Maine Credential Guide
English for Speakers of Other Languages Teacher, Endorsement 660 Requirements in Maine
Issued by Maine Department of Education and State Board of Education.
Maine offers several routes to ESOL teacher endorsement 660. The right route depends on your certificate, prior study and whether you use approved preparation, transcripts or a portfolio.
Official sources reviewed . Requirements can change, so confirm your route with the issuing agency before enrolling.
Maine ESOL 660 Pathways
A Licensed Teacher's 15-Credit Route Differs From the Initial Route
Maine's ESOL 660 rule has multiple pathways. The route for an applicant with a valid Maine professional teaching certificate and bachelor's degree calls for 15 semester hours in specified ESOL, diversity and human-development study. Another pathway uses 24 semester hours and student teaching for applicants without that certificate.
Map each of the 15 required credits to the rule's named areas. Ask the provider to document the completion evidence for endorsement 660.
Check the 24-credit distribution, basic-skills or portfolio conditions and 15 weeks of ESOL student teaching. One year of successful conditional teaching may waive that student-teaching condition.
Use Maine's MEIS application instructions for your pathway. Ask the department to confirm which of the rule's five pathways it will evaluate before enrolling.
Maine Department of Education, Chapter 115 amended May 2025, checked September 29, 2026: certification and MEIS guidance and Chapter 115 ESOL 660 pathways. The rule lists five pathways; the two contrasted here are starting points for different applicants.
Maine Requirements
Identify Your Maine Certificate Route
Every published path starts with a bachelor’s degree. Some add-on paths also require a professional teaching certificate.
Entry credentials
Maine publishes several pathways. Each requires at least a bachelor's degree; some add-on pathways also require a valid Maine professional teaching certificate.
Maine Requirements
Compare Program, 15-Hour and 24-Hour Paths
The credit requirement changes by pathway. Ask the Department to evaluate your certificate and transcripts against the route you plan to use.
Coursework by route
Published routes include an approved ESOL preparation program, a 15-semester-hour route for professional certificate holders, and a 24-semester-hour route with additional education requirements.
Other recognized paths
Maine explicitly provides approved-program, transcript, portfolio, and conditional-certificate pathways for endorsement 660.
Maine Requirements
Check Testing and ESOL Teaching Practice
Testing or portfolio evidence applies in specified pathways. The 24-hour route has a separate student-teaching or conditional-teaching condition.
Testing or portfolio
Testing or an approved portfolio applies in specified Maine pathways. The exact requirement depends on the applicant's route.
Practice requirement
The 24-semester-hour route requires 15 weeks of ESOL student teaching unless Maine accepts one year of successful conditional teaching instead.
Maine Requirements
Plan the Underlying Credential Renewal
Keep the teaching credential that carries the endorsement current.
Renewal evidence
Maine teacher credentials generally require six semester credits or 90 contact hours for renewal. The endorsement remains attached to the underlying credential.