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Louisiana

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

Louisiana offers Bilingual Education as an add-on endorsement; ELD/ESL is an add-on endorsement. SEI training is not mandated for all teachers. As of 2024, 5.3% of public-school students are classified English Learners (NCES). Re-verified against current SEA sources on 2026-05-10.

5.3%
classified ELs (2024-10-01)
view trend →
Bil + ELD
credential types offered

Credentials

Bilingual education

  • Add-on endorsement
Approved program
Unknown
Coursework
Required
Practicum
Unknown
Subject test
Not required
Language proficiency
Required

Bulletin 746 (Title 28, Part CXXXI) §1343 Bilingual Specialist add-on. Available to elementary, secondary, or all-level certified foreign-language teachers; requires 6 semester hours (Bilingual Methods I and II). languageProficiency=true reflects the prerequisite that the candidate already hold a Louisiana foreign-language certification, which functions as a target-language proficiency gate. baseline-2019 coded bilingual.offered=false; the 2019 paper appears to have missed this small endorsement.

ESL Endorsement

  • Add-on endorsement
Approved program
Unknown
Coursework
Required
Practicum
Not required
Subject test
Not required

Bulletin 746 §1359 English as a Second Language add-on. 12 semester hours / four 3-hour courses (Methods of Teaching ESL; Introduction to Language and Culture; Structure of the English Language; Curriculum Design for the Multicultural Classroom) on top of a valid OS, Type A/B/C, or Level 1/2/3 teaching certificate. No required exam, no separate practicum, no language-proficiency exam. program=null because the regulation prescribes coursework rather than a state-approved EPP pathway distinct from it.

Sheltered English Instruction (SEI)

Not mandated for all teachers.

Structured English Immersion is one of several program models LEAs may operate (per the EL Program Handbook), not a statewide pre-certification training mandate. Bulletin 746 imposes no SEI training requirement on general-certification candidates.

State policy signals

Seal of Biliteracy

Recognition for graduating students proficient in English plus another language.

Adopted in 2014.

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

ELP assessment

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

ELPT · State-specific assessment.

Source: doe.louisiana.gov (opens in a new tab)

History of licensure

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

  1. Act 409 creates CODOFIL and authorizes French-language public-school instruction

    Act 409 of the 1968 Louisiana Legislature established the Council for the Development of French in Louisiana (CODOFIL) and directed BESE to take whatever steps are necessary to encourage the teaching of French in the public schools, formally reversing decades of post-1916 English-only state policy that had suppressed Cajun and Creole French. CODOFIL's reciprocal teacher-recruitment programs with France, Belgium, and Quebec became the operational model for Louisiana French immersion programs (now ~30+ schools statewide), and Act 409 is the legal predicate for the BESE-approved French-immersion bilingual programs that Louisiana operates alongside its newer Spanish-immersion strands. The 1974 Louisiana Constitution (Article XII §4) further commits the State to preserve, foster, and promote its linguistic origins.

    crt.state.la.us (opens in a new tab)

  2. Louisiana adopts State Seal of Biliteracy

    Louisiana adopted the State Seal of Biliteracy on 2014-05-16, recognizing high-school graduates proficient in English plus one or more world languages. LDOE administers the program with district-level participation.

    sealofbiliteracy.org (opens in a new tab)

  3. 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 Louisiana'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)

  4. BESE Bulletin 746 ESL/Bilingual add-on rule revised (emergency rule)

    BESE issued an August 2023 emergency rule updating Bulletin 746 §1359 (ESL add-on) and §1343 (Bilingual Specialist add-on) certification requirements. LDOE's published applicant checklists track the revised rule. This is the operative pathway document for ESL/Bilingual add-on candidates today.

    bese.louisiana.gov (opens in a new tab) · teachlouisiana.net (opens in a new tab)

  5. Louisiana Educator Rubric (LEADS) released; statewide rollout 2025-26

    LDOE published the Louisiana Educator Rubric (LEADS) in April 2024 as the successor to the Compass Teacher Rubric, with statewide rollout in 2025-26. The rubric carries the state's professional-practice expectations for all teachers and is the document examined for `professionalStandardsMentions`.

    doe.louisiana.gov (opens in a new tab)

Sources

  1. [1] Louisiana Department of Education (legacy domain louisianabelieves.com; superseded by doe.louisiana.gov in 2025) (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] BESE Bulletin 746 — Louisiana Standards for State Certification of School Personnel (Title 28, Part CXXXI, LAC). §1359 ESL add-on; §1343 Bilingual Specialist add-on. (opens in a new tab) — retrieved 2026-05-08
  4. [4] LDOE — English as a Second Language Add-On Applicant Checklist (revised per Bulletin 746, Aug 2023 Emergency Rule). (opens in a new tab) — retrieved 2026-05-08
  5. [5] LDOE — English Learner Program Handbook (program models, staffing, LEA discretion). (opens in a new tab) — retrieved 2026-05-08
  6. [6] LDOE — Improving Outcomes for English Learners: Louisiana's Framework (2025-2026). (opens in a new tab) — retrieved 2026-05-08
  7. [7] LDOE — English Learner Professional Development Guide (Oct 2022). (opens in a new tab) — retrieved 2026-05-08
  8. [8] LDOE Office of Assessments, Analytics, and Accountability — English Language Proficiency Test (ELPT) Guidance (July 2025). (opens in a new tab) — retrieved 2026-05-08
  9. [9] Louisiana Educator Rubric (LEADS), April 2024; statewide rollout 2025-2026 (replaces Compass Teacher Rubric). (opens in a new tab) — retrieved 2026-05-08
  10. [10] NCES Digest of Education Statistics 2023, Table 204.20 — English language learner students by state (Fall 2021). (opens in a new tab) — retrieved 2026-05-08
  11. [11] Seal of Biliteracy — Louisiana state profile (adopted 2014-05-16). (opens in a new tab) — retrieved 2026-05-08
  12. [12] Louisiana Department of Education, English Learner Data Profile 2024-2025 (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). Louisiana EL teacher certification. https://projectcert.org/states/la/
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_la_2026,
  author  = {{projectcert}},
  title   = {{Louisiana EL teacher certification}},
  year    = {2026},
  url     = {https://projectcert.org/states/la/},
  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.