Welcome
The School of Education Educator Certification Office is available for matriculated students enrolled to graduate from one of the teacher/ educator preparation programs offered at Lehman. We serve (SOE) School of Education current students who will officially graduate and those who have graduated from the teacher programs at Lehman.
Our office provides guidance, referral services and navigation tools for students to obtain their state certification from the New York State Education Department – Office of Teaching Initiatives after they officially graduate and complete all requirements. Based on each SOE student’s program area of study, we can provide personalized New York State certification checklists, per request.
Our services are initially available via email and via phone or zoom by appointment when necessary. It is imperative that SOE students be aware of their individual state certification requirements and should ideally have them complete them by the time they graduate from their teacher program.
In addition to checking in with their degree Program Coordinator/ Advisor, students should contact the Certification Office at teacher.certification@lehman.cuny.edu during their first semester to learn more about their personal state certification requirements. It is important for students to advocate for themselves to utilize services offered at Lehman.
Announcements from the New York State Education Department- Office of Teaching Initiatives
1. CHILD ABUSE MANDATED WORKSHOP UPDATE: As of September 1, 2025, the (NYSED) New York State Education Dept. has a new updated version of the Child Abuse Identification & Reporting mandated workshop for the second time. All state approved workshop providers are offering the latest version. Everyone is required to complete the training. At the end of the workshop, participants should receive a new completion form/ certificate of attendance to keep for their own record and it must be dated after Sept. 1, 2025. Participants should request the workshop provider to submit their completion to their NY state TEACH Online Svcs account. For more information, please click the link: https://www.highered.nysed.gov/tcert/news/NewsCAI8292025.html
2. CST EXAM SCORE WAIVER: The NYSED Office of Teaching Initiatives is offering an opportunity to receive a score waiver on a CST exam taken if the score falls within a .05 ratio from the passing score and if other certain criteria is met. Students are encouraged to check their scores (past & current) and carefully read the state requirements to see if they may qualify to apply for it. The state requirements are very specific so it is important to read the information in the following link and contact the state or the Lehman Certification Office with any questions: https://www.highered.nysed.gov/tcert/certificate/certexamwaiver.html
3. EMERGENCY COVID CERTIFICATE: The Emergency COVID Certificate is no longer available by the NYSED. As of September 1, 2022, the state removed this temporary certificate as an option. You may read more about the removal here: https://www.highered.nysed.gov/tcert/certificate/covid19-emergency.html
4. The NYSED has eliminated the edTPA exam requirement and the General Core in Liberal Arts & Sciences requirement for any person seeking their first initial certification. The state's official announcement is available on their website for more detailed information.
This will apply to all School of Ed. students (past, present and future) if seeking their very first teacher initial certificate. As part of all other certification requirements to obtain the first teacher initial certificate, the state will no longer require the edTPA exam. Because the edTPA exam has been eliminated, the ATS-W exam will no longer be required.
More detailed information is available in the following state links:
- Elimination of the edTPA requirement
- FAQ's
- Elimination of the General Core in Liberal Arts & Science
5. Memo from NYSED to verify employment of Certified Individuals with Expired Initial Certificates:
- A certified individual may continue to be employed after his/her certificate has expired.
- The applicant must have applied and paid for their next level certificate application.
- The employer may verify submission or an application and the required documents in TEACH while approval by New York State Education Department -Office of Teaching Initiative is pending.
For additional information regarding the following, please visit the NYSED webpages below:
- Re-issuance of an expired Initial Classroom Teaching Certificate
- Provisional Renewals - Pupil Personnel Service
- Time Extension of a Certificate
Please see the left sidebar menu for more information about teacher and other educator certification, workshops, exams, and preparation materials. Below are announcements and pertinent information from the New York State Education Department.
