Add a Teaching Field

You must submit an application to add a new license field to your existing Hawaii license. 

Go to your license record and go to the Licenses/Permits tab.  Click the button that says “Add Teaching Field” and complete the application.  When you finish your application, click “Submit.”  HTSB licensing staff will evaluate your application.

Click here for a list of License Fields and Levels

Options for Adding a Field

There are five (5) options for adding new fields.  Click here for an overview of all five options. Click below for a description of each option.

1. OPTION 1: Complete a State Approved Program in the New Field
2. OPTION 2: Coursework and Experience or Pedagogy
3. OPTION 3: Test and Experience or Pedagogy
4. OPTION 4: NBPTS Certification
5. OPTION 5: Hawaii Advanced License and Coursework or Test

License Fields that have special requirements

The following have special requirements as added fields to Hawaii licenses.

These teaching fields may only be “added fields:”

1. Ethnomathematics
2. Middle Level Generalist
3. Online Teaching
4. Teacher Leader
5. All Career and Technical Education Vocational Fields

These teaching fields may only be added by completion of a state approved educator preparation program:

1. School Librarian
2. Reading Specialist
3. Effective December 31, 2019, Early Childhood Education

These teaching fields have additional options:

Literacy Specialist:

• Complete a preparation program in Literacy Specialist and meet the experience requirement.
• Complete a School District/non-profit sponsored program in Literacy Specialist and meet the experience requirement.
• Hold a National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS) Certificate in the following areas:
  • Literacy: Reading-Language Arts: Early and Middle Childhood
  • English Language Arts: Early Adolescence
  • Adolescence and Young Adulthood AND meet the experience requirement.

Online Teaching:

• Complete a preparation program in Online Teaching and meet the experience requirement.
• Complete a minimum of 9 professional development credits in Online Teaching and meet the experience requirement.
• Hold a license/certificate/endorsement in online teaching from another state and meet the experience requirement.
• The experience requirement for the Online Teaching field is verification of 3 years of successful teaching experience and verification of 10 online P‐12 courses you have taught within the last 5 years at a P‐12 school recognized at a federal or state Department of Education level.

STEM:

• Meet one of the options below:

• Credit hours in a STEM integrated program, including  30 credit hours from an integrated STEM education program that includes all 4 STEM disciplines and at least 3 hours of coursework in the engineering design process, OR
• A combination of STEM coursework and meeting the experience requirement. A combination is defined as the following coursework:
  • • A major of 30 semester hours in at least one STEM field;
  AND
  • • A minimum of 6 semester hours in at least one non-major STEM field;
  AND
  • at least 3 semester hours of coursework that includes the engineering design process. OR
• Complete 9 Professional Development (PD) credits and meet the experience requirement. The minimum completion of 9 PD credits needs to be offered by a private/non-profit organization or school district in integrated STEM education that includes all 4 STEM disciplines with at least 3 hours of the engineering design process. During the course of the PD, the individual must develop and deliver a purposeful unit that integrates Science, Technology, Engineering and Math along with other content areas. OR
• Pass two content area Praxis exams and meet the experience requirement. Passing scores on Praxis Technology Education test and a passing score on either the Praxis science or mathematics area test. Please see the Licensure Test Categories page under the Mathematics or Science categories for a list of exams accepted for STEM.
• AND
• The experience requirement for the STEM field is verification of 1 year of full-time teaching in the field at the grade level requested, or 3 years of full-time teaching at the grade level requested no matter the field, or passing the Principles of Learning and Teaching (PLT) test for the grade level requested.

Teacher Leader

• Complete a teacher preparation program in Teacher Leadership and meet the experience requirement.
• Hold a license/certificate/endorsement from another state with the field of Teacher Leader and meet the experience requirement.
• Pass the Educational Testing Service (ETS) Praxis instructional facilitator assessment and meet the teaching experience requirement.
• Hold a National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS) certification in any NBPTS certificate areas and meet the experience requirement.
• Have job embedded experience to verify leadership expertise. This option is for Hawaiʻi public school teachers only.
• The experience requirement for the Teacher Leader field is 4 semesters as a Teacher Leader.