Alternative Teacher Certification in Alabama

Alabama alternative certification requirements, step by step

Each requirement below is stated as Alabama State Department of Education — Educator Certification Section publishes it, with the governing source cited.

1. 1

   Secure Alabama employment and an ATPO Letter of Eligibility

   CCTF and PCTF certificates are requested by the employing city/county superintendent or eligible nonpublic administrator—not by the candidate alone. For the Conditional Certificate in a Teaching Field, obtain a Letter of Eligibility from an ALSDE-approved Alternative Teacher Preparation Organization (ATPO). Hold at least a bachelor’s degree from a regionally accredited or DEAC-accredited senior institution.

   Source: alabamaachieves.org

2. 2

   Meet CCTF GPA and Praxis options before the first certificate

   Form CC1 requires the AECAP Praxis subject test(s) for the recommended teaching field before the first CCTF. Candidates with a 2.50 overall GPA use the standard passing score. Candidates with at least a 2.00 GPA who miss 2.50 may use additional coursework or an increased Praxis score option published on Alabama Achieves. Holders of a valid Alabama Professional Educator or Leadership Certificate are exempt from the GPA rule.

   Source: alabamaachieves.org

3. 3

   Submit Form CC1 through the employing system with Fieldprint clearance

   The LEA submits Form CC1, Supplement CIT, official transcripts obtained by the system (not opened by the applicant), a PowerSchool or letterhead schedule showing proper assignment, mentor assignment, and the $38.00 AIM/ACE fee. Packets received after October 1 do not count as a full year of experience. The first CCTF is valid July 1–June 30 of the scholastic year.

   Source: alabamaachieves.org

4. 4

   Teach within the four-year CCTF window

   All CCTFs must be held within four scholastic years from the July 1 start of the first CCTF. You may hold up to three one-year alternative-type certificates in that window, but you must complete at least one full scholastic year of teaching on the CCTF. Failure to finish the approach bars another conditional, provisional, or temporary certificate for five years after the last certificate expires.

   Source: alabamaachieves.org

5. 5

   Convert to the Professional Educator Certificate

   After meeting CCTF teaching and ATPO requirements, apply with Form PFC. Pedagogy rules depend on how many years you completed: three years allows Praxis PLT or the matching edTPA handbook; one or two years requires edTPA (or PLT if no handbook exists). Early childhood, elementary, and collaborative K-6 also need Foundations of Reading 890. Collaborative K-6 and 6-12 also need Praxis 5355.

   Source: alabamaachieves.org

Alabama will not let a career changer self-sponsor. The superintendent’s signature, a mentor who already holds a Professional Educator Certificate in the same or a related field with three years of P-12 experience, and a PowerSchool schedule that matches the exact CCTF field and grade band are hard gates. Teaching a computer-science course that now has a course-specific permit on a non–computer-science CCTF will get the packet rejected. Assignment errors are one of the most common reasons a full year of experience fails to count.

The October 1 postmark rule is unique among Alabama’s many dates. A CCTF issued after that date is still a valid employment credential for the rest of the scholastic year, but it does not count as a full year toward the Professional Educator Certificate. ALSDE also warns that partial months cannot be stacked. Candidates who start mid-year should plan on a second CCTF rather than assuming spring teaching will finish the experience clock.

Pedagogy at conversion is time-sensitive. Completing all three CCTF years opens a choice between Praxis PLT and the matching edTPA handbook. Leaving after one or two years locks you into edTPA (or PLT only if no handbook exists). K-12 and 4-8 CCTFs taking PLT must use the K-6 or 7-12 form; 6-12 CCTFs must use 7-12. That year-count rule is easy to miss if you treat edTPA as a program-exit exam instead of an ALSDE conversion exam.

The five-year bar after an unfinished alternative approach is a career-planning constraint, not a paperwork footnote. ALSDE counts conditional, interim, provisional, and temporary certificates together toward the three-certificate cap inside four scholastic years. Someone who burns CCTF years, switches to an Interim Employment Certificate, and still does not convert can be locked out of every remaining alternative door. The published off-ramp is unconditional admission to a State-approved Alternative Class A program rather than another one-year certificate.

Required exams and fees

Alabama uses Alabama Educator Certification Assessment Program (AECAP): Praxis subject tests, edTPA or Praxis Principles of Learning and Teaching, and Foundations of Reading where required. Fees and cut scores appear only when published by the cited source (as of September 2026).

Full Alabama exam requirements →

Moving a license to Alabama

CCTF and PCTF are Alabama employment-based approaches, not vehicles for transferring another state’s alternate credential. Out-of-state licensed teachers use ALSDE’s Out of State Certificate pages. An applicant already unconditionally admitted to an Alabama Alternative Class A program in the same field cannot be issued a CCTF in that field and must use the Interim Employment Certificate approach instead.

Official Alabama reciprocity guidance