Certification or Licensing
All 50 states and the District of Columbia require public school teachers to be licensed by the Board of Education in the state where they will be working. Licensing is generally not required for teachers in private schools.
Teacher certification in physical education is available from the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS). Applicants must have a bachelor's degree and three years of classroom experience in a public or private school. They must prepare a portfolio of their teaching experience and complete exercises at an NBPTS assessment center to demonstrate their knowledge of their teaching specialty. After they complete these requirements and pay an application fee, they can use the designation, national board certified teacher. Certifications are available in early and middle childhood and early adolescence through young adulthood.
The American Board for Certification of Teacher Excellence also offers certification. Prospective teachers can earn the passport to teaching certification and experienced teachers can earn the master teacher certification.
The National Consortium for Physical Education for Individuals with Disabilities offers a voluntary certification program for adapted physical education instructors through the Adapted Physical Education National Standards. Instructors who pass an exam and meet other professional requirements may use the professional designation, certified adapted physical educator.
Some schools may also require you to be CPR-certified.
- Adapted Physical Education Specialists
- Adult and Vocational Education Teachers
- Aerobics Instructors and Fitness Trainers
- Art Teachers
- Athletic Directors
- Biophysicists
- Book Editors
- Cancer Exercise Specialists
- Career and Employment Counselors
- Career and Employment Technicians
- College Administrators
- College Professors
- Community Nutrition Educators
- Computer Trainers
- Cooking Instructors
- Curriculum Coordinators
- Dance School Owners and Managers
- Distance Learning Coordinators
- Driving School Owners and Instructors
- Education Directors and Museum Teachers
- Edupreneurs
- Elementary School Teachers
- English as a Second Language (ESL) Teachers
- Environmental Education Program Directors
- Exercise Physiologists
- Fitness Directors
- Flight Instructors
- Guidance Counselors
- Health Club Owners and Managers
- Health Educators
- Instructional Coordinators
- Instructional Designers
- Journalism Teachers
- Kinesiologists
- Learning Innovations Designers
- Library and Information Science Instructors
- Lifeguards and Swimming Instructors
- Mathematics Teachers
- Music Teachers
- Nursing Instructors
- Personal Trainers
- Physical Therapists
- Physical Therapy Assistants
- Preschool Teachers
- Recreation Workers
- Recreational Therapists
- School Administrators
- School Nurses
- Secondary School Teachers
- Ski Resort Workers
- Special Education Teachers
- Speech-Language Pathologists and Audiologists
- Speech-Language Pathology Assistants
- Sports Equipment Managers
- Sports Facility Managers
- Sports Instructors and Coaches
- Sports Physicians
- Sports Psychologists
- Sports Trainers
- Strength and Conditioning Coaches
- Teacher Aides
- Tutors and Trainers
- Yoga and Pilates Instructors