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Delaware

Verified against current sources (2026-05-10) Cite this page ↓

Delaware offers Bilingual Education both as a standalone certification and as an add-on endorsement; ELD/ESL is available both as a standalone license and as an add-on endorsement. SEI training is not mandated for all teachers. As of 2023, 13.3% of public-school students are classified English Learners (NCES). Re-verified against current SEA sources on 2026-05-10.

13.3%
classified ELs (2023-09-30)
view trend →
Bil + ELD
credential types offered

Credentials

Bilingual Teacher (Code 1561)

  • Standalone certification
  • Add-on endorsement
Approved program
Required
Coursework
Required
Practicum
Unknown
Subject test
Required
Language proficiency
Required

14 DE Admin Code 1561 Bilingual Teacher Standard Certificate; ACTFL OPI Advanced Mid in target language; Praxis ESOL #5362 (149).

Teacher of ELs (Code 1562)

  • Standalone certification
  • Add-on endorsement
Approved program
Required
Coursework
Required
Practicum
Unknown
Subject test
Required

14 DE Admin Code 1562 Teacher of English Learners; English proficiency required (ACTFL Advanced Mid OPI/WPT or English-medium U.S. degree); Praxis ESOL #5362 (149).

Sheltered English Instruction (SEI)

Not mandated for all teachers.

Delaware lists Sheltered English Instruction (SIOP) as one EL service model; no statewide SEI endorsement mandate for all teachers.

State policy signals

Seal of Biliteracy

Recognition for graduating students proficient in English plus another language.

Adopted in 2017.

Source: sealofbiliteracy.org (opens in a new tab)

ELP assessment

Annual English Language Proficiency test used for EL identification and reclassification.

ACCESS for ELLs · WIDA Consortium member.

Source: wida.wisc.edu (opens in a new tab)

History of licensure

Dated policy and verification events shaping this state's EL teacher credentials.

  1. Delaware adopts the State Seal of Biliteracy

    The Delaware General Assembly enacted SB 119 (148th GA, 2017) creating a State Seal of Biliteracy for high-school graduates demonstrating proficiency in English plus one or more additional world languages. DOE administers the seal through districts and charters.

    sealofbiliteracy.org (opens in a new tab)

  2. EPAA 29(100) document analysis (Leider, Colombo & Nerlino, 2021)

    Leider, Colombo & Nerlino published in Education Policy Analysis Archives 29(100) a comprehensive document analysis of every state and DC's bilingual, ELD/ESL, and SEI teacher-credentialing requirements, professional teaching standards mentions, and EL-percentage figures, based on primary SEA sources collected October–December 2019. The 2019 coding of Delaware's EL-credentialing landscape is preserved as a temporally-anchored research baseline against which the catalog's later verifications are framed.

    doi.org (opens in a new tab)

  3. Delaware DOE issues updated English Learner Guidebook

    DDOE published the January 2024 update to the English Learner Guidebook, the operative state guidance on EL identification, programming (including Sheltered English Instruction / SIOP as a service model), assessment with ACCESS for ELLs, and reclassification. The guidebook is the canonical SEA-side companion to 14 DE Admin Code 1561/1562 for districts.

    education.delaware.gov (opens in a new tab)

Sources

  1. [1] Delaware Department of Education (legacy domain doe.k12.de.us; superseded by education.delaware.gov) (opens in a new tab) — retrieved 2019-11-15 (via Leider et al. 2021)
  2. [2] Leider, Colombo & Nerlino (2021), EPAA 29(100). Tables 2-5 + Appendix A. (opens in a new tab) — retrieved 2019-11-15 (via Leider et al. 2021)
  3. [3] Delaware Department of Education (current site) (opens in a new tab) — retrieved 2026-05-08
  4. [4] 14 DE Admin Code 1562 - Teacher of English Learners (opens in a new tab) — retrieved 2026-05-08
  5. [5] 14 DE Admin Code 1561 - Bilingual Teacher (opens in a new tab) — retrieved 2026-05-08
  6. [6] Delaware DOE English Learner Guidebook (updated Jan 2024) (opens in a new tab) — retrieved 2026-05-08
  7. [7] Delaware Professional Teaching Standards (14 DE Admin Code 1597; renumbered from 393) (opens in a new tab) — retrieved 2026-05-08
  8. [8] NCES Condition of Education - English Learners in Public Schools (fall 2021) (opens in a new tab) — retrieved 2026-05-08
  9. [9] Delaware Department of Education, Multilingual Learners in Delaware (March 2025) (opens in a new tab) — retrieved 2026-05-10

Cite this page

Site content is published under CC BY 4.0. When citing a fact from this page, please cite both projectcert and the original Leider et al. (2021) paper the dataset extends.

APA
projectcert. (2026, May 10). Delaware EL teacher certification. https://projectcert.org/states/de/
Leider, C. M., Colombo, M. W., & Nerlino, E. (2021). Decentralization, teacher quality, and the education of English learners: Do state education agencies effectively prepare teachers of ELs? Education Policy Analysis Archives, 29(100). https://doi.org/10.14507/epaa.29.5279
BibTeX
@misc{projectcert_de_2026,
  author  = {{projectcert}},
  title   = {{Delaware EL teacher certification}},
  year    = {2026},
  url     = {https://projectcert.org/states/de/},
  urldate = {2026-05-10},
  note    = {Last verified 2026-05-10}
}
@article{leider2021decentralization,
  author  = {Leider, Christine M. and Colombo, Michaela W. and Nerlino, Erika},
  title   = {{Decentralization, teacher quality, and the education of English learners: Do state education agencies effectively prepare teachers of ELs?}},
  journal = {Education Policy Analysis Archives},
  volume  = {29},
  number  = {100},
  year    = {2021},
  doi     = {10.14507/epaa.29.5279}
}

See the methodology for how these data were collected, or the glossary for term definitions.