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All states / North Dakota

North Dakota

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

North Dakota 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, 3.3% of public-school students are classified English Learners (NCES). Re-verified against current SEA sources on 2026-05-08.

3.3%
classified ELs (2021-10-01)
view trend →
Bil + ELD
credential types offered

Credentials

Bilingual Education Endorsement

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

Bilingual education endorsement (NDAC code 24500) — ELD endorsement requirements plus methods of teaching bilingual education and 16 semester hours in a language other than English OR documented proficiency in a language other than English.

English Language Learner (ELL) Endorsement

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

English Learner (EL) Endorsement (NDAC code 24000) — 16 semester hours across foundations/multicultural ed, linguistics, methods of teaching ESL, assessment of culturally diverse students, and field experience. Praxis ESOL is an alternative pathway in lieu of full coursework. ND is a WIDA member; the state ELP assessment is WIDA ACCESS for ELLs. ND adopted the Seal of Biliteracy in 2019 (NDSB, operated by NDDPI). Schema does not currently have dedicated fields for ELP assessment or Seal of Biliteracy; these facts are recorded here and in sources/ND/2026-05-08/changes-from-baseline.md.

Sheltered English Instruction (SEI)

Not mandated for all teachers.

State policy signals

Seal of Biliteracy

Recognition for graduating students proficient in English plus another language.

Adopted in 2019.

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. North Dakota Seal of Biliteracy adopted

    NDDPI adopted the North Dakota State Seal of Biliteracy in 2019, recognizing high school graduates who demonstrate proficiency in English plus one or more additional languages. Operated by NDDPI; first awards issued the 2019-20 school year.

    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 North Dakota'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] North Dakota Dept. of Public Instruction (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] ND ESPB — English Learner (EL) Endorsement page (opens in a new tab) — retrieved 2026-05-08
  4. [4] ND ESPB — Types of Licenses page (opens in a new tab) — retrieved 2026-05-08
  5. [5] NDAC Chapter 67.1-02-03 (Re-Education) — incl. § 67.1-02-03-05 Bilingual / English Language Development Endorsement (opens in a new tab) — retrieved 2026-05-08
  6. [6] ND ESPB — InTASC Model Core Teaching Standards (Final, August 2015), adopted by ESPB (opens in a new tab) — retrieved 2026-05-08
  7. [7] NDDPI — English Learner / Multicultural Education program page (opens in a new tab) — retrieved 2026-05-08
  8. [8] NDDPI — ACCESS for ELLs (WIDA) page (opens in a new tab) — retrieved 2026-05-08
  9. [9] NDDPI — EL Data and Reporting page (opens in a new tab) — retrieved 2026-05-08
  10. [10] NCES Digest of Education Statistics, Table 204.20 — English learners enrolled in public schools, by state, Fall 2011 through Fall 2021 (2023 edition) (opens in a new tab) — retrieved 2026-05-08
  11. [11] Seal of Biliteracy — North Dakota state 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). North Dakota EL teacher certification. https://projectcert.org/states/nd/
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_nd_2026,
  author  = {{projectcert}},
  title   = {{North Dakota EL teacher certification}},
  year    = {2026},
  url     = {https://projectcert.org/states/nd/},
  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.