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All states / Washington

Washington

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

Washington 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, 15.1% of public-school students are classified English Learners (NCES). Re-verified against current SEA sources on 2026-05-10.

15.1%
classified ELs (2024-10-01)
view trend →
Bil + ELD
credential types offered

Credentials

Bilingual Education Endorsement

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

Bilingual Education endorsement governed by PESB under WAC 181-82A. Added to a teaching certificate (no standalone license). Per WAC 181-82A-204(2)(a), the route is a state-approved endorsement program addressing PESB competencies plus the WEST-E content test; field experience is at the program provider's discretion. PESB endorsement competencies (Standard 1.A) require candidates to demonstrate 'a high level of oral and written language proficiency' in the additional language of instruction 'as demonstrated by performance on a standardized assessment of language proficiency.' Post-Fall 2021 candidates are evaluated against NDLETPS (National Dual Language Education Teacher Preparation Standards).

ELL Endorsement

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

English Language Learner (ELL) endorsement (PESB, 2015 competencies). Added to a teaching certificate (no standalone license). Same WAC 181-82A-204 route as Bilingual: state-approved endorsement program plus WEST-E content test; field experience at provider discretion. Unlike the Bilingual endorsement, no candidate language-proficiency gate. OSPI uses 'Multilingual/English Learner' branding in current program guidance; PESB retains the 'ELL' label on the endorsement itself.

Sheltered English Instruction (SEI)

Not mandated for all teachers.

Washington has no universal SEI / sheltered-instruction endorsement mandate. The Transitional Bilingual Instruction Program (TBIP, RCW 28A.180) is an OSPI-administered district program serving identified multilingual/EL students; it does not require all certificated teachers to hold an EL-related endorsement.

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.

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. Washington Transitional Bilingual Instruction Program established (Ch. 95, Laws of 1979)

    The Washington Legislature enacted RCW 28A.180 (originally Chapter 95, Laws of 1979) creating the Transitional Bilingual Instruction Program (TBIP) and committing state funds to districts serving EL students. Unlike the bilingual mandates in MA/NM/TX/IL/NJ, Washington's statute permits districts to choose program model — bilingual where staffing allows, ESL/sheltered instruction otherwise — and ties state funding to enrollment of identified ELs. RCW 28A.180.020 still requires OSPI to report annually on the program. OSPI rebranded the umbrella as the Multilingual Education Program in recent guidance, but the underlying TBIP statute remains the legal backbone of WA's EL services.

    app.leg.wa.gov (opens in a new tab) · ospi.k12.wa.us (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 Washington'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] Washington Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (legacy domain; superseded by ospi.k12.wa.us) (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] OSPI homepage (current) (opens in a new tab) — retrieved 2026-05-07
  4. [4] PESB — English Language Learner (ELL) endorsement competencies (2015) (opens in a new tab) — retrieved 2026-05-07
  5. [5] PESB — Bilingual Education endorsement competencies (Pre-Fall 2021 + NDLETPS Post-Fall 2021) (opens in a new tab) — retrieved 2026-05-07
  6. [6] PESB — Endorsement competencies index (lists ELL and Bilingual Education among ~40 endorsements) (opens in a new tab) — retrieved 2026-05-07
  7. [7] PESB — Adding an endorsement (test-only vs approved-program-plus-test lists; ELL and Bilingual require approved program plus test) (opens in a new tab) — retrieved 2026-05-07
  8. [8] WAC 181-82A-204 — Endorsement requirements (state-approved program route, content-test route, out-of-state route, field-experience at provider discretion) (opens in a new tab) — retrieved 2026-05-07
  9. [9] OSPI — Migrant and Multilingual Education program landing page (opens in a new tab) — retrieved 2026-05-07
  10. [10] OSPI — Transitional Bilingual Instruction Program (TBIP) guidance (RCW 28A.180.020 reporting authority) (opens in a new tab) — retrieved 2026-05-07
  11. [11] PESB — CCDEI (Cultural Competency, Diversity, Equity, Inclusion) standards page (adopted March 2022 per ESSB 5044) (opens in a new tab) — retrieved 2026-05-07
  12. [12] PESB — Role standards (Washington adopts InTASC Model Core Teaching Standards as residency teacher role standards) (opens in a new tab) — retrieved 2026-05-07
  13. [13] InTASC Model Core Teaching Standards and Learning Progressions for Teachers 1.0 (CCSSO, April 2013) — adopted by PESB (opens in a new tab) — retrieved 2026-05-07
  14. [14] RCW 28A.300.575 — Washington State Seal of Biliteracy (originally enacted 2014 c 102 s 2; amended 2024 c 202 s 4) (opens in a new tab) — retrieved 2026-05-07
  15. [15] WIDA Consortium membership roster (Washington listed as current member) (opens in a new tab) — retrieved 2026-05-07
  16. [16] NCES Digest of Education Statistics 2023, Table 204.20 — English learners enrolled in public schools by state, fall 2021 (WA = 11.4%) (opens in a new tab) — retrieved 2026-05-07
  17. [17] OSPI Transitional Bilingual Instruction Program (TBIP) Legislative Report, 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). Washington EL teacher certification. https://projectcert.org/states/wa/
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_wa_2026,
  author  = {{projectcert}},
  title   = {{Washington EL teacher certification}},
  year    = {2026},
  url     = {https://projectcert.org/states/wa/},
  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.