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THE STATE
EDUCATION DEPARTMENT / THE UNIVERSITY
OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK / ALBANY, NY 12234 |
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TO: |
Higher Education and Professional Practice Committee |
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FROM: |
Johanna Duncan-Poitier
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SUBJECT: |
Evaluation of the Regents Teaching Policy - Reexamining
the Special Education Certification Structure
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DATE: |
January 30, 2007
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STRATEGIC
GOAL: |
Goal 3
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AUTHORIZATION(S): |
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SUMMARY
Issue for Discussion
Does the
existing certification structure in special education, which has four separate
developmental levels leading to a possible 45 separate certificates in this
academic discipline, contribute to the shortage of special education teachers in
New York
State? If so, what process
should we follow to reexamine the certification structure and create a structure
that will help ensure that New York
State has a sufficient supply of
qualified special education teachers for all districts in New York State?
Reason(s) for Consideration
This analysis
is a part of our ongoing effort to examine and review the Regents teaching
policy enacted in 1998.
Proposed Handling
At the
February 2007 meeting of the Higher Education and Professional Practice
Committee, the Committee will discuss the approach that should be taken to
examine the special education certification structure.
Background Information
In 1996, then
Chancellor Hayden convened the Regents Task Force on Teaching with the charge to
examine teaching and teacher education in New York State to ensure that all teachers have the
necessary knowledge and skills to teach all students to the Regents Learning
Standards. In 1998, the Regents
approved their policy statement on teaching entitled “Teaching to Higher
Standards: New
York’s Commitment.”
As a part of
their new policy, the Regents made a significant adjustment in the certification
structure for all teachers. They focused on the developmental level of students
whereas previously general education certificates were either PreK-6 or 7-12,
and special education certificates were K-12. The Regents established for most
certificates a four-level structure, including:
- Birth to Grade
2;
- Grade 1 to
Grade 6;
- Grade 5 to
Grade 9; and
- Grade 7 to
Grade 12.
This four-level
certificate structure applied to both general education and special education.
In addition, teachers in special education are now required to complete all
requirements for certification as a general education teacher to ensure that
students with disabilities have access to teachers who are academically
qualified to teach them to the Regents Learning Standards in Grades
K-12.
The revised teacher preparation programs aligned with the new
certification structure, including special education, began accepting candidates
in September 2000 with the first graduating class in May 2004. Over the past two
years, the Department has been reviewing the data on the number of certificates
issued for special education and examining how the Transitional B certificates
(alternative teacher preparation) were being employed in the area of special
education. The intent was to determine if the certification structure was a
contributing factor to the shortage of special education teachers in the
pipeline for middle and high school assignments. Data analysis to date indicates
that there may be a severe shortage of teachers of students with disabilities -
Grades 7-12.
Recommendation
It is
recommended that the Department pursue the next steps identified in this report
to ensure that the educational community is consulted in a systematic fashion to
provide us with recommendations concerning any adjustments that should be made
to the special education teacher certification structure and preparation
requirements.
Timetable for Implementation
If changes in
the certification structure need to be made, the timetable should permit the
revised teacher preparation programs to begin by the fall of 2008. Although the
first class of new teachers under a revised certification structure would be a
few years away, the alternative teacher preparation programs could begin placing
teachers in the classroom as early as the fall of 2008. We propose more
extensive consultation with the field immediately and to provide the Board of
Regents with recommendations in June. Regulations could then be drafted for
discussion and action in the fall of 2007.
Reexamining the Special Education
Certification Structure
In 1996, then Chancellor Hayden convened the Regents Task Force on
Teaching with the charge to examine teaching and teacher education in New York State to ensure that all teachers have the
necessary knowledge and skills to teach all students to the Regents Learning
Standards. In 1998, the Regents
approved their policy statement on teaching entitled “Teaching to Higher
Standards: New
York’s Commitment.” With that policy statement came the
following reforms in New
York:
·
The elimination
of uncertified teachers (temporary licenses);
·
The creation of
alternative pathways to recruit experienced professionals into the teaching
profession;
·
The requirement
that all teacher education programs meet high standards and demonstrate their
effectiveness through programmatic accreditation;
·
The requirement
that new teachers have a major in the subject for which they are
certified;
·
The requirement
that new teachers pass a Content Specialty Test before they begin to
teach;
·
The requirement
that teachers receive 175 hours of professional development tied to the Learning
Standards every five years;
·
The requirement
that all teachers have a more rigorous annual professional performance
review;
·
The requirement
that teacher preparation programs ensure that all teachers are prepared to teach
all students to the Regents Learning Standards; and
·
A system to hold
all teacher education institutions accountable for students’ performance on the
New York State Teacher Certification Examinations.
·
Certification
Structure Change
In addition to
these reforms, the Regents also made a significant adjustment in the
certification structure for all teachers. The new structure focused on the
developmental level of students whereas previously general education
certificates were either PreK-6 or 7-12, and special education certificates were
K-12. The Regents established for most certificates a new four-level structure,
including:
·
Birth to Grade
2;
·
Grade 1 to Grade
6;
·
Grade 5 to Grade
9; and
·
Grade 7 to Grade
12.
This four-level
certificate structure applied to both general education and special education.
In addition, new teachers in special education certified on or after February 2,
2004 are now required to complete all requirements for certification as a
general education teacher to ensure that students with disabilities have access
to teachers who are qualified to teach them to the Regents Learning Standards in
Grades K-12. Table 1 – Special Education Certification
Structure (at the end of the report), shows a listing of possible special
education certificates before and after February 1, 2004. Prior to February 1,
2004, there was one special education certificate K-12. After the new system, it
is possible to have up to 45 separate certificates.
Teacher preparation programs were revised to align with the new
certification structure, including special education, and began accepting
candidates in September 2000. The
first class to graduate from the newly designed programs was in May 2004. Over
the past two years, the Department has been reviewing the data on the number of
certificates issued for special education and examining how the Transitional B
certificates (alternative teacher preparation) are being employed in the area of
special education. Provided below is the result of that review of data for
special education teachers under the new teacher certification
structure.
What Do the Data
Show Us?
Prior to 2004,
special education teachers had one certificate - K-12. Under the new structure
required for teacher preparation programs enacted in 2000, we have issued 15
separate special education teaching certificates (although as Table 1 demonstrates as many as 45
different certificates are possible). Table 2 - First Level Certificates Issued
in New York State, shows the number of certificates issued in 2002 when
there was only one K-12 special education certificate, in 2003 when it was
possible to be certified under the old or new regulations, and in 2004 and 2005
when there were 15 different certificates in special education issued. Table 2 suggests that the structure
itself may be a contributing factor to the shortage of special education
teachers in grades 7-12 because students interested in special education at the
7-12 level must choose one of 43 different certificate options as compared to
one option prior to 2004 and the scope of practice and employment opportunities
for each title is far narrower than the scope of practice for the old K-12
title.
Table 3 – Analysis of Need for
Special Education Teachers, shows a distribution of:
·
the number of
students with disabilities in different age groups (i.e., Birth-5, 6-11, 12-13 and 14-21);
·
the number of
certificates issued to teachers to serve students in those age ranges (i.e.,
Birth to Grade 2, Grade 1 to Grade 6, Grade 5 to Grade 9 and Grade 7 to Grade
12); and
·
the number of
students in teacher preparation programs for students with disabilities at each
developmental level (i.e., Birth to Grade 2, Grade 1 to Grade 6, Grade 5 to
Grade 9 and Grade 7 to Grade 12)
Table 3
shows the
following:
- In 2005, 53 percent of students with disabilities
were in the Birth to age 11 level, however, 80.5 percent of teaching certificates
issued were for teachers of students with disabilities at that level (Birth to
Grade 2 and Grade 1 to Grade 6).
Since some candidates receive both the Birth to Grade 2 and the Grade 1
to Grade 6 certificates in special education, the number of actual special
education teachers available is less than the number of certificates
issued.
- On the other
hand, only 19.5 percent of new special education
teachers prepared (Grades 5-9 and 7-12) are available to serve the 47 percent of special education students
in Grades 7-12. In addition, since
many of the Grades 5-9 and Grades 7-12 certificates in special education are
restricted to specific subjects (e.g., Grades 5-9 English, Grades 7-12
Chemistry), not all of the 19.5 percent of certificate holders can provide
services to all students.
Table 3
illustrates that, as schools rely more on teachers certified under the new
system, there will be fewer teachers of special education available for high
school assignments, especially for Grades 10-12, which require a title at the
Grade 7-12 developmental level.
Table 4 -
Transitional B Certificates Issued, identifies the
number of Transitional B certificates (alternative teacher preparation) issued
by the Department for the last six years and the percent of those certificates
issued in the area of special education. Since its inception in 2000-01, there
has been a significant growth in the percentage of Transitional B certificates
issued for special education. In 2000-01, 2 percent of the Transitional B
certificates were issued for special education. By 2005-06, to address the
shortage of certified teachers, that percent rose to 31 percent. The overwhelming majority
of these Transitional B certificates were issued for New York City teachers.
New York City
has reported that, for the 2006-07 school year, 1,334 new special education
teachers were hired with a total of 54
percent of them from the Teaching Fellows program (Transitional B
certificates). Table 4 suggests
that New York
City’s ability to hire special education teachers relies
heavily upon the use of the alternative teacher preparation
program.
Table 5 –
Percent of “Special Classes” for Students with Disabilities Not Taught by
Highly Qualified Teachers 2005-06, shows the
percentage of special classes for students with disabilities that were taught by
teachers who were NOT highly qualified as defined by NCLB. The table shows
significant problems in New York City, Rochester and Syracuse for both the elementary and
middle/high school classes. Table 5
is another indicator that some urban communities may not be able to recruit
teachers with appropriate certification for special education
assignments.
In general, the
data point to potential problems as more teachers with K-12 certificates retire
and not enough 7-12 special education teachers are available to replace
them.
Guiding
Principles
It is clear from the data that college students are not entering teacher
preparation programs for students with disabilities - Grades 7-12. It is further
evident that, over a period of time, as more of the K-12 special education
teachers retire this shortage will worsen unless addressed. As the Department and representatives of
the educational community meet to begin to examine this issue in greater detail
and provide recommendations for the Board of Regents to consider, the following
are guiding principles which we will use:
·
New
York needs teachers
at all levels to serve students with disabilities.
·
New
York needs to ensure
that special education teachers continue to receive the appropriate academic
preparation and support to enable them to teach all students with disabilities
to the Regents Learning Standards.
·
New
York needs to meet
the needs of all instructional delivery models including inclusive classrooms,
self-contained classrooms and resource rooms.
·
New
York needs to
simplify the special education certification structure to make it easier for all
individuals to understand and to create a more user-friendly approach for
prospective teacher education students.
·
New
York needs to create
more flexibility among the developmental levels to allow students to begin their
teaching careers in the elementary grades and to move to a middle or secondary
assignment as their careers mature.
·
New
York needs to ensure
that our structure is aligned with federal requirements in both IDEA and
NCLB.
Departmental
Activities to Date
Over the last
two years, the New York State Education Department has closely monitored the
data with regard to teacher supply and demand for students with disabilities and
has provided first of its kind data to school districts. We are now developing a
management information system for certificates issued that will enable us to
disaggregate data for each region of the State to identify where newly certified
teachers are located and in each certificate title where there may be severe
shortages at present and in the future.
We have discussed the data and related issues with many organizations,
including:
·
Higher Education
Support Center of Syracuse University which represents teacher
education institutions with special education teacher preparation
programs;
·
Professional
Standards and Practices Board for Teaching;
·
New York City
Department of Education;
·
New
York State United
Teachers;
·
BOCES District
Superintendents;
·
Teacher
educators who are members of the New York Association of Colleges for Teacher
Education and New York State Association of Teacher
Educators;
·
Commissioner’s
Advisory Council on Teacher Education;
·
New
York State Association for
the Education of Young Children (NYSAEYC);
·
New
York State Association of
Early Childhood Teacher Educators (NYSAECTE)
·
New
York State Associate
Degree Early Childhood Educators; and
·
Commissioner’s
Advisory Panel on Special Education.
Through all of
these discussions, we have been seeking advice on ways in which we can create a
viable teacher certification structure in special education that would be
consistent with the guiding principles.
We explored a number of different options for restructuring special
education certificates.
To date, we have received significant feedback but no agreement on the
best way to restructure the special education certificate titles. The key issue
is how to ensure appropriate academic preparation for teachers while still
making teaching students with disabilities attractive as a
career.
Next
Steps
As we begin our meetings with the constituency groups, we will be asking
them to comment on a series of issues and questions which would help us ensure
that we have enough special education teachers at all developmental levels and
to ensure that these teachers have appropriate special education and academic
preparation. Some of the questions to be discussed
include:
- Should we be
looking at a certification structure that is reduced from four developmental
levels down to two developmental levels (i.e., Birth - Grade 6 and Grade 7 to
Grade 12)?
- For teachers
being prepared in special education at the childhood education level, should
we require these teachers to receive additional pedagogical preparation as a
component of their master’s degree program to allow them to serve as resource
room teachers or consultant teachers in grades 7-12 later in their careers?
Many special education teachers begin their careers working in elementary
schools but may be willing to move to middle or high school assignments. By
requiring additional pedagogical preparation during the time period between an
initial and a professional certificate we may help to restore a route that
special education teachers in the past followed throughout their careers to
meet the needs of students with disabilities in high school.
- Can we create
a content core for a 7-12 special education teacher’s initial certificate
focused on the core academic subjects of mathematics, the sciences, social
studies and English? The content core would not result in a major or minor in
each of the core academic subjects, but would provide the candidate with a
stronger foundation in the core academic subjects as they relate to the
Regents Learning Standards for grades 7-12.
- When is it
necessary for special education teachers to collaborate with general education
teachers in the core academic subjects? In those instances, what are
appropriate guidelines and standards so that there is meaningful collaboration
between a special education teacher and a general education teacher to ensure
that students with disabilities in grades 7-12 have appropriate academic
instruction and support to meet the Regents Learning Standards? Is this option
workable for schools?
- Can we require
additional academic coursework in the core academic subjects for 7-12 special
education teachers who are completing a master’s program and seeking a
professional certificate in order to deepen their understanding and knowledge
of the core academic subjects as they relate to the Regents Learning Standards
in 7-12? Can this be accomplished
without increasing the credit hours for a master’s degree?
- Can we revise
the supplemental certificate to encourage teachers currently certified in
general education to become certified in special education? Although this
revision will affect all certificate holders, it may be critically important
to create flexibility so that special education shortages can be addressed
through the existing workforce.
Table
1
Special
Education Certification Structure
Old System (Prior to
February 1, 2004)
9010 - Special Education
K-12
New System (Effective
February 1, 2004)
9013 - Students with
Disabilities Birth - Grade 2
9014 - Students with Disabilities Grades 1 -
6
9015 - Students with Disabilities - Generalist Grades 5 - 9
9026 -
Students with Disabilities - English Grades 5 - 9
9037 - Students with
Disabilities - Mathematics Grades 5 - 9
9042 - Students with Disabilities -
Social Studies Grades 5 - 9
9022 - Students with Disabilities - Biology
Grades 5 - 9
9024 - Students with Disabilities - Chemistry Grades 5 -
9
9027 - Students with Disabilities - Earth Science Grades 5 - 9
9038 -
Students with Disabilities - Physics Grades 5 - 9
9019 - Students with
Disabilities - American Sign Language Grades 5 - 9
9023 - Students with
Disabilities - Cantonese Grades 5 - 9
9025 - Students with Disabilities -
Chinese Grades 5 - 9
9028 - Students with Disabilities - French Grades 5 -
9
9029 - Students with Disabilities - German Grades 5 - 9
9031 - Students
with Disabilities - Greek Grades 5 - 9
9032 - Students with Disabilities -
Hebrew Grades 5 - 9
9033 - Students with Disabilities - Italian Grades 5 -
9
9034 - Students with Disabilities - Japanese Grades 5 - 9
9035 -
Students with Disabilities - Latin Grades 5 - 9
9036 - Students with
Disabilities - Mandarin Grades 5 - 9
9039 - Students with Disabilities -
Russian Grades 5 - 9
9043 - Students with Disabilities - Spanish Grades 5 -
9
9044 - Students with Disabilities - Urdu Grades 5 - 9
9051 - Students
with Disabilities - English Language Arts Grades 7 - 12
9063 - Students with
Disabilities - Mathematics Grades 7 - 12
9066 - Students with Disabilities -
Social Studies Grades 7 - 12
9046 - Students with Disabilities - Biology
Grades 7 - 12
9048 - Students with Disabilities - Chemistry Grades 7 -
12
9053 - Students with Disabilities - Earth Science Grades 7 - 12
9064 -
Students with Disabilities - Physics Grades 7 - 12
9045 - Students with
Disabilities - American Sign Language Grades 7 - 12
9047 - Students with
Disabilities - Cantonese Grades 7 - 12
9049 - Students with Disabilities -
Chinese Grades 7 - 12
9054 - Students with Disabilities - French Grades 7 -
12
9055 - Students with Disabilities - German Grades 7 - 12
9056 -
Students with Disabilities - Greek Grades 7 - 12
9057 - Students with
Disabilities - Hebrew Grades 7 - 12
9058 - Students with Disabilities -
Italian Grades 7 - 12
9059 - Students with Disabilities - Japanese Grades 7 -
12
9061 - Students with Disabilities - Latin Grades 7 - 12
9062 - Students
with Disabilities - Mandarin Grades 7 - 12
9065 - Students with Disabilities
- Russian Grades 7 - 12
9067 - Students with Disabilities - Spanish Grades 7
- 12
9068 - Students with Disabilities - Urdu Grades 7 -
12
Table
2
First-Level Certificates Issued
in New York
State
NYS
Total
2002
Special
Education K-12
4,075
Annual
Total
4,075
2003
Special
Education K-12
7,114
Students
with Disabilities (Birth-Grade 2)
3
Students
with Disabilities (Grades 1-6)
27
Students
with Disabilities (Grades 5-9), Generalist
4
Students
with Disabilities - Grades 5-9 - English
2
Students
with Disabilities - Grades 5-9 - Spanish
1
Students
with Disabilities - Grades 7-12 - Social Studies
1
Annual
Total
7,152
2004
Special
Education K-12
229
Students
with Disabilities (Birth-Grade 2)
489
Students
with Disabilities (Grades 1-6)
2,382
Students
with Disabilities (Grades 5-9), Generalist
415
Students
with Disabilities - Grades 5-9 - Concentration In Biology
1
Students
with Disabilities - Grades 5-9 - English
8
Students
with Disabilities - Grades 5-9 - Mathematics
1
Students
with Disabilities - Grades 5-9 - Social Studies
6
Students
with Disabilities - Grades 7-12 - Biology
11
Students
with Disabilities - Grades 7-12 - Chemistry
1
Students
with Disabilities - Grades 7-12 - English
40
Students
with Disabilities - Grades 7-12 - Earth Science
1
Students
with Disabilities - Grades 7-12 - Mathematics
13
Students
with Disabilities - Grades 7-12 - Social Studies
65
Students
with Disabilities - Grades 7-12 - Spanish
1
Annual
Total
3,663
2005
Students
with Disabilities (Birth-Grade 2)
1,063
Students
with Disabilities (Grades 1-6)
3,280
Students
with Disabilities (Grades 5-9), Generalist
724
Students
with Disabilities - Grades 5-9 - Concentration In Biology
1
Students
with Disabilities - Grades 5-9 - English
17
Students
with Disabilities - Grades 5-9 - Mathematics
7
Students
with Disabilities - Grades 5-9 - Social Studies
14
Students
with Disabilities - Grades 7-12 - Biology
21
Students
with Disabilities - Grades 7-12 - Chemistry
2
Students
with Disabilities - Grades 7-12 - English
92
Students
with Disabilities - Grades 7-12 - Earth Science
4
Students
with Disabilities - Grades 7-12 - Mathematics
32
Students
with Disabilities - Grades 7-12 - Physics
1
Students
with Disabilities - Grades 7-12 - Social Studies
136
Students
with Disabilities - Grades 7-12 - Spanish
4
Annual
Total
5,398
