Alabama Secondary Teacher Certification — Math, Science, and Subject-Specific Requirements

Secondary certification in Alabama (grades 7-12 and 6-12) has more pathway flexibility than elementary — all five certification routes are available, including the ATPO-based options that elementary candidates can't use. But secondary subjects each have their own Praxis test codes and passing scores, and math and science candidates have access to TEAMS Act salary supplements that can meaningfully change your compensation.

Routes Available for Secondary Fields

Secondary teaching candidates can pursue any of these pathways:

Traditional program through an approved university education program — results in a Class B Professional Educator Certificate. Requires student teaching, Praxis Subject Assessment, and edTPA.

Alternative Class A (Alt-A) through a university graduate program — results in a Class A certificate (master's level). You teach under an Interim Employment Certificate (IEC) while earning your master's degree.

Provisional Certificate in a Teaching Field (PCTF) — district-sponsored, three consecutive one-year certificates. Requires four pedagogy courses at an approved Alabama college during the first two years.

Conditional Certificate in a Teaching Field (CCTF) through an approved ATPO (iteach, American Board, or #T.E.A.C.H.) — up to three one-year terms within a four-year window.

Emergency Certificate — a two-year temporary credential requested by a district to fill an immediate vacancy. Does not lead to standard professional certification.

This range of options means a career changer with a math or science degree can be teaching full-time within weeks of securing a district job offer, using either the CCTF or PCTF route.

Praxis Subject Assessments by Field

Each secondary certification area has its own Praxis test code. You must pass the exact test Alabama requires — taking the wrong code means your scores don't count, and you'll need to wait 28 days before retaking. Registration costs range from $120 to $170 per exam through ETS.

Common secondary fields and their required Praxis assessments include Mathematics, Biology, Chemistry, Physics, General Science, English Language Arts, and Social Studies. The specific test codes and Alabama's passing score thresholds are published on the ETS Alabama requirements page and updated by standard-setting panels of Alabama educators.

Register through the ETS portal and specify ALSDE (code 7020) as your automatic electronic score recipient. Do not register for any Praxis exam until you've confirmed your exact test code — codes are updated periodically, and taking a sunsetted test wastes your fee and your 28-day retake window.

The edTPA or PLT Question

Secondary candidates must complete a pedagogical assessment in addition to their content-area Praxis. For most fields, this means the edTPA portfolio ($300) — a performance-based assessment that evaluates your planning, instruction, and assessment through video recordings and written reflections. The qualifying score is 37 for 15-rubric handbooks.

But there's an alternative for certain candidates:

• If your teaching field lacks a designated edTPA handbook (computer science, gifted education, technical education), you take the Praxis PLT instead ($156)
• If you're on an alternative route (CCTF or PCTF) and complete three full years of classroom teaching, you can choose either edTPA or PLT

The PLT for grades 7-12 (test 5624) requires a passing score of 157. For candidates with teaching experience who aren't excited about assembling a video portfolio, this is the more straightforward option.

TEAMS Act Salary Supplements for Math and Science

Alabama's Teacher Excellence and Accountability for Mathematics and Science (TEAMS) Act provides significant salary supplements for teachers who hold "in-field" credentials in math or science and teach those subjects in participating districts. Birmingham City Schools is one district that actively recruits STEM educators through TEAMS incentives.

Qualifying for a TEAMS contract requires strict compliance with in-field teaching requirements. Alabama law imposes a $500 per-teacher, per-year administrative penalty against any district that assigns an educator outside their certified subject area — even for a single period of the school day. This means your certificate endorsement must precisely match your teaching assignment.

If you're pursuing math or science certification specifically for TEAMS eligibility, confirm with your hiring district's HR department that your Praxis test code and certificate endorsement align with their TEAMS-eligible positions before you register for exams.

Adding a Second Teaching Field

Already certified in one secondary subject and want to add another? Alabama allows you to add a middle-level or secondary teaching field to an existing Professional Educator Certificate through a testing-only approach. You pass the Praxis Subject Assessment for the new field and, depending on your experience, the PLT. No additional coursework is required.

This is useful for teachers who want to expand their schedule flexibility or fill a shortage-area need in their district without enrolling in another program.

The Alabama Teacher Certification Guide maps each secondary certification route against your specific degree background and includes a testing logistics tracker to sequence your Praxis registration, score reporting, and application deadlines.

See more Alabama guides →