Glossary
Plain-English definitions of the terms that decide outcomes. Several of these are words that look interchangeable and are not — the difference between "standard" and "professional" can be the difference between no examinations and three.
- Reciprocity
- A loose word that does almost no work. No state hands you a licence because you hold one elsewhere. What states actually offer is an evaluation route, with conditions. Texas states outright that it "does not have reciprocity with any other state"; Colorado states that licences "do not transfer across state lines".
- Interstate Teacher Mobility Compact (ITMC)
- An interstate compact intended to create a commission-administered route between member states. Enacted in 15 states. Not yet functioning as a licensure route anywhere — see the dedicated page.
- NASDTEC Interstate Agreement
- A long-standing set of one-way statements by each jurisdiction about which other jurisdictions’ certificates it will accept. Current cycle 2025–2030. NASDTEC itself says it is not two-way, not a guarantee, and "not necessarily full reciprocity".
- Standard certificate
- A state’s full, unrestricted certificate for a class of certification. Several states’ eligibility rules turn on this exact word, and exclude temporary, provisional, probationary, emergency and alternative-route credentials by name.
- Professional certificate
- In several states, a tier above the standard entry certificate. Where a destination state’s statute says "professional standard", the distinction between a sending state’s entry tier and its professional tier can decide whether you sit examinations.
- Endorsement
- The subject and grade band a licence authorises you to teach. Grade bands differ between states — 7–12 in one, 6–12 in another — and whether that matters depends on whether the destination applies an identity test or a comparability test.
- Review of credentials
- A paid evaluation in which a state decides what your out-of-state credential is worth against its own standards. In Texas it is a nonrefundable $160 prerequisite to everything else.
- Test exemption
- A route out of a destination state’s examinations, usually on the basis of examinations already passed elsewhere plus verified experience, or on experience alone above a threshold.
- Interim authorization
- Colorado’s one-year instrument allowing you to teach while completing a content requirement. Renewable once only.
- One-year certificate
- Texas’s equivalent, issued after the credentials review and background check. If you do not pass the required examinations inside it, you become ineligible for any certificate or permit in that area until you do.
- Temporary certificate
- In Florida, a five-year nonrenewable certificate issued only after you are employed in a Florida school. A five-year clock, not a safety net.
- Official Statement of Status of Eligibility
- Florida’s written finding of what you still owe, issued within 90 calendar days and valid for five years. It must list every method by which you can complete the requirements.
- Approved programme verification form
- A form your preparing institution’s registrar or certification officer completes. It depends on a third party, which makes it the most common cause of an application sitting incomplete.
- ambiguous_confirm_with_state
- Our label for a question the published record genuinely does not answer. It means we found the question, set out the argument each way, and are pointing you at the agency rather than guessing.
Every definition above reflects what the cited sources say on the state pages and the compact page, where the wording is quoted and dated.