Need access to educator certification info? New SDE tool gives quick answer

BOISE - Superintendent of Public Instruction Sherri Ybarra unveiled a new Certification Lookup Tool Wednesday that allows Idahoans to quickly find information about the certification status of teachers, administrators and other education professionals.

The new site, https://apps2.sde.idaho.gov/certificationlookup, is a public-access version of a tool released to Idaho school district and charter school administrators two weeks ago.

The tool provides access to the following information about individuals:

• Certification status
• Professional endorsement status
• Application status
• Endorsement information, which includes subjects/assignments that can be taught with current endorsements
• Contract information, which includes assignments currently being taught

The lookup tool is expected to have an added benefit in giving the State Department of Education's certification staff more time to process applications and perform other tasks. Now, many questions from districts, media and the public can be answered directly online.

"We get questions all the time, such as 'I want to know what certification my son's teacher has'," said Lisa Colon Durham, director of certification and professional standards. "We can get more than 1,000 phone calls a week, many of them from educators wondering whether their application has been received."

"This tool will allow educators and members of the public to find the answers themselves, quickly and easily," she said.

And the online tool displays a current portrait of the bigger picture in Idaho educator certification: How many certified teachers, administrators and other education professionals are certified across the state, how many applications are currently being processed, and how many applications - including renewals and revisions - have been processed over the past year.