1. Proposed certification changes Information every local leader should know CEA Policy & Prof. Practice All Presidents Meeting March 8, 2010

2. SDE proposing major certification changes in 3 areas Special education – major change in requirements for initial certification Teacher leader – new certificate SDE would require Literacy – combines current reading teacher & reading consultant certificates ~ All changes would become effective July 1, 2014 ~

3. Proposed special education teacher & intervention specialist certificate Eliminates initial certification through bachelor’s level program Requires master’s degree for initial certification Requires prior certificate or passing Praxis II in any content area Requires minimum 75 hours of CEUs in areas specified by SDE to advance to professional certificate  only teaching certificate that would have these requirements

4. Impact on teachers & students Unclear if all special educators would be grandfathered Cost for teachers to meet requirements for initial certificate increases by thousands of dollars Districts would be forced to hire at master’s level – financially hard for many districts, so would limit number of special educators hired Broad range of responsibilities allowed under one certificate too many for any teacher to handle, & still service students well

5. Districts might focus assignment of special educators to deal mostly with tasks other than direct service to students; e.g., training paras, diagnostics, facilitating PPTs, etc Will take longer to prepare special educators - initially may create greater shortage of special ed teachers Preparation program too broad for 30 credits – results in underprepared teachers Special educators from out of state not certifiable unless they have master’s in special ed – further decreases number of special educators in CT Requiring master’s for initial certificate eliminates teacher’s ability to earn master’s degree (for professional certificate) in area of choice Impact on teachers & students

6. CEA proposals for Special Education certificate Based on focus groups, survey, & work with special educators, CEA proposed the following regarding special education certification: 2 levels of special education certification  Teaching - level 1; preparation to work with students with mild to moderate disabilities  Specialist – level 2; preparation to work with students with severe disabilities, and for other responsibilities Must hold teaching certificate before advancing to specialist certificate

7. Proposed teacher leader certificate Required for teacher working more than 40% of time in position such as:  teacher leader  team leader  content coach  curriculum specialist  any other similar title Requires master’s degree and 12 graduate credits & field experiences in specific areas SDE pushing certificate based on erroneous assertion that there are national standards for TLs, and ETS has developed performance-based assessment for TLs

8. Impact on teachers & students Teachers currently working in such positions would not be grandfathered – would have to earn certificate Cost to teachers for additional coursework District training provided to teacher leaders only ‘counts’ toward certification if district designs, and has approved, 180-hour program Prescribed coursework might not match needs for position in your district Certification changes expected to be in place for 15+ years

9. Proposed literacy specialist certificate Combines 2 current remedial reading & reading consultants into 1 certificate – “administrators don’t understand difference between them, & use educators interchangeably” For initial certificate - requires master’s degree/30 graduate credits; study in curriculum development, children’s literature, adolescent literature For professional certificate – requires 12 credits beyond those for initial certificate

10. All teachers currently working as literacy coaches, coordinators, lead teachers, etc. would have to have certificate – no grandfathering Teachers who now provide early intervention services to students outside regular classroom would have to hold certificate Cost to earn initial certificate increases – more credits required Cost to earn professional certificate – 12 additional credits Wider range of responsibilities under one certificate – currently under two certificates Preparation program too broad for 30 credits – results in underprepared teachers Impact on teachers and students

11. CEA proposals for Literacy Specialist certificate 2 levels of literacy certification  Literacy teacher – focus on working with students and their teachers (one-on-one or small group)  Literacy specialist – focus on training paras, tutors, coaches, etc.; program development & coordination; full diagnosis & intervention/remediation planning Must have experience as literacy teacher before specialist Separate preparation & responsibilities allows greater depth of knowledge & skill…..more effective services to students

12. Get involved in CEA campaign to change certification! Read more details about certification proposals on CEA web site – encourage members to do same : http://www.cea.org/profdev/cert/index.cfmhttp://www.cea.org/profdev/cert/index.cfm Participate in public hearings on certification regulations:  Monday, April 5 – CREC (Hartford)  Tuesday, April 6 – CES (Trumbull)  Monday, April 12 – EASTCONN (Willimantic)  Thursday, April 29 – ACES (Hamden) Work with Uni Serv rep to organize teachers …… attend hearings; use CEA resources to write testimony for CEA to send to State Board & SDE Let CEA know what needs clarification