Preparing to Become a Licensed Teacher

Teachers must hold a professional license in order to teach. Degree programs in professional education at Ball State prepare candidates to obtain teaching licenses in the state of Indiana. Professional Education programs are designed to meet the requirements of the Office of Educator Licensing and Development (OELD) in the Indiana Department of Education, the agency which grants professional teaching licenses. Under the rules adopted by the OELD, teaching licenses in Indiana will show (1) what content area or areas the teacher is licensed to teach, and (2) in what developmental level or levels (school settings) the teacher is licensed to teach.

Under the OELD rules, a teacher can be licensed to teach in any of a number of content fields (e.g., mathematics, business, special education, music, world language) and at any of five different school settings (preschool, elementary/primary, elementary/intermediate, middle school/junior high, or high school).

For example, the license for a mathematics teacher would look like this:
content area(s) qualified to teach: mathematics	school setting(s) qualified to teach: junior high/middle school high school
An elementary teacher's license would look like this:
content area(s) qualified to teach: elementary/primary generalist elementary/intermediate generalist	school setting(s) qualified to teach: elementary primary elementary intermediate
A music teacher's license might look like this:
content area(s) qualified to teach: vocal and general music	school setting(s) qualified to teach: all school settings

In order to receive a teaching license from OELD, the candidate must be recommended by the higher education institution from which his or her professional education training was received.

Reciprocal agreements between Indiana and other states allow for licenses to be granted in those states as well upon completion of a Ball State professional education program.