Licensure

By law, you must hold a current Colorado Teaching or Special Services license on or before the first day you teach in a classroom or work with students as a special service provider.
You can now check the status of your Colorado Teaching, Special Services, Administrative License or Authorization on line! To check on your license information click here or visit CDE’s website at: http://www.cde.state.co.us/index_licenseaps.htm then select "Search for Public Educator License/Authorization and Application Status" under Links.
For more information on licensure or to apply for your Colorado Teaching or Special Services license, please visit the Colorado Department of Education Website, www.cde.state.co.us.
All of the applications for licensing are now on-line for you to download. The Educator Licensing Applications Wizard will guide you in locating the application(s) appropriate to your situation. You may also call the CDE at (303) 866-6628.
In addition to filling out an application for a license you may need to take a Colorado state approved content exam. This will be determined by the type of license issued to you by the Colorado Department of Education. For up to date information on content exams visit CDE’s Content Exam Website.

The following are common types of Colorado Teaching and Special Services licenses.

Initial Teaching License: the initial license issued to those who are a new Colorado graduate who has passed the state approved content exam (PLACE exam or PRAXIS II exam). It is valid for three years. For information on Colorado's state approved content exams please click here.
Interim Authorization: issued to an out-of-state applicant (teacher, principal, and administrator) who does not have 3 years of full-time out-of-state K-12 work experience and has not passed the required Colorado content area exam. The Interim Authorization is issued for one year and is renewable once. For more information on the PLACE and PRAXIS exams please click here.
Professional Teaching License: issued to an initial license holder who has completed an approved induction program, is valid for five years and is renewable through documentation of either six semester hours of credit or 90 clock hours of activities or a combination thereof. Professional licenses are also issued to out of state educators who can demonstrate three or more years of continuous, successfully evaluated teaching experience.
Alternative Teacher License: issued to an individual who has earned a bachelor's degree from an accredited institution and possesses subject matter knowledge appropriate for teaching in public schools; agrees to participate in an on-the-job, one-year, alternative teacher preparation program; is valid for one year and is not renewable.
Type III Emergency Authorization: requested by a District when a licensed person with appropriate endorsements cannot be found. The license is issued to the individual, but is specific to the district, it is valid for one school year only, and is renewable only once at the requesting district's discretion.
Temporary Teaching Endorsement (TTE): allows a special services provider a three year opportunity to add an additional endorsement to an existing license. The TTE holder usually agrees to complete 9 credit hours per year. A TTE cannot stand alone; it must "lie" on top of one of the licenses described above.