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| Regents Approve New Supplementary Teaching Certificate January 2005 On December 16, 2004, the Board of Regents amended regulation and established a new teaching certificate, the supplementary certificate, effective on January 6, 2005. This credential will enable a teacher certified in one classroom teaching title, upon meeting prescribed requirements, to provide instruction in a different title in the classroom teaching service for which there is a demonstrated shortage of certified teachers while completing the balance of coursework requirements necessary to qualify for a new certificate in a shortage area. SED believes that this new certificate is necessary because, despite intensive recruitment efforts and the creation of numerous alternative pathways for teacher certification, shortages in some subject areas remain including but not limited to mathematics, the sciences, bilingual education, and special education. Specific information on the new supplementary certificate includes: • The credential is valid for three years from its effective date and is not renewable; • The candidate must already hold a valid provisional, initial, permanent, or professional certificate; • The certificate area must be in a teaching title where there is a demonstrated shortage of certified teachers as determined by SED; • The candidate shall hold the minimum degree required for an initial certificate in the certificate title sought; • You must take and pass the appropriate Content Specialty Test; • Supply a statement from the employing school district verifying that, as a condition for employment under a supplementary certificate, the teacher is enrolled in study at an institution of higher education leading to the certificate sought; • The school district statement must also verify the district's agreement to provide the teacher working under the supplementary certificate with appropriate support to ensure the maintenance of quality instruction for students; • A candidate must have earned at least a C in every undergraduate course and a B- in every graduate level course submitted to qualify for the supplemental certificate. • Specific requirements are as follows: • For certificates in the instruction of students with disabilities, the candidate shall have completed nine semester hours of study in the instruction of students with disabilities; • For certificates in the instruction of students who are deaf and hard of hearing, the candidate shall have completed nine semester hours in the instruction of the deaf and hard of hearing; • For certificates in the instruction of the blind or visually impaired, the candidate shall have completed nine semester hours in the instruction of the blind or visually impaired; • For certificates in the instruction of literacy, the candidate shall have completed nine semester hours of study in literacy education; • For certificates in teaching English to speakers of other languages, the candidate shall have completed six semester hours of coursework in methods of second language teaching in the elementary and secondary grades and six semester hours in teaching literacy skills; and • For certificates in other areas, the candidate shall have completed twelve semester hours of study in the content core required for the initial certificate in the certificate title sought. • You must apply for this certificate no later than September 1, 2009. A State Education Department field memo on this topic can be found at: http://www.highered.nysed.gov/memoceo05-02.html. |
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