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Last summer, fingerprinting was the new change in certification. This year, we are "transitioning" to the new licensure system. The rules continue to evolve so not all of this is set in stone. Changes will effect students currently in programs and teachers adding endorsements more than it will effect currently certified teachers. KSDE doesn't have all of the answers yet, because they don't know all of the questions. That's one reason I'm here -- I want to hear your questions and hope to anticipate some of the questions we may get from current students and alumni. I will keep you updated throughout the year.

"Licensure" will replace the current "Certification" system, beginning July 1, 2003. There will be a transition period until July 1, 2006. All students applying for full certification after September 1, 2003 will need subject exams. Please refer to the Timeline for Implementation, which provides a list of dates and the changes effective on those dates.

Students who started current certification programs before July 1, 2003 will finish those programs and be issued a certificate or license reflecting the "old" name or level. KSDE will issue "certificates" to students in "old" programs only until September 1, 2004; after that date, they will issue only licenses. A current KU senior in Elementary Education will get a certificate in June 2004 that reads "Elementary K-9". A graduate student currently working on an elementary LD program who finishes in December 2004 will get a license that reads "LD K-9".

Students who start graduate level or added endorsement programs in Fall 2003 will follow new program requirements and new licensure subjects and levels.

Students admitted March 2003 for our undergraduate Professional Teacher Preparation Program will be the final group on the current program. They will need to finish all requirements by July 1, 2006 and will be issued a license.

Students admitted to the NEW undergraduate teacher education program for Fall 2004 will follow the new requirements, which are under development now, including revised majors and minors. An example of a new license area is History and Government, which essentially replaces the Comprehensive Social Studies certificate.

Let's compare the old system to the new system. Each has a variety of options, and I'm not covering all of them here. The primary comparison we need to understand is illustrated as follows:

The initial license will be two years instead of three. Students will take a content exam. During in the first two-year period, when they are working under a Conditional License, they will pass a performance assessment before they can upgrade to the Professional License. This will probably be a portfolio.

Changes in grade levels of certification:

Emergency Substitutes will stay essentially the same, requiring 60 hours of college credit to work as a part-time substitute teacher. Many of our 4th and professional year students hold this certificate so they can work part-time in schools.

The Provisional License will be different in the following ways (and these are significant, in my opinion):
It will be available in more subjects (but not elementary)
It will not be issued unless needed for a job (proof of contract required)
Applicant must have completed half of all required courses (different from now)
Requires a "plan of study" letter from Certification Officer, outlining specific courses

This is going to add to the workload and processing time in the Certification Office. I recommend at least 100 provisionals every year (130 last year) so I will have to generate individualized letters to accompany all of those applications. In spite of the fact that provisionals will require a job offer, I think the greater availability of provisionals and the pressure on schools to have properly certified personnel will keep these numbers fairly consistent.

The exception: the Special Education Provisional will stay the same, requiring Characteristics, Methods and the first Practicum. These provisionals will require a job offer and the plan of study letter like all others.

There will be several changes in Special Education under Licensure. However, Gifted and Hearing Impaired remain separate categories at various levels.

Some areas of Special Education, like LD and BD, go from being categorical to being grouped under Adaptive and Functional:

Adaptive (Mild/Moderate) includes Autism, BD, LD, MR, physical and other health disabilities.
Functional (Severe/Functional) includes Autism, BD, MR, physical and other health disabilities, and severe or multiple disabilities.

There is a major change in Early Childhood, which goes from current certification in ECE (regular education, birth through age 5) and ECH (EC special education, birth through age 5) to a Unified Early Childhood regular and special education, birth through third grade license. This will be a benefit to our Chicago students who want to return home. Faculty are developing this program, but we are not sure when it will start.

There is a major change in Reading Specialist, which will require completion of the master's degree and a year-long internship under licensure.

Some areas will be only available at PK-12 level: all foreign language, health, and PE, Leadership, Specialist, and School Counseling will be PK-12. School Psychology will be EC-12 or PK-12.

As you can see, there are lots of changes, some are more dramatic than others.

Licensure will be performance-based, with standardized tests over Professional Knowledge (PLT) and Subject areas. Our students already take the PLT.

Subject Area (Content) Exams will be required for everyone starting September 1, 2003. Please note that these are "no-fault" for two years. The list of exams will be posted at www.ksde.org under Certification and I plan to post a list or link on this site by August. Validations were done in Summer 2002. These exams will not be offered in Kansas until September, 2003, which creates problems for people applying after September 1, 2003, since scores for the first exams won't be available until around November 1. It is likely that KSDE will have to issue "one-year non-renewable" licenses to some of these folks, giving them a year to take and pass the test. This is one of the reasons we are recommending that students who can finish a program in Spring or Summer 2003, do so.

Special Education will have two exams for each area: Core and Subject.

There was no exam validated for Music, Journalism, or Gifted but these may be required sometime in the future.

I sent a message to all Spring 2003 KU Interns in early December, providing them with some of this information and the following caveats:
Finish all courses this spring - no incompletes, no changes in enrollment.
Get the PLT done early, preferably no later than January.
Get fingerprinting done by March 1.
Turn in all applications to Alisa by May 1.

In fact, any of our graduate students completing programs in any endorsement such as Building Administrator, or ESL or Special Education this Spring should get an application form from Alisa and turn it in by May 1.

So, students completing programs through Summer 2004 will be able to get a certificate, if they apply right away. After September 1, 2004, they will get the initial license, called a conditional license, good for two years. To renew or upgrade the conditional license, a Performance Assessment will be required. We anticipate that this will be a portfolio for teachers, and successful completion of a year-long internship for those adding endorsements in leadership and specialist.

We will get more details on Performance Assessments at the March 2003 meeting of Certification Officers and Unit Heads.

Graduate students completing programs like Building Leadership, District Leadership, Reading Specialist, School Counselor and School Psychologist will complete all coursework and graduate degrees, do the content exam, be recommended for Conditional License, then enroll in 2-3 hours per semester for a year-long internship, supervised by the recommending institution. (This is stated in the final standard for each area.) The Performance Assessment will be the successful completion of the internship, and no additional portfolio will be required. At the end of the internship year, the student will apply and be recommended for the Professional License. This is similar to the way School Psychologists are certified now, but is a significant change in all other areas.

Like real world, this is not going to be black and white. We will give the best advice we can, but KSDE may make slight changes as we go along. Please help me to assure your students that everything will be fine, and that we are working to keep them informed and up-to-date.

I have asked KSDE several questions already. Here are two examples:

1. If I hold a provisional certificate in LD issued before July 1, 2003, will I have to take the two content exams, Core and Adaptive, to get the full certification when I apply in December 2003? Yes.

2. I hold a current 5-year certificate. I plan to renew it in Fall 2003. What do I have to do? Answer: follow the current rules, file a renewal form and documentation of credit hours, experience or in-service points. KSDE will issue a 5-year license instead of a certificate. It will show the same titles and levels as the program you completed. You will not have to take content exams or pass a performance assessment for this license, since it is already at the professional level. The new requirements for the next renewal will be printed on your license. (This is a good, new feature.)

Renewing a certificate or license will have various twists and turns. It may be significant to some faculty that KSDE has decided to no longer accept experience teaching in higher education for renewal purposes. All renewals will require a professional development plan approved by the local professional development council. KU faculty will have to work through these local PDC's as well.

Our faculty will be discussing some issues further, such as the new Restricted license for people with a prior degree in the subject who will be allowed to teach while completing all courses in an approved program within a three year period. (This is the license that coincides with the Transition -to-Teaching Grant.) The Restricted District Leadership license will allow folks half-way through a Superintendent's program to take a job as a superintendent. The state of Missouri is having some controversy about something similar they are doing with School Counselors. There are ethics issues involved and questions about legal responsibilities that faculty may want to be discussing to determine whether we want to allow this option or not.

I am already answering lots of calls from our KU alumni, who will need assistance to understand the new licensure system and renewal requirements, especially during the next 3-4 years. The good news is that KSDE will be printing renewal requirements at the bottom of every new license.

Bottom line: Subject Exams begin on September 1, 2003. Encourage students who can finish ANY PROGRAM this spring or summer to please do so. Spring completers need to file applications with Alisa by May 1. Applications can be picked up in 208 JRP or students can contact Alisa to have one sent by mail. Rumor control will be challenging this spring. Please, always encourage students to contact me with their questions!

Alisa Branham, Certification Officer, abranham@ku.edu.

Finally, you will find most of the best and current information on web sites. The web site for the Kansas State Department of Education (KSDE) is www.ksde.org. Look under Certification to find updates on licensure, links to other states, KSDE publications (directories, new standards) and so forth. I have just updated my portion of our School of Education site, soe.ku.edu, to include FAQS, information on getting out-of-state certification, additional links, and so on. Let me know if you have other questions!