Georgia currently offers certification in the following Leadership fields:

• Performance-Based Educational Leadership – Building-Level (Field 706);
• Performance-Based Educational Leadership – System-Level (Field 707);
• Standard Educational Leadership (Field 704);

The qualifications for certification in Educational Leadership field are outlined below:

Performance-Based Educational Leadership Certificate (Building or System-Level)

Certification in Building-Level Educational Leadership allows the holder to serve in leadership positions within a school such as Principal or Assistant Principal. The System-Level Educational Leadership certificate allows the holder to serve in leadership positions at the school system level such as Program or Curriculum Director.
Please note: Superintendents must hold either the Standard Professional Educational Leadership certificate (described below) or Performance-Based certificates in both Building-Level and System-Level Educational Leadership.

Qualifications for the Performance-Based Professional Educational Leadership certificate include meeting all Special Georgia Requirements and the following:

• Completion of one of the following GaPSC-approved programs:
  • A GaPSC-approved Performance-based certification preparation program at the Specialist’s or doctoral degree level in Educational Leadership;
  • A GaPSC-approved Performance-based certification-only preparation program for individuals who already hold a Specialist or Doctoral degree;
  • A GaPSC-approved Alternate Preparation for Educational Leadership program.
• Passing score on the GACE Educational Leadership content assessment.

An Induction certificate is NOT issued in this field.

An applicant may qualify for a Non-Renewable Performance-Based Professional Educational Leadership certificate by meeting one of the following options:

• Holding an expired GA Performance-Based Educational Leadership certificate but not meeting renewal requirements;
• Holding a Master’s degree or higher and being employed by a Georgia LUA in a leadership position. During the 5-year validity period of the certificate, the educator must complete a GaPSC-approved Performance-Based Leadership preparation program.

Standard Professional Educational Leadership Certificate (Field 704)

Effective July 1st, 2014, all Clear Renewable certificates in Educational Leadership (704) were converted to Standard Professional Educational Leadership certificates. This field is renewable based upon completion of standard renewal requirements.

The only Georgia educators who may qualify for this field are those who completed a GaPSC-approved Educational Leadership program by September 30th, 2009. However, initial certificates in this field continue to be issued to qualifying out-of-state educators.

An applicant may qualify for a Non-Renewable Professional certificate in this field by meeting one of the following options:

• A 1-year Non-Renewable may be issued in this field at the request of an employing local unit of administration (LUA) if the educator holds a valid or expired Educational Leadership certificate but is missing renewal requirements;
• A 1-year Non-Renewable may be issued at the request of an employing Georgia LUA if all requirements for the approved certification program for Educational Leadership (704) were satisfied by September 30th, 2009 and the educator is missing the GACE content exam.

For more information about the field of Educational Leadership, please click here (.pdf) (requires Adobe Reader) to read the applicable Certification Rule.