Your Questions About CETL Certification, Answered

We’ve learned a lot about what today’s K–12 IT pros need to know about CETL certification, including why it’s worth the time and resources they’ll need to invest to achieve it.

What Is CoSN’s Certified Educational Technology Leader Certification?

CoSN describes the CETL program — first established in 2011 — as the only accredited, practice-based certification program for education leaders hoping to bridge knowledge gaps between technology and educational environments, leadership, and the management of technology and support resources to advance student outcomes.

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Earning CETL certification requires passing a 100-question exam. To qualify for the exam, applicants must have a bachelor’s degree and at least four years of experience working in education technology. Candidates without a bachelor’s degree can also apply, but they need a minimum seven years of ed tech experience and face a more rigorous application process.

The CETL certification program was designed to help K–12 technology professionals play a meaningful and substantive role in their organizations’ leadership.

With eligibility requirements, exam topics and a recertification process based on CoSN’s Framework of Essential Skills of the K–12 CTO, the CETL certification demonstrates professionals’ mastery of the skills and knowledge demanded of successful ed tech leaders and their ability to bring those skills to bear on today’s classrooms.

What Makes Pursuing CETL Certification Worthwhile?

While the benefits of becoming CETL-certified are clear, there’s no denying that it’s also a costly and time-intensive endeavor. It’s also undeniably worth it.

Many current CETLs recommend the certification to other ed tech colleagues. Additionally, a 2019 salary data analysis showed that CETL-credentialed professionals earned more than their uncertified counterparts.

In the realm of K–12 education, it’s only in recent years that IT has found a seat at the leadership table. For years, IT professionals largely operated as support for their schools or districts, charged chiefly with keeping requisite technology up and running.

To succeed and advance today, however, IT professionals need more than technological know-how; they need a deep understanding of the K–12 education landscape, an ability to think strategically, management skills and an understanding of what it takes to lead. Achieving CETL certification demonstrates that they possess the comprehensive range of skills and knowledge needed to thrive as a K–12 technology leader.

But that’s not all. The CETL credential is useful as a measure of ability and knowledge, but it also fosters professional development and serves as a tool to help ed tech leaders improve their understanding of 21st-century technology and its place in the classroom.

Pursuing CETL recertification motivates K–12 IT leaders to remain current — and even ahead of the curve — on all things educational technology-related.

This article is part of the ConnectIT: Bridging the Gap Between Education and Technology series. Please join the discussion on Twitter by using the #ConnectIT hashtag.