Processing of and Requirements for Teachers’ Certificates

At its June 2009 meeting, the Board of Regents adopted amendments to sections
of Commissioner’s Regulations relating to various requirements for certification
and to certificate processing.

The purpose of the changes is to focus Office of Teaching Initiatives time and
resources on its core services rather than on other, non-core functions.
Number of Individual Evaluations per Application

Section 80-1.2 was amended to limit the time a certificate application will remain
in active status to three years and to limit the number of individual evaluations
conducted per application to two.

Applications that are not complete after the second evaluation may be
resubmitted, with another fee, for a subsequent evaluation.
Internship Certificates

Section 80-5.9 was amended to institute a $50 fee for issuance of an Internship
certificate, the same fee that is charged for all other college-recommended
certificates.
Printing of Certificates

Section 80-1.2 was amended to specify that certificates may be issued in
electronic and/or paper format.

This will permit OTI to discontinue the printing of some types of certificates.
Time limited certificates will no longer be printed. Rather, the TEACH online
system will serve as the official electronic record for these certificates.

However, certificates that do not expire (Professional, Permanent and Teaching
Assistant III), will continue to be printed.
Time Extensions for Provisional, Initial and Transitional Certificates

Section 80-1.6 was amended to allow Initial certificate holders as well as
Provisional certificate holders to qualify for a time extension on the basis of
having been unable to secure employment as a teacher or having been pursuing a
career other than teaching.

Also, language was added to ensure that applicants with expired Provisional
certificates applying for time extensions have passed the applicable New York
State Teacher Certification Examination (NYSTCE) content specialty test(s) in
the area of the certificate if they had not done so previously.
Supplementary Certificate Sunset

The Supplementary certificate was established in 2004, with a sunset date of
2009, to encourage the movement of experienced teachers in subject matter areas
of oversupply to subject matter areas of demand.

Due to continuing shortages, the amendment removes the sunset date and
continues the availability of the Supplementary certificate without interruption.
Supplementary Bilingual Education Extension

A Supplementary Bilingual Education extension was established to address one of
the most persistent subject shortages – bilingual education, in both general and
special education, as well as in school support services (school psychology,
school social work, etc.).

The extension allows a teacher, school psychologist, school social worker, etc., to
begin providing bilingual instruction or service with support from their employing
school while completing a registered college bilingual extension program.
Candidates must meet the following requirements for the Supplementary
Bilingual Education extension:
 Possession of a valid New York State certificate in the classroom teaching
service or pupil personnel service.
 Completion of three semester hours of prerequisite coursework, which
must include theories of bilingual education and multicultural
perspectives.
 Evidence of matriculation in a collegiate registered bilingual extension
program, which includes mentoring and supervision by the college or
university.
 Documentation of proficiency in the target language (college assessment
of language proficiency)
 Employment and support commitment while serving under the
Supplementary Bilingual Education extension.
 While enrolled in the college program, candidates must complete at least
nine additional semester hours within a three year period to qualify for the
Bilingual extension.