Out of State License Holders

This page is designed to be a resource for educators who hold teaching or other education-related credentials in a state other than Tennessee and are interested in becoming licensed in the state of Tennessee.  Please see the information below regarding the different types of licenses you can hold in Tennessee as well as information for applying to become licensed in Tennessee. 
*Please note that when you use your out of state license to obtain a TN license, you do not forfeit your out of state license (like you would a driver's license), it is possible to hold licenses in more than one state simultaneously.

Out of State License

Types of Licenses:

• ILL Administrator:
  

Educators who meet requirements may apply for an Instructional Leader License – Administrator (ILL). In order to receive an ILL license, an out of state educator must have:

1. Completed an approved instructional leader preparation program, or submit an out of state license that is the equivalent to Tennessee's ILL Administrator License.
2. Submitted passing scores on required assessments.
3. Submit 3 years of qualifying full time education experience on an Experience Verification form - at least one of the years must have been serving in an instructional leader role (i.e. assistant principal or principal).

• ILL-A Aspiring Administrator (3 years):

  The Instructional Leadership License – Aspiring (ILL-A) is an administrator license, valid for five years, that is issued to out of state applications who hold a valid out of state administrator license, and have 3 valid years of full time education experience, but have not submitted passing scores on the required assessment. In order to receive an ILL-A license, an out of state educator must submit:

  1. A valid out of state administrator license OR a Recommendation showing you have completed an Instructional Leader License program.
  2. 3 years of qualifying full-time education experience uploaded on an Experience Verification form.

• Practitioner Occupational 1st Issuance:

3 year initial license given to teachers that are working through a job-embedded Occupational license program.

• Practitioner School Service 1st Issuance:

3 year initial license given to educators that are recent graduates or have met the licensure requirements for one of the school service specialties (School Counselors, School Social Workers, School Psychologists, Speech Language Pathologists, School Audiologists, or Educational Interpreters).

• Practitioner Teacher – 1st Issuance:

3 year license given to teachers that are recent graduate or working through a job-embedded program.  If you are transferring from another state and either hold an expired license in that other state or an initial level license/certificate, you will be given a Practitioner license when you apply.  When submitting a Practitioner Teacher transaction, in addition to your out of state initial or expired license, you need to submit a Recommendation completed by the Educator Preparation Program you completed to provide evidence you completed a program.

• Professional – 6 year:

This license is for teachers applying to teach in Tennessee with an out of state Professional level Teaching license from another state.

• Professional Occupational 6 - Year:

This license is for those educators who have obtained a Professional level Occupational license from another state based on their career and technical work experience (i.e. welding).

• Professional School Service 6 - Year:

This license is for School Counselors, School Social Workers, School Psychologists, Speech Language Pathologists, School Audiologists, and Educational Interpreters applying with a professional out of state license in one of these fields.

 

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