How to Add an ESOL Endorsement in Georgia

The Georgia Professional Standards Commission states that a person with a Georgia Teaching Certificate in Foreign Language and/or a Permit in Foreign Language may obtain an ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) endorsement. If a teacher has a certificate to teach English for six through twelfth grades and an ESOL endorsement, she can teach English ESOL courses. If a teacher has a certificate in another subject and an ESOL endorsement, she can teach other ESOL courses.

Obtain your Georgia teaching certificate or Permit in Foreign Languages. You get your teaching certificate by getting a bachelor's degree in education and passing the state licensing exam, or through an alternative certification route if you have at least a bachelor's degree in another field.

Choose a TESOL endorsement program. There are several available, and they are available mainly through universities' education departments. These ESOL endorsement programs are geared toward adult learners who have outside commitments.

Make sure that the ESOL endorsement program you choose is recognized by the Georgria Department of Education Office of Professional Learning. There are many TESOL/TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language)/TESL (Teaching English as a Second Language) programs that are geared toward teachers who want to teach English overseas. There are very different requirements for teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages in K-12 public schools in the United States and for teaching adults or children in other countries.