Teacher Certification Section - Emergency Certificates
Emergency Certificates are issued to individuals who have been
professionally prepared or previously certified, but who currently do not meet
Georgia’s Recency of Study/Experience requirement (see Special Georgia Requirements). The emergency
certificate is issued for one school year at the request of the local school system.
During this year the individual must earn 10 quarter hours (or staff development units) of
recent credit and, for some applicants, pass the appropriate content assessment. This
credit must include the Exceptional Child and Teaching of Reading
courses, if not previously taken.
Two specific instances allow for the issuance of emergency certificates.
If the individual is an applicant for initial certification in Georgia and does not have
recent study, the emergency certificate may be issued; during the one-year validity, the
individual completes all special Georgia requirements applicable to the certification
field. If, however, the individual has ever held Georgia certification and does not have
recent study, the appropriate content assessment must be passed before the
emergency certificate can be issued. At the end of the one-year validity, when the recent
credit has been completed, the individual is issued a clear renewable certificate for four
more years (for a total of five years). Any credit earned during the first year to meet
the Recency of Study requirement may not be used again to renew the clear renewable
certificate at the end of the five year cycle.
Emergency Certificate Examples
Case 1 - An individual completed a bachelor’s degree in
Elementary Grades in Ohio in 1986 and never taught. They took a Teaching Reading
course but did not take an Exceptional Child course. They are eligible for
an emergency certificate; they must pass the content assessment and earn 10 hours of
credit to include the Exceptional Child course during the first year.
Case 2 - An individual held a Georgia teaching certificate in
Math from 1978 to 1981. They have now applied for an emergency certificate, but have not
passed the Math assessment. They are not eligible for an emergency certificate.
Case 3 - An individual is issued an emergency certificate for the
1993-1994 school year. After earning 10 hours, the individual is issued a clear renewable
certificate from 1994-1998. The 10 hours earned during the first year may not be used to
renew the clear renewable certificate in 1998.
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