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Sheltered English Instruction (SEI) mandate

An SEI credential — also rendered Sheltered English Immersion — requires content-area teachers to receive training in making their content comprehensible to English Learners. Universal mandates that apply this requirement to all teachers remain uncommon.

Mandate by state

Not mandated
Mandated for all teachers

States with the mandate

  • Arizona

    Universal mandate: per R7-2-615(L) and ADE OELAS, 'a Provisional or full SEI endorsement, or an ESL or Bilingual endorsement, shall be required of a teacher who is instructing students in a sheltered English immersion or structured English immersion model.' Originating in Proposition 203 (2000) and HB 2064 (2006), Arizona has the country's broadest teacher-of-EL credentialing mandate. The full SEI endorsement is earnable via 3 semester hours of approved coursework or 45 clock hours of approved professional development under A.R.S. § 15-756.09(B); the provisional version is 1 semester hour or 15 clock hours (3 years, non-renewable). Spring 2019 legislation reduced the daily SEI ELD block from 4 hours to 2 hours and re-opened broader access to dual-language and bilingual program models, but did not repeal the teacher endorsement mandate.

  • California

    California's SEI-equivalent mandate is the AB 1059 embedded EL authorization in every Multiple Subject and Single Subject preliminary credential issued since 7/1/2002 — functionally one-course-plus EL preparation required of every newly-credentialed classroom teacher.

  • Massachusetts

    SEI endorsement required for core academic teachers, administrators, and (since July 1, 2021) vocational educators. Statutory backbone: LOOK Act (2017); endorsement framework codified at 603 CMR 7.14(1).