City University of Seattle is approved by the Washington State Professional Educator Standards Board to offer a shorter, alternative teacher preparation program for Residency Certification. This program is suited for three types of applicants: Alternative 2: Paraeducators who are currently employed in a public school with at least a year of experience and a bachelors degree or higher from a regionally accredited college. Alternative 3: People who are not currently employed by a school district who have a bachelors degree or higher in the content area and/or three years of work experience in the high-need field. Alternative 4: Teachers in a public school who are currently teaching with a conditional or emergency teaching certificate. Our Alternate Routes program will prepare you with pedagogical instruction to teach in shortage areas such as math, English language learners (ELL) and special education. Time to completion: Our alternative teacher certification program lasts one year, from July through June, and includes a year-long residency. Flexible learning: You'll work online and in class with a cohort of individuals learning from our expert faculty of practicing teachers. When you finish the program, you'll be ready to step into a teaching role as a highly qualified teacher in one or two high-need subject areas. You'll be prepared to teach ELL, Mathematics, Middle-level Math or Special Education. You will also earn your WA State Residency Teaching Certificate with endorsements in your content area. Speak with our advisers to get started on your alternative route to teacher certification today.