Become a Teacher in Kentucky

To earn your Kentucky teaching credential you will have to complete required undergraduate coursework and standardized tests, as well as an accredited certification program.

Kentucky issues three levels of certification:

Learn more about getting your teaching credential on Teach.com.

Kentucky offers many different options for alternative teacher certification, including special options for career professionals, experienced academics, and veterans.

Interstate reciprocity is a program that allows teachers certified in one state to teach in another state. To find out which other state teaching licenses can be used in Kentucky, visit the Teach.com reciprocity page. Or, for more information click on the Kentucky Department of Education’s Professional Development page.

To find out what other state teaching licenses can be used in Kentucky, check out our Teacher Certification Reciprocity page on Teach.com.

The Kentucky Educator Placement Service (KEPS) runs a simple job search engine that allows teachers and administrators to search for job postings. There is an advanced search function that lets users search by grade level, region and subject.

In Kentucky, teachers earned an average of $53,000 to $56,000 depending n grade level, according to 2018 data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Salary in Kentucky varies by district. For district-specific information, check out the Certified & Classified Staff Data Reports from the Kentucky Department of Education. Learn more about

Learn more about teacher salaries on Teach.com.

Kentucky teachers can retire at age 60 with 5 years of service or any age with 27 years of service. Additional benefits Kentucky teachers receive include health care coverage, annual and sick leave and vacation days.

Learn more about benefits for teachers on Teach.com or at the Teachers Retirement System Kentucky.

A teacher shortage occurs when there are not enough teachers in key subject areas, which has been partly caused by years of teacher layoffs during the Great Recession, a growing student population and fewer people entering teacher preparation programs, according to the Learning Policy Institute. The following is a list of teacher shortage areas in Kentucky for the 2020-21 school year, according to the U.S. Department of Education. 

Kentucky residents are eligible for the Applegate/Jackson/Parks Future Teacher Scholarship as well as the TEACH Grant, a grant which gives financial aid to students in return for an agreement to teach in a high-need school.

Learn more about how to finance your Master’s degree on Teach.com.

The Educational Professional Standards Board is responsible for managing certification renewal and teacher assessment.  Kentucky requires at least four days of each school term to be used as Professional Development days. Kentucky’s Teacher Internship Program (KTIP) involves monitoring and performance assessment of first-year teachers to ensure that they are making progress in teaching to state standards.

To advance from one certification rank to the next, teachers are required to complete either a certain number of graduate credits or the Continuing Education Option (CEO), an independent study plan that teachers create based on the needs of their schools or districts.

See the Kentucky Department of Education’s Professional Development page for more information.

It is no longer enough to only have years of experience teaching. After No Child Left Behind and other academic quantification measures,  teachers are almost solely evaluated on their success in the classroom. A master’s degree in the field of education provides more educational theory and classroom skills, as well as more hands-on student teaching experience with a mentor.

After a master’s program, you may be able to achieve better results in the classroom and have more job security and higher pay.

Learn more about the benefits of a Master of Arts in Teaching vs. Master of Education on Teach.com.