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Oregon

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

Oregon 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 2024, 12.6% of public-school students are classified English Learners (NCES). Re-verified against current SEA sources on 2026-05-10.

12.6%
classified ELs (2024-10-01)
view trend →
Bil + ELD
credential types offered

Credentials

Bilingual Specialization + Dual Language (separate endorsements)

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

Two distinct add-ons: Bilingual Specialization (ACTFL OPI/OPIc Advanced Mid+ only) and Dual Language Specialization (Commission-approved program + transcripts + language proficiency exam). Schema rolls up to the broadest pathway (Bilingual Specialization), which is exam-only.

English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) Endorsement

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

ESOL is a PCR (Program Completion Report) pathway endorsement: approved program is the gating credential. ORELA ESOL test is the Commission-adopted subject-matter measure; Multiple Measures-ESOL worksheet (2024) lets EPPs document equivalent competency via coursework + clinical observations + partial test score, but does not remove the test as the default.

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 2016.

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

ELP assessment

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

ELPA21 · ELPA21 consortium member.

Source: www.oregon.gov (opens in a new tab)

History of licensure

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

  1. Oregon Seal of Biliteracy adopted

    Oregon adopted a State Seal of Biliteracy on 2016-04-14 (per sealofbiliteracy.org/state/or/). Awarded to graduating high school students who demonstrate proficiency in English plus one or more additional languages.

    sealofbiliteracy.org (opens in a new tab)

  2. Senate Bill 13 — Tribal History/Shared History enacted

    Governor signed Senate Bill 13 (codified at ORS 329.494) directing the Oregon Department of Education to develop a curriculum on the histories, languages, and contemporary lives of the nine federally-recognized tribes in Oregon, and requiring every school district to teach the curriculum at grades 4, 8, and high school. SB 13 funds tribal-language preservation work and shapes the content basis for ODE's Indigenous-language teacher-preparation work and the cultural-and-linguistic-diversity competencies that the Oregon Model Core Teaching Standards apply to all teachers. While not an EL-credential statute, SB 13 is the most significant pre-2019 Oregon language-policy enactment.

    olis.oregonlegislature.gov (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 Oregon'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. TSPC endorsement and specialization rules effective

    Teacher Standards and Practices Commission rules governing Adding Endorsements and Adding Specializations took effect 2023-11-01. ESOL remains a Program Completion Report endorsement; Bilingual Specialization continues as the broadest pathway requiring ACTFL OPI/OPIc Advanced Mid+ but no approved program; Dual Language Specialization requires an approved program.

    oregon.gov (opens in a new tab)

  5. Multiple Measures-ESOL endorsement testing option approved

    TSPC approved a Multiple Measures-ESOL Endorsement Testing Option Worksheet (Commission approval June 2024, rev. 9/13/2024) documenting equivalent competency pathways: at least 20 semester / 30 quarter hours aligned with ESOL standards plus practicum or completion of a TSPC-approved ESOL program.

    oregon.gov (opens in a new tab)

Sources

  1. [1] Oregon 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] ODE — English Language Proficiency Assessment (ELPA / ELPA21) (opens in a new tab) — retrieved 2026-05-08
  4. [4] TSPC — Adding Endorsements (rules effective 11/1/2023) (opens in a new tab) — retrieved 2026-05-08
  5. [5] TSPC — Adding Specializations (rules effective 11/1/2023) (opens in a new tab) — retrieved 2026-05-08
  6. [6] TSPC — Multiple Measures-ESOL Endorsement Testing Option Worksheet (June 2024) (opens in a new tab) — retrieved 2026-05-08
  7. [7] TSPC — Testing for Teaching License Endorsements (Test Guide, rev. 3/2025) (opens in a new tab) — retrieved 2026-05-08
  8. [8] Oregon Model Core Teaching Standards (OAR 581-022-2415; InTASC-aligned) (opens in a new tab) — retrieved 2026-05-08
  9. [9] Seal of Biliteracy — Oregon state page (opens in a new tab) — retrieved 2026-05-08
  10. [10] NCES Digest of Education Statistics, Table 204.20 (EL students by state, Fall 2021) (opens in a new tab) — retrieved 2026-05-08
  11. [11] Oregon Department of Education, ESEA Title III English Learner Collection (2024-25) (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). Oregon EL teacher certification. https://projectcert.org/states/or/
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_or_2026,
  author  = {{projectcert}},
  title   = {{Oregon EL teacher certification}},
  year    = {2026},
  url     = {https://projectcert.org/states/or/},
  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.