Georgia special education certification: the fields, the GACE tests and the routes

1. Georgia’s special education certificate fields

GaPSC’s Rule 505-2-.57 lists ten special education teaching fields. Its Teaching Fields page lists eight of them under its Special Education (Grades P-12) heading, and Special Education General Curriculum/Elementary Education (P-5) among the elementary fields. Here they are in the rule’s order, with the GACE content test and the literacy test GaPSC aligns with each (sections 2 and 3):

Behavior Disorders and Learning Disabilities are in the rule and on GaPSC’s page, but the current GACE test list names no test for either, the rule’s literacy list does not name them, and neither appears among GaTAPP’s special education programs. We could not confirm how GaPSC handles new applications in these two fields; if one matters to you, ask GaPSC.

Endorsements

The same rule also lists special education endorsements. Four can be used for placement in the field: Special Education Deaf Education (P-12), Special Education Physical and Health Disabilities (P-12), Special Education Preschool (ages 3-5) and Special Education Visual Impairment (P-12). Others are “offered for enhanced competency and not required for placement in the field,” among them Special Education Autism, Special Education Transition Specialist, Dyslexia and Positive Behavior Intervention and Supports. Section 4 says how an endorsement is added.

Consultative teacher or teacher of record

GaPSC’s GACE and Special Education page explains that General Curriculum and Adapted Curriculum certificates are consultative: the special education teacher works alongside a classroom content teacher, as in inclusion or co-teaching. To teach core academic subjects as the teacher of record, the page says, “A teacher of record in Special Education must hold certification in the Special Education General Curriculum and/or Special Education Adapted Curriculum, and one or more of the core academic subject areas”. For grades P-8 the page points to the special education Academic Content Concentrations, and for grades 9-12 to the regular 6-12 content tests. The page itself warns: “This page is currently under extensive revision to reflect recent updates to statewide assessments.” It still uses the test numbers from before July 2025, so use the current numbers in section 2.

2. The GACE tests, fees and passing scores

The GACE tests are Georgia’s certification tests. GaPSC’s Rule 505-2-.26 records the change of provider: “Effective July 1, 2025, the GACE assessment provider changed from Educational Testing Service (ETS) to Evaluation Systems, Pearson (ES).” The test numbers changed with it. These are the special education tests, the two literacy tests special education fields use, and the ethics test, as the GACE site listed them on October 15, 2026:

A testlet-based test is taken in parts, and you take every part. The page for test 735 listed its three testlets separately on October 15, 2026: 407 and 408 at $63 each and 503, Foundations and Professional Knowledge in Special Education, at $43, or all three testlets in one appointment for $169. We read the other fees from the GACE site’s own test list, not from each rendered page, so check the test’s page before you register.

Passing scores

GACE’s Understanding Your Scores page says most tests are scored from 100 to 300 and that the passing score is either 220 or 250, depending on the test. For test 735, the GACE page says you need a cumulative score of at least 220 and must also meet each testlet’s floor, its minimum score. We did not see the passing scores for the other special education tests, so check each test’s page on the GACE site.

Fields with no content test

Rule 505-2-.26 says Georgia has no content test for Physical and Health Disabilities, Special Education Preschool or Visual Impairment, among other fields, and: “In fields for which there is no Georgia state-approved or state-accepted content assessment, passing a content assessment for certification is not required.” The literacy test still applies to these fields (section 3).

Registering, and older scores

GaPSC’s Content Assessments page says you first create a MyPSC account and request testing eligibility; if you are not enrolled in a Georgia preparation program, eligibility is granted automatically. You then register on the GACE site, and GACE sends your scores to GaPSC electronically. The same page says: “Complete content assessment scores do not expire.” Scores from before the change of provider still count: “The GaPSC accepts passing scores on the required GACE ETS content assessments taken in its entirety on or before June 30, 2025.”

3. The literacy test

Every Georgia teaching field is now aligned to one of three literacy tests, taken in addition to any content test. GaPSC’s Literacy Assessments page aligns Application of the Science of Reading (test 418) with Special Education Preschool, Special Education General Curriculum/Elementary Education (P-5) and the P-12 fields of General Curriculum, Adapted Curriculum, Physical and Health Disabilities and Visual Impairment. Application of Literacy Instruction for Deaf Education (test 406) goes with Deaf Education. For Visual Impairment, the page adds: “The appropriate literacy assessment for the field of Visual Impairment will be available at a later date.”

Who takes it, under rule 505-2-.26 and the same page:

• Candidates who begin an approved preparation program on or after June 1, 2025 (those who began classes before that date are not required to take it).
• Teachers adding a teaching field to a Five-Year Induction or Professional certificate, from July 1, 2025.
• Teachers from other states applying by reciprocity, from July 1, 2026 (section 5).

You don’t retake the same test for a later field: “Once the aligned literacy assessment requirement has been met, individuals do not need to retake the same literacy assessment to add a subsequent field(s).” And for the concentrations: “Test takers adding a Special Education Academic Content Concentration(s) to a Special Education certificate do not need to also take a Literacy Assessment.”

4. Adding special education to a certificate you hold

GaPSC’s Rule 505-2-.34, Add a Field (effective October 15, 2026) gives a teacher with a level 4 or higher Induction or Professional teaching certificate two options for a new teaching field:

• An approved program. Complete a GaPSC-approved or GaPSC-accepted program in the field, meet the Special Georgia Requirements and pass the required tests.
• The tests. Pass the GACE content test(s) for the field and, since July 1, 2025, the aligned literacy test.

For special education, that means General Curriculum (735), Adapted Curriculum (731) and Deaf Education (734) can be added by test. Fields with no content test need the program: “If no state-approved content assessment exists for the field, the individual must complete a state-approved program”. That covers Physical and Health Disabilities, Special Education Preschool and Visual Impairment. The rule lists Special Education General Curriculum/Elementary Education (P-5) among the fields that need both the program and the tests.

Adding Elementary Education. A teacher who earned General Curriculum (P-12), Adapted Curriculum (P-12) or General Curriculum/Elementary Education (P-5) through an approved program may add Elementary Education (P-5) by passing the GACE Elementary Education test and Application of the Science of Reading (418) and completing an approved Reading Endorsement program.

Adding an endorsement. If you hold the certificate type an endorsement’s own rule calls for, the endorsement goes on a level 4 or higher Professional certificate in one of two ways: complete an approved program in the endorsement field, or hold a professional out-of-state certificate in that endorsement field. The same two routes add an endorsement to a valid Induction certificate, but you are not eligible for a professional certificate in the endorsement field until the base certificate converts to a Professional certificate. The rule adds: “Endorsements cannot be added to the Induction Pathway 4 or Provisional certificate.”

Applying and the fee. You apply through your MyPSC account. GaPSC’s fee rule sets a $20 fee for certification transactions, and people employed by a Georgia school system pay no fee to add a field. The GACE test fees are separate (section 2). For questions, GaPSC’s certification phone lines are (404) 232-2500 and, outside metro Atlanta, (800) 869-7775; the office takes no walk-in visitors.

5. Routes in: programs, the Provisional certificate and GaTAPP

An approved preparation program

Most new teachers complete an approved program in the field. GaPSC’s Five-Year Induction certificate, for teachers with fewer than three years of experience and teachers new to Georgia, then calls for the GACE content test, the GACE Ethics for Teachers test (351), the aligned literacy test for programs begun on or after June 1, 2025, and the special education course that is one of Georgia’s Special Georgia Requirements. GaPSC’s Special Georgia Requirements page says a degree with a major in special education also satisfies that course. After three years of successful experience, Induction converts to a Professional certificate.

The Provisional certificate for special education hires

A Georgia school system can request a Provisional certificate for someone it hires before they finish a preparation program. For special education, GaPSC’s Rule 505-2-.08 says: “The required content assessment is not required for initial issuance of the Provisional Certificate but must be passed for conversion.” The rule also asks for a bachelor’s degree and the ethics test. The certificate is valid for three years, issued a year at a time until the holder is enrolled in an accepted program. The Content Assessments page puts it plainly: “Provisional certificates in Special Education fields may be granted before the applicant has passed or exempted the appropriate content assessment.”

GaTAPP, the alternative route

GaPSC’s GaTAPP page says: “Georgia Teacher Academy for Preparation and Pedagogy, GaTAPP, is Georgia’s only alternative route to initial teacher certification.” It is for people with a bachelor’s degree who did not complete a teacher education program and have never held a professional teaching certificate (the page names one exception, for certified educators adding Elementary Education). Candidates hold a Provisional certificate (or a Permit), pass the ethics test before admission, and must be employed by a school district, private school or approved charter school, per the admission page, “as a classroom teacher full-time or part-time for at least a half-day.” Programs last at least one school year and no more than three years from entry. GaTAPP leads to a recommendation for certification, not a degree.

Special education candidates need extra coursework. The GaTAPP page says: “Elementary Education and Special Education Candidates must complete additional instruction because there is no equivalent degree/major outside the school of education.” GaPSC’s Field-Specific Requirements for GaTAPP (July 2025) adds: “There is no related degree that provides the content knowledge required for certification in Special Education.” It sets two categories:

• Teacher of record. The admission list has three items, joined by “or” and “and”: a bachelor’s degree with a major or its equivalent in language arts, reading, mathematics, science or social science; a passing score on the Georgia content test in one of those subjects; and a passing score on the special education content test for the area. Ask the GaTAPP provider or GaPSC how the items combine for you. The program also requires a passing score on the literacy test.
• Consultative teacher. A bachelor’s degree with a concentration of 15 semester hours in one of those subjects; before completing the program, a passing score on the special education content test and on the literacy test.

GaTAPP admission speaks of content knowledge shown by a major or equivalent, or “a passing score at the Induction level or higher on the appropriate GACE content assessment.” The page does not define the level; ask your provider. GaPSC approves the providers but does not choose the candidates; the providers do.

If your certificate is from another state

Georgia offers reciprocity for a valid or expired professional certificate from another state in a comparable field, but GaPSC’s page for educators moving to Georgia notes that “reciprocity does not mean that an out-of-state educator will automatically qualify for a Georgia certificate.” For special education fields, these points matter most:

• The content test can be exempted if your state required a content test for that certificate, if you hold National Board certification in the field, or with five full years of successful full-time experience in the same field on a valid out-of-state certificate. Those five years also exempt the special education course.
• The literacy test applies to reciprocity applicants from July 1, 2026, and five years of experience do not exempt it. A literacy test your state required for the certificate may count instead. If you have not met the literacy requirement, a Georgia employer may request a one-year Non-Renewable or Induction certificate.
• The ethics test: “For those applying by reciprocity, three (3) or more years of successful educator experience can exempt the GACE Ethics for Teachers Assessment.”
• No Provisional certificate: “Educators applying by reciprocity do not qualify for Provisional certification in their field of certification or in a new field of certification.”

Our Georgia teaching certificate guide covers reciprocity, renewal and the certificate lookup in more detail.

6. Is special education short of teachers in Georgia?

The U.S. Department of Education’s Teacher Shortage Areas listing for Georgia includes special education, for grades pre-K through 12, in every school year from 2022-23 through 2026-27. The Georgia listing is statewide: it names no county, district or region. Georgia’s other subjects on it for 2026-27 are core subjects/elementary education, language arts, mathematics and science. When we read the listing on October 15, 2026, it had no Georgia rows yet for 2027-28.

7. SpecialEdResource’s requirement, in its own words

SpecialEdResource’s hiring site states its requirement this way: “Special education certification and a current teaching license from any US state.” The application asks whether you hold a special education certification and whether you hold a current teaching license from a US state. If your license has expired or is inactive, you can still apply, as long as you’ll renew it before you start. We check licenses before the first interview.

Where you live is a separate question on the application. Georgia is one of the 15 states where SpecialEdResource can currently employ tutors, so Georgia residents can apply.

The job’s other requirements are on the job page. For questions about a Georgia certificate, contact GaPSC (section 4).