projectcert

All states / Michigan

Michigan

Verified against current sources (2026-05-08) Cite this page ↓

Michigan 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 2021, 6.4% of public-school students are classified English Learners (NCES). Re-verified against current SEA sources on 2026-05-08.

6.4%
classified ELs (2021-10-01)
view trend →
Bil + ELD
credential types offered

Credentials

Bilingual Endorsement

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

Bilingual Education endorsement is language-specific (codes YA-YT, 17 languages). Standard 1.1 of the 2017 Bilingual Education Preparation Standards requires ACTFL Oral Proficiency Interview at Advanced Low or higher in both English and the target language. MTTC Bilingual Education exam also required.

Teachers of English as a Second Language

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

ESL endorsement (code NS). Earned via an approved Educator Preparation Provider as either the initial endorsement on a teaching certificate or as an add-on, plus passage of the MTTC ESL exam. ESL preparation standards (2017, rev. 2024) do not require a separate language-proficiency exam.

Sheltered English Instruction (SEI)

Not mandated for all teachers.

Michigan does not mandate SEI training for all teachers. Per Michigan Law 380.1233(1) and the MDE ESL & Bilingual Placement Guide (2024), only teachers serving as the primary EL provider in ESL, sheltered English, bilingual, newcomer, or dual-language programs must hold the NS or Y_ endorsement.

State policy signals

Seal of Biliteracy

Recognition for graduating students proficient in English plus another language.

Adopted in 2018.

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. Bilingual Instruction codified in the Revised School Code (MCL 380.1153)

    Michigan's Revised School Code (1976 PA 451), § 380.1153, requires any school district that has 20 or more EL students of the same language background enrolled at any one school to provide a bilingual instruction program in that language and English. The provision originated in 1974 PA 294 (the State Bilingual Instruction Act) and was carried forward into the 1976 Revised School Code. MCL 380.1153 is the legal source of Michigan's bilingual endorsement (BR) and the operative 20-student program-trigger threshold MDE still administers.

    legislature.mi.gov (opens in a new tab)

  2. Bilingual Education Preparation Standards revised; ACTFL OPI Advanced Low required

    MDE adopted revised Bilingual Education Preparation Standards. Standard 1.1 — flagged by MDE as the most significant change from the 2004 standards — requires candidates to demonstrate ACTFL Oral Proficiency Interview at Advanced Low or higher in BOTH English and the target language. This grounds the schema's `bilingual.requirements.languageProficiency: true`.

    michigan.gov (opens in a new tab)

  3. Seal of Biliteracy adopted

    Michigan adopted the Seal of Biliteracy in 2018, administered by MDE. The program recognizes high school graduates who demonstrate proficiency in English and one or more additional languages.

    michigan.gov (opens in a new tab)

  4. PK-12 Professional Knowledge and Skills standards adopted

    MDE adopted the PK-12 Standards for the Preparation of Teachers (Professional Knowledge and Skills), which explicitly enumerate `linguistic` diversity and contain multiple operative references to `English learners` and `English language learners`. Subsequent revisions through 2024 retained and strengthened this language. Grounds the `professionalStandardsMentions.linguistic: true` and `.el: true` flips from the 2019 baseline.

    michigan.gov (opens in a new tab)

  5. 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 Michigan'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)

Sources

  1. [1] Michigan Department of Education (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] MDE — Appropriate Placement of Teachers Serving in ESL, Sheltered English, Bilingual Education, Newcomer, and Dual Language Programs Guide (2024 update) (opens in a new tab) — retrieved 2026-05-08
  4. [4] MDE — Standards for the Preparation of Teachers of English as a Second Language (adopted 2017, updated 2024) (opens in a new tab) — retrieved 2026-05-08
  5. [5] MDE — Standards for the Preparation of Teachers of Bilingual Education (adopted 2017) (opens in a new tab) — retrieved 2026-05-08
  6. [6] MDE — Active Endorsements and MTTC Alignment (opens in a new tab) — retrieved 2026-05-08
  7. [7] MDE — Adding an Endorsement to a Michigan Teaching Certificate (opens in a new tab) — retrieved 2026-05-08
  8. [8] MDE — Standards for the Preparation of PK-12 Teachers, Professional Knowledge and Skills (adopted 2018, rev. 2024) (opens in a new tab) — retrieved 2026-05-08
  9. [9] MDE — Standards for the Preparation of Teachers (Middle Grades 5-9, High School 7-12), Professional Knowledge and Skills (opens in a new tab) — retrieved 2026-05-08
  10. [10] NCES Digest of Education Statistics 2023, Table 204.20 (English learners enrolled in public elementary and secondary schools, by state, Fall 2011-2021) (opens in a new tab) — retrieved 2026-05-08
  11. [11] MDE — Michigan Seal of Biliteracy program page (opens in a new tab) — retrieved 2026-05-08

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 8). Michigan EL teacher certification. https://projectcert.org/states/mi/
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_mi_2026,
  author  = {{projectcert}},
  title   = {{Michigan EL teacher certification}},
  year    = {2026},
  url     = {https://projectcert.org/states/mi/},
  urldate = {2026-05-08},
  note    = {Last verified 2026-05-08}
}
@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.