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Ohio

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

Ohio 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, 4.6% of public-school students are classified English Learners (NCES). Re-verified against current SEA sources on 2026-05-10.

4.6%
classified ELs (2023-10-01)
view trend →
Bil + ELD
credential types offered

Credentials

Bilingual Education Endorsement

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

Two standard routes: a Bilingual Education multi-age standalone license, or a Bilingual Education endorsement on a primary teaching license. Both require completion of an approved teacher-preparation program. No OAE content exam currently exists for Bilingual Education. A Bilingual Education supplemental license (no exam, no approved program) is available for up to 3 years as a bridge to the standard route.

TESOL Endorsement

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

Two standard routes: a TESOL multi-age standalone license, or a TESOL endorsement on a primary teaching license. Both require an approved teacher-preparation program and the Ohio Assessments for Educators (OAE) TESOL content exam. A Supplemental TESOL license is also available (test only, no approved program), valid for 1 year and renewable up to 3 years total.

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 2017.

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

ELP assessment

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

OELPA · ELPA21 consortium member.

Source: education.ohio.gov (opens in a new tab)

History of licensure

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

  1. Seal of Biliteracy authorized by Substitute SB 3

    Ohio General Assembly enacted Substitute Senate Bill 3 (131st GA, 2016) authorizing a State Seal of Biliteracy. Program launched in the 2017–18 academic year for the Class of 2018 graduates; sealofbiliteracy.org records adoption as 2017-03-16.

    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 Ohio'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. ODE renamed Ohio Department of Education and Workforce (ODEW)

    House Bill 33 (FY24-25 biennial budget, signed 2023-07-04) reorganized and renamed the Ohio Department of Education to the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce. The education.ohio.gov domain continues to resolve and current SEA pages display the ODEW banner. Structural change only; EL-related teacher credentialing requirements were not altered.

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

  4. ODE reorganized as Department of Education and Workforce (HB 33)

    Ohio's biennial budget bill HB 33 (135th General Assembly, signed 2023-07-04) reorganized the Department of Education into the Department of Education and Workforce (ODEW), consolidating workforce-development functions under the new agency. The change was structural; EL credentialing rules under OAC 3301 carried over.

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

Sources

  1. [1] Ohio 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] Ohio Department of Education and Workforce — English Learners (Student Supports landing page) (opens in a new tab) — retrieved 2026-05-08
  4. [4] Ohio Department of Education and Workforce — English Learner Programs (opens in a new tab) — retrieved 2026-05-08
  5. [5] Ohio Department of Education and Workforce — Ohio English Language Proficiency Assessment (OELPA) (opens in a new tab) — retrieved 2026-05-08
  6. [6] Ohio Standards for the Teaching Profession (Ohio Department of Education) (opens in a new tab) — retrieved 2026-05-08
  7. [7] Seal of Biliteracy — Ohio state page (sealofbiliteracy.org) (opens in a new tab) — retrieved 2026-05-08
  8. [8] NCES Digest of Education Statistics 2023, Table 204.20 — English learners enrolled in public elementary and secondary schools, by state or jurisdiction (Fall 2011 through Fall 2021) (opens in a new tab) — retrieved 2026-05-08
  9. [9] Ohio Department of Education and Workforce, Ohio's Education Landscape 2023-2024 (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). Ohio EL teacher certification. https://projectcert.org/states/oh/
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_oh_2026,
  author  = {{projectcert}},
  title   = {{Ohio EL teacher certification}},
  year    = {2026},
  url     = {https://projectcert.org/states/oh/},
  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.