certification requirements

GENERAL REQUIREMENTS FOR TEACHER CERTIFICATION IN MAINE

2.1 General Eligibility

Educational personnel certified by the Department shall meet the following general qualifications:

A. Be of good moral character;

B. Be at least 18 years of age;

C. Except for vocational education teachers and school nurses, hold at least a baccalaureate degree; and

D. Demonstrate a knowledge of physiology and hygiene, with special reference to the effects of alcohol, stimulants and narcotics upon the human system. This requirement may be satisfied by a 3-credit college course, an approved in-service course, or a proficiency examination endorsed or given by the Department.

E. Satisfactorily complete a criminal history record check which provides criminal record information containing, at least, conviction data from the Maine Criminal Justice Information System and/or criminal history record information from other states or nationally obtained from the Federal Bureau of Investigation for any person applying for certification, authorization, approval or renewal.

2.2 Routes to Initial Certification

· · Applicants may obtain a certificate by one of the following methods:

A. Approved Preparation Program

Successful completion of a preparation program for educational personnel approved by the State Board of Education with the formal recommendation of the institution.

· NOTE: The two recognized methods for the approval of preparation programs are described in Chapter 114 (Policy, Procedures and Standards for the Review and Approval of Educational Personnel Preparation Programs).

The approved preparation program route to certification corresponds to the criteria set forth in subsection 2 (A) for each certificate and endorsement listed in Part II of this Chapter.

B. Interstate Compact Successful completion of an approved preparation program in a state with which Maine has signed the Interstate Compact. The Commissioner has the right as specified in the Compact to deny certification (or by extension, to issue only a conditional certificate or transitional endorsement) where advanced study is required in Maine but not in the certification in accordance with the interstate compact must document compliance with the "Teaching Exceptional Students in the Regular Classroom" requirement section 1.4 (KKK) prior to the renewal of the first professional certificate.

C. Certification by Individual Evaluation

Demonstration of eligibility through an individual evaluation process and transcript analysis according to the criteria set forth in sub-sections 2 (B) and 3 for each certificate and endorsement listed in Part II of this Chapter.

To be recognized under this paragraph, professional education must have been earned at one of the following:

· · (1) an approved preparation program as defined in section 1.4 (I); or

(2) an institution having recognized coursework status in the certificate or endorsement area sought as described in Chapter 114.

D. Conditional Certification

The conditional route to certification is described more fully in section 10.

E. Out-of-State Administrators Seeking Initial Administrator Certification

A person seeking initial administrator certification in the State of Maine may be eligible f or a one-year administrator certificate if the applicant meets the following requirements: (i) possession of a master’s degree in any field; (ii) three years of administrative experience at the level of certification being sought; (iii) possession of the same level of certification from the sending state; and (iv) demonstration to the satisfaction of the Commissioner that the applicant meets at least 50 percent of the required competency areas set forth in Sub-section 3. C. of the administrator certificate being sought. (See Part II of this Chapter.]

A certificate issued under this paragraph is not renewable. During the one-year term of this certificate, the holder shall complete an administrator action plan pursuant to section 9.4. The goals of the plan shall be completion of all outstanding requirements for full certification.

F. Waiver of Student Teaching Requirement

At the sole discretion of the Commissioner, the requirement for student teaching set forth for each endorsement in Part II of this Chapter may be waived if the applicant can document substantially similar preparation resulting from service in the Peace Corps, or VISTA, or through employment as a classroom teacher or instructor in a private or postsecondary educational institution.

G. Temporary Administrator Certification

A person seeking initial principal or assistant principal certification in the State of Maine may be eligible for a one year administrator certificate, renewable for one year, if the applicant meets the following requirements.

(1) be a matriculated student in a master’s degree program, the master’s degree may be in any field,

(2) evidence of three years of satisfactory public or private school teaching experience or three years of equivalent teaching experience in an instructional setting (e.g., military, business, postsecondary institution, industry);

(3) participant in the Maine Academy for School Leaders; and

(4) demonstration to the satisfaction of the Commissioner that the applicant meets all of the required competency areas set forth in Sub-section 3 (C) of the administrators certificate being sought, with the exception of those areas addressed by Academy curriculum. (See Part II of this Chapter.)

2.3 Accredited Institutions

To be recognized for purposes of this chapter any graduate degree, undergraduate degree, associate degree, certificate or coursework credit must have been earned at an accredited institution. For purposes of this rule, an accredited institution shall mean a college, university, or other post-secondary institution accredited by one or more of the following:

A. A regional accrediting agency. The regional accrediting agencies are as follows:

(1) The New England Association of Schools and Colleges

(2) The Middle States Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools

(3) The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools

(4) The North Central Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools

(5) The Northwest Association of Secondary and Higher Schools

(6) The Western Association of Colleges and Schools;

B. The National Council for the Accreditation of Teacher Education.

C. Any other national institutional accrediting agency recognized by the U.S. Secretary of Education as an accrediting authority.

2.4 Qualifying Examinations for Teachers

A. All applicants for a provisional or professional teacher certificate, including those applying pursuant to the Interstate Compact, must demonstrate compliance with Chapter 013, Qualifying Examinations for Teachers unless excepted by 20-A M.R.S.A. § 13013(2-A)(B) and (D).

B. For teacher certificates requiring baccalaureate degrees, Chapter 013 mandates that applicants achieve qualifying scores on the Core Battery of the National Teacher Examination (NTE) Program from July 1, 1988 until September 1, 2000, and on the Pre-Professional Skills Test (PPST) or the Praxis I Computer-Based Tests on or after September 1, 2000 as set forth in section 3.5 of that chapter in order to receive a provisional certificate. All qualifying scores for the NTE must have been achieved during November, 1982 and prior to September 1, 2000. All qualifying scores on the PPST or the Praxis I Computer-Based Tests for an applicant requiring a baccalaureate degree must have been achieved on or after July 1, 1989.

For applicants requiring a baccalaureate degree who had taken and attained qualifying scores on the communication skills and general knowledge sections of the Core Battery of the NTE during November, 1982 and prior to September 1, 2000, these qualifying scores may be used by an applicant requiring a baccalaureate degree for certification until September 1, 2004. On September 1, 2004 and afterwards, an applicant requiring a baccalaureate degree for teacher certification must take and attain qualifying scores on the required qualifying examination at that time.

C. For teacher certificates not requiring baccalaureate degrees, Chapter 013 mandates that applicants achieve qualifying scores on the Pre-Professional Skills Test (PPST) or the Praxis I Computer-Based Tests as set forth in section 5(D) of that chapter in order to receive a provisional certificate.

NOTE: Conditional certificates may be available to applicants who have not taken the appropriate teacher qualifying examination as set forth in Chapter 013 and in sections 10.2 and 10.4(E) of this chapter.

Pursuant to 20-A M.R.S.A. § 13037, an individual who has failed to achieve the minimum qualifying scores of this State on qualifying examinations taken pursuant to § 13035 on or after July 1, 1988 may be issued on or after September 1, 2000 a one-year, non-renewable conditional certificate as long as other criteria as required by the State Board of Education have been met.