and program.
Does elementary certification transfer if you move to another state?
Not automatically. NASDTEC membership gives states a shared framework for evaluating each other’s credentials, but most states still require an application for reciprocity and may ask for additional coursework or exams before issuing a new license.
- Certification follows a common sequence — a bachelor’s degree, a teacher preparation program with student teaching, and state certification exams, though the specific exam and coursework hours vary by state.
- Praxis isn’t universal anymore — several states, including Ohio and Arkansas, use their own state-specific exams instead of the Praxis Subject Assessments.
- Reciprocity isn’t automatic — NASDTEC membership helps states evaluate each other’s credentials, but moving states usually still means filing for reciprocity and possibly completing added requirements.
- Certified teachers tend to see better student outcomes — research on college performance, exam scores, and subject-specific knowledge for teaching consistently links stronger teacher preparation to stronger student results.
- Pay is steady but growth is state-dependent — elementary teachers earned a median $63,970 nationally as of May 2025, and while national job growth projections are slightly negative, many states show growth, according to the BLS.
Find accredited teacher preparation programs that lead to elementary certification, including coursework aligned to your state’s exam requirements.
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.
