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Licensure
1122 W. Campus Road
Joseph R. Pearson Hall, Rm 211
Lawrence, KS 66045-3101
phone: (785) 864-9602abranham@ku.edu
Yes, in July 2008, KSDE adopted this new rule: licensed teachers may add an endorsement in any area (except Elementary, Early Childhood, Special Education or Administration) simply by passing the appropriate licensure exam. This was a radical change from prior practice. After you receive the passing score, simply send it to KSDE along with the Form 22, which you can download from www.ksde.org under Educators, Licensure, Applications.
Download the Form 2 out-of-state application from the Kansas State Department of Education (KSDE) in Topeka at their web site www.ksde.org or by calling 785-291-3678. One page of the application will go to the Licensure Officer at the school where you completed your teacher education program.
At this web site, find the instructions for Online Applications, then take about 30 minutes to read all the instructions and file the Form 1 application. We must have your passing ESOL subject exam on file to complete the application.
Yes, and excellent faculty teach the approved course which is SPED 725 Psychology and Education of Exceptional Children and Youth. This graduate level course is offered most semesters, including summers, in Lawrence and in Overland Park. If you need more flexibility or live a long distance from here, you can take SPED 725 by correspondence through KU Continuing Education. Call KUCE toll-free at 1-877-404-5823 or go online at www.kuce.org.
Renewals are processed directly with Topeka. If you have specific questions, please call 785-291-3678 and ask to talk to a Licensure Specialist. You will follow the renewal rules in place when your last certificate/license was issued. If your certificate was issued before July 1, 2003, you may use accredited experience, in-service points and/or recent college credits to renew. If you haven’t taught recently, you’ll need 8 recent college credits (earned in the past 6 years). Credits must be at the junior, senior or graduate level, which are courses numbered 300 or higher at KU. Courses should be in your subject area, education, or an area for which you plan to seek an added endorsement. If you never took the exceptional child course, you may ned to take SPED 725. When finished with the courses, send an official transcript along with your renewal application.
By around 2010, most teachers in Kansas will have transitioned to holding a "license" instead of a "certificate." The new license will have renewal requirements printed on the bottom of it. Under the new licensure system, you will work with your school’s Professional Development Council (PDC) to complete renewal requirements. There will be more, and more complicated, options available. Talk to your employer or your local school district if you have questions.
Download the order form from www.registrar.ku.edu or call the KU Registrar’s Office at 785-864-8927. They need some detailed information, your signature and a check for $8.00 per transcript. Allow 7-14 days for processing.
In the best of times, your application will leave my desk in about 10 days, however in busy periods and especially in the summer, it may take 3 weeks. Applications are processed in order of date received, except at the ends of semesters, when I process recent grads first. My best advice is to file early and allow enough time for processing!
In most cases, it will take three years of additional, full-time coursework to complete our teacher education program. You will find detailed course and admissions requirements on our web site at soe.ku.edu/advising-center. Before gathering information, you should decide what subjects and grade levels you are interested in teaching. For example, if you have a BA in History and want to become licensed in Secondary History and Government, it will take about three years full-time at KU.
If you have a BA in Journalism and a master’s degree in Business and want to teach Elementary school or Secondary English, it will take three years full-time. The only exceptions are for people with undergraduate degrees in Math, Science or Foreign Language who want to teach those subjects at the secondary level; they may qualify for our Graduate Licensure Program (GLP), which is usually completed in about two years of full-time coursework, including one semester of student teaching internship. If you have additional questions, contact the School of Education Advisors at 785-864-9616. Advising staff can visit with you and review your transcripts by appointment in Lawrence. If you want to receive a formal, written transcript evaluation from the Licensure Officer, there is a $30.00 fee for this service; follow these instructions to get a transcript evaluation. Most people can simply review the program requirements online and estimate how long it will take to complete our program without paying $30 and waiting 6-8 weeks for a formal evaluation. If you want to teach Art or Music, contact the School of Fine Arts. (Please note that starting Fall 2009, Music Education will be in the new School of Music and Art Education will be part of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.)
First, you must hold a current regular education license and have a job offer requiring the special education endorsement. Provisional licensure is available after completion of the appropriate methods, characteristics and practicum in the specific area requested (Adaptive, Functional, Gifted, Unified Early Childhood Birth - K, or Deaf Education). A provisional license is effective for two years, during which time most students can complete the remaining 5-6 courses in the program. If necessary, you may request a second provisional, allowing up to 4 years total to complete all the classes while as long as you have made sufficient progress during the first provisional.
You will find program information at soe.ku.edu under the Department of Curriculum and Teaching (gifted) or the Department of Special Education (adaptive, functional, deaf and the new Unified Early Childhood birth-K).
Yes, about 25 students do this every year. Call or email me as soon as you have the job offer and I will send you a packet of instructions. You must be a regularly licensed teacher in Kansas, admitted to KU and enrolled in courses before we can write the plan of study letter. KSDE deadlines for receiving waiver applications from schools are November 1 and February 1. Some districts will not employ teachers under waivers, as they must be listed as "not highly qualified" on reports.
Under the old system, early childhood level was defined as birth through age 5 (pre-school) and separate programs prepared teachers in regular education or special education. Under the new licensure system, Early Childhood Unified has two options for level (birth-3rd grade or birth-Kindergarten), working with regular and special education students. We admitted our first group in UEC Birth-3rd grade for Fall 2005 and they completed Spring 2008. This program is structured like our 5-year undergraduate teacher education program and has a competitive admission process. Additionally, we have a new master’s degree program for UEC, birth – kindergarten, which was approved in June 2008. This is a 36-hour master’s program, an excellent licensure option for a person with a BA in Psychology, Human Development or Speech-Language-Hearing who wants to work with regular or special needs children birth through kindergarten. See the SPED departmental site for program details.
Yes, there are great links via the KSDE site, www.ksde.org, under Licensure, then Other Educational Links. For example, you can click on Missouri to view their regulations, order Missouri forms, and so forth. If you don’t find the state you need, call or email me. I have
posted information for our students in KU’s initial certification program at Applying for Out-of-State Licensure, which may be helpful. In most cases you should allow 2-6 months to complete the process in a new state, including getting new fingerprints, taking new tests, and processing applications at the state department. Almost all states will issue you a temporary permit for a year or so, to allow time for completion of tests or other new requirements. FYI, Missouri requires the same tests as Kansas. Certification/licensure rules are constantly changing and you will usually find the most up-to-date information on web sites.
Feel free to contact me by email at abranham@ku.edu if you didn’t find the answer to your question.
-updated February 2009
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