Special Education Licensure Restructuring: Issues related to policy and practice

1. Special Education Licensure Restructuring: Issues related to policy and practice Phoebe Gillespie, Ph.D. Director National Center for Special Education Personnel and Related Service Providers

2. Policy mandates for restructuring • NCLB/IDEA regulations related to HQT for special educators • HQT compliance is relevant to special educators who teach subject areas in self-contained settings (NCLB). • Consultative teachers must be licensed in special education (IDEA). • States must establish content-specific criteria for HQT (NCLB).

3. Practice-related licensure issues • Staffing patterns at the local level ensure students are being taught by HQT general educators. • Collaborative special educators do not have to be HQT- compliant. • All (general and special) collaborative teachers need preparation in collaborative skills. • Special ed collaborative teachers need to have knowledge and skills of student developmental levels and curriculum areas being taught. • Secondary special ed teachers are typically becoming HQT through additional coursework/in-service.

4. Trends in special ed licensure • All teachers must complete either elementary of secondary prep programs before becoming licensed in other areas. • Dual (gen. and special ed) licensure programs are on the rise. • Content specific pedagogy is taking the place of process-focused teaching strategies. • Collaborative skills are being added to program approval standards for both general and special ed.

5. State licensure restructuring in response to policy and practice • Add math and reading coursework (NC, VT). • Two options offered-accessing general ed or adapted at bachelors level. Low-incidence areas offered at masters-level only (NC). • NCLB compliant at elementary level only (IA). • Prepare all educators the same at the bachelors level –add special ed professional skills at masters level (CT). • Require initial general ed licensure before special ed can be added (AK, AR, NJ, WA).

6. University program changes • Offer dual (5 years) and/or blended preparation programs that combine general ed and special ed coursework. • Provide content-specific coursework to already certified special educators for them to become NCLB/HQT compliant. • Add math and reading coursework to their existing special ed prep programs. • Respond to new state program approval requirements.

7. Additional options being considered • Require specific coursework at the bachelors level that will support NCLB/HQT compliance before a masters-level special ed prep program is completed. • Create new alternative licensure for special ed that builds on content specific and/or general ed majors (NJ, AK, AZ).

8. Future trends and issues • HQT will become HET (Highly Effective Teacher) • HQT and HET will become more location-specific. • Alternative/intern programs will become more prevalent with more hybrids emerging. • All teachers’ licensure and preparation will become more similar than different.

9. State Licensure/Program Approval Alignment to Scientifically Based Instruction • Developing teacher prep literacy course rubric and checklist to ensure teacher prep programs include most current scientific research on literacy standards, assessment and instruction in their courses (CO). • Using outlines to assist IHE faculty to develop scientifically based reading courses (MD). • Developing Higher Ed Consortium to ensure faculty are knowledgeable about SBRR and incorporating it into their teacher and administrator prep courses (TX) • Using licensing exams that measure SBRR specifically (MD, CA, VA).

10. Recommended Components of Scientifically Based Reading Instruction • Includes “Content” • Phonemic Awareness • Phonics • Fluency • Vocabulary • Comprehension • Includes Instructional Methodology - “How To” • Systematic instruction with scaffolding • Explicit instruction with modeling • Multiple opportunities for practice • Immediate corrective feedback • Ongoing progress monitoring (Vaughn & Linan-Thompson, 2004)