Add a Teaching Field

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

Click here for a guide on how to add a teaching field to an 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, saving after each section.  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: Advanced Degree or Coursework with Experience or Pedagogy
3. OPTION 3: Test and Experience or Pedagogy
4. OPTION 4: Hawaii Advanced License and Coursework or Test

Resources
HTSB Guide: How to add a field to a license	HTSB memo regarding Hawaiian Fields	HTSB memo regarding Special Education Fields

License Fields that have special requirements

Adding a Hawaiian field to your license can be done using the normal add a field procedure outlined in this memo. For those interested in more information about the course HAW 490, please use these links to contact UH-Hilo or UH-Manoa.

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. Early Childhood Education
4. School Counselor 

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 and meet the experience requirement:
  • Literacy: Reading-Language Arts: Early and Middle Childhood
  • English Language Arts: Early Adolescence
  • Adolescence and Young Adulthood

Online Teaching:

• Content Knowledge:
  • Complete a preparation program in Online Teaching and meet the experience requirement; OR
  • Complete a minimum of 9 professional development credits in Online Teaching and meet the experience requirement; OR
  • Hold a license/certificate/endorsement in online teaching from another state and meet the experience requirement.

AND

• 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: (Updated 3/4/2022)

• Content Knowledge:
  • A total of thirty (30) semester credit hours (30) from an integrated STEM education program that includes six (6) semester credit hours in each of the four STEM disciplines at least three (3) semester hours in each of the disciplines must be upper-division level; the remaining 6 semester credit hours may be from any of the four STEM disciplines; 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
  • 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:

• Content Knowledge:
  • Complete a teacher preparation program in Teacher Leadership and meet the experience requirement; OR
  • Hold a license/certificate/endorsement from another state with the field of Teacher Leader and meet the experience requirement; OR
  • Pass the Educational Testing Service (ETS) Praxis Performance Assessment for Teacher Leaders (PATL) and meet the teaching experience requirement; OR
  • Hold a National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS) certification in any NBPTS certificate areas and meet the experience requirement; OR
  • Have job-embedded experience to verify leadership expertise. This option is for Hawaiʻi public school teachers only.

AND

• The experience requirement for the Teacher Leader field is 4 semesters as a Teacher Leader.