There are certain requirements you must meet if you want to apply for teaching jobs in Colorado. You must hold a bachelor’s or master’s degree from an accredited university and graduate from a teacher preparation program. While these are common requirements for All states, in Colorado, all teachers must be have pass the Colorado teacher certification exams, called the PLACE exams. There are also specifications outlined in the regulations with regards to your degree and teacher training program. As part of your training to become a teacher, Colorado requires that you have a student teaching internship of at least thirteen weeks. If you want a teaching job in a high school, the major concentration area of your Bachelor’s degree program must be in the subject area you want to teach.
Although it is a given that you have the necessary reading and writing skills needed to apply for available teaching jobs, if you want to teach high school, you do have to pass subject specific exams in order to be licensed to teach in Colorado. This means that if you want to teach more than one subject, you will have to take and pass more than one certification exam. Before you can apply for an initial teaching certificate you must pass either the Place exam or the Praxis 11 certification exam. Colorado does accept Praxis as one of the tests for teacher certification.
When you want to receive a teaching certificate to enable you to apply for teaching jobs, you do have to submit the results of the exams you wrote. Along with this you need to submit transcripts showing that you have a university degree and the transcripts showing that you have completed an approved teacher-training program.
The hiring of teachers to fill vacant teaching jobs is the responsibility of the various school districts. When you want to check to see which positions are open you can check with the Colorado Education Employment Board or check the websites of the various school districts. While you do send your application to the Human Resources department of each school district, it is the administration of the school that makes the final decision in the hiring of teachers.
If you have not graduated from a university or college within Colorado and you have a teaching certificate from another state, you still have to go through the process before you can be hired for any teaching jobs in the state. You have to submit an application for an initial teaching license and the transcripts of your post-secondary education. You must also include the results from any Praxis or other state testing so that a decision can be made as to whether or not you must complete the Colorado testing. You must be licensed in Colorado in order to teach there.
It is the expectation that when you get hired for one of the teaching jobs in Colorado that you will start on the requirements to change your initial teaching license to a professional license. This means you have five years to fulfill these requirements by taking more university courses and engaging in approved professional development. As a first year teacher, you do have to take part in an induction program that provides various types of professional development, mentorship and evaluations for new teachers.
