Credential Services
The American Montessori Society provides credential services to holders of Montessori credentials issued by AMS or the National Center for Montessori Education (NCME).
Services Provided
Replacement of credential certificates
Replacement certificates are available to those who need to revise their name on their credential certificate or who have lost a credential certificate. The processing of replacement certificates generally takes 2 – 4 weeks. After the replacement credential certificate is processed, it will be sent to your former teacher education program for signature and then mailed to you from there.
Transcript preparation
AMS transcripts verify credentials. Transcripts also provide information about contact hours for the academic components of a course level and about the accreditation of courses attended. The transcript may or may not be accepted by a college or university for an exchange of contact hours for credit hours. The processing of transcripts takes approximately 2 weeks.
Credential upgrades
Upgrading a credential certificate from an AMS associate credential to an AMS full credential requires that an original college transcript indicating degree awarded, or an original credential evaluation assessment from a recognized credential evaluating service, be submitted along with the completed AMS Credential Services Form and fee. To be eligible for a credential upgrade, the credential holder's AMS membership must be current. The processing of credential upgrades generally takes 2 – 4 weeks.
Verification letters
AMS prepares credential verification letters for state agencies or other purposes. These letters can be used to verify a credential as valid and active, including information about the credential level, teacher education program attended and date of completion. Verification letters also provide a brief outline of the course components studied—for a detailed outline including contact hours, see “transcript preparation” above. The processing of letters of verification takes approximately 2 weeks.
Requests
To request a credential service, use the AMS Credential Services Form. For questions or other assistance, please contact credentials@amshq.org
Providing credential services requires research and document preparation. Therefore, preparation fees are charged. These fees are detailed on the form.
Please note that requests for all documents from credentials that were issued before 2000 will require document retrieval from off-site storage and may take an additional 2 weeks.