Professional Certification for Current Principals

As of September 1, 2004, individuals completing a Washington principal or program administrator program, as well as most administrators from out-of-state, receive Residency Certificates as their first Washington administrator certificate. This certificate is undated when issued; after the holder serves two years in the role the certificate is valid for five years from that point. Within this five-year period, administrators are expected to earn the second level certificate, the Professional Certificate.

Washington educators who hold residency principal and program administrator certificates will be able to enter professional certificate programs for those roles beginning in fall of 2007. Programs are currently under development and will follow the guidelines adopted by the Professional Educator Standards Board (PESB) in July, 2006. The links below will take you to a copy of the report presented at the PESB meeting. Future updates and additional resources will be provided on this Web site as the planning proceeds.

Program Components:

All Administrator ProCert programs will include:

• Entry Seminar: Orientation to the process and to the benchmarks; self-evaluation; development of Professional Growth Plan
• Professional Growth Plan Implementation: Gathering evidence on the benchmarks and developing capacity in the major areas of focus; demonstration of ability to use a variety of formal and informal expereinces to do this.
• Panel Presentation: Presentation of evidence to a panel including practicing administrators.

Additional Information:

• Frequently Asked Questions
• Professional Certification Programs in Washington for Principals

Source: Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction

Becoming a Principal

Click here to review the basic requirements for teachers interested in becoming an administrator.

Questions?

Contact AWSP’s Don Rash at 800.562.6100 or e-mail him at don@awsp.org.

Last updated: May 14, 2008