Class 5 Licensure
The Montana Class 5 Licensure is a 3-year, non-renewable, provisional teaching licenses for educators, counselors, and school psychologists who are starting their respective career fields or whose current out-of-state license does not transfer to the state of Montana.
Qualifications for a Montana Class 5 Provisional License
There are three pathways to earn a provisional license that all school psychologists must have first before applying for a standard Class 6 license.
A Class 5A provisional license will be issued to those individuals seeking their initial Montana educator license who meet all licensure requirements except need successful completion of the Montana required Praxis test. This license is valid for one year and is non-renewable. This provisional license is found to be most common for beginning teachers/educators establishing licensure for the first time.
A Class 5B provisional license (for program completion) is valid for a term of three years, is not renewable, and may not be reinstated. A Class 5B provisional license will be issued to those individuals who hold a bachelor's degree from an institutionally accredited college or university, have not completed an approved educator preparation program but are enrolled in one that they can complete within the three years of the provisional license. This is found to be the most common Class 5 license type that school psychologists earn as they are working to complete their masters, specialist, or PhD level program with the completion of their internship year.
A Class 5C provisional license (for non-recency) is valid for a term of three years, is not renewable, and may not be reinstated. A Class 5C provisional license will be issued to applicants seeking a license in Montana who have completed an educator preparation program, and whose degree is more than five years old but do not hold a current standard, unrestricted educator licensure, and have not earned 60 professional development units within the five-year period preceding the effective date of the license. This provisional license is commonly for individuals who may have expired school psychology license from in or out of state looking to re-establish licensure.
For information regarding the requirements and application process for a Class 5 Provisional License, please visit: Montana OPI Class 5 Provisional Licenses