Delaware Special Education Teacher Certification

The Content-Area Prerequisite for Special Education

Delaware has a regulatory requirement that trips up many applicants: you cannot hold a Special Education Standard Certificate unless you also hold at least one content-area Standard Certificate. A standalone special education credential does not exist in Delaware's system.

This means that if you want to teach special education in a Delaware public or charter school, you must first qualify for and obtain a Standard Certificate in a content area — such as elementary education, mathematics, English language arts, or science — and then add the special education certification on top of it.

The logic behind this rule is that Delaware expects special education teachers to be qualified in the content they are teaching, not only in the methods of differentiated instruction and IEP management.

What This Means for Out-of-State Special Education Teachers

The content-area prerequisite creates a significant complication for reciprocity applicants. If you hold only a special education credential from another state and have no separate content-area certification, Delaware cannot issue you a reciprocal teaching license until you fulfill the content-area requirement.

In practice, this means many out-of-state special education teachers without a content-area credential may need to complete the applicable Praxis II exam and/or coursework, then apply for a content-area Standard Certificate before the special education certification can be issued. This can add months to the reciprocity timeline.

Recent amendments to 14 DE Admin. Code 1571 updated the specific coursework requirements for the Special Education Teacher of Students with Disabilities Standard Certificate. If you are pursuing this credential, verify that your preparation program or transcript content aligns with the current regulation, not an older version.

Bilingual Teacher Certification

Delaware's bilingual teacher certification requires proficiency in both English and the target language, demonstrated through either a Praxis II content exam for the target language or an approved language proficiency assessment. The state accepts ACTFL (American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages) assessments for this purpose.

The ACTFL Oral Proficiency Interview (OPI) and Writing Proficiency Test (WPT) are administered through Language Testing International (LTI). Candidates must score at or above the state's minimum proficiency threshold, which varies by language. Scores are routed electronically to the DDOE.

Bilingual certification is stacked onto your existing license — it does not replace the need for a content-area Standard Certificate or a valid Delaware license.

World Language Teacher Certification

World language teachers follow a similar path. The primary difference is that world language certification focuses exclusively on foreign language instruction, while bilingual certification covers dual-language instructional settings.

For world language certification, you need:

• A valid Delaware license (Initial, Continuing, or Advanced)
• Passing scores on the relevant Praxis II World Language content exam or ACTFL assessment
• Official score reports routed to the DDOE

Languages with Praxis II exams include Spanish, French, and German. Languages without a Praxis II equivalent rely entirely on ACTFL assessments.

Adding These Certifications in DEEDS

All three specialty certifications — special education, bilingual, and world language — are added through the same DEEDS process used for any Standard Certificate. There is no additional state fee for adding certifications once you hold an active license. You apply through your DEEDS dashboard, submit the required documentation, and wait for DDOE review.

For a complete walkthrough of the application process, including how to route test scores and navigate the content-area prerequisite, the Delaware Teacher Certification Guide covers every step.

See more Delaware guides →