CONTINUING EDUCATION LICENSE RENEWAL GUIDELINES DISTRICT #877 2016-2020 COMPILED by the Buffalo Continuing Education Committee State Department website: http://education.state.mn.us Look for link to Educator Licensing
Preface The contents and regulations listed in this document have been adapted from rule of the Minnesota Board of Teaching, Minnesota Rules, Chapter 8710. (https://www.revisor.mn.gov/rules/?id=8710) It is each individual teacher s responsibility to become informed of and to comply with the published requirements of this local committee. Purpose and Philosophy The local continuing education committee in Buffalo-Hanover-Montrose District #877 is established according to the Minnesota Board of Teaching rules for the purpose of evaluating continuing education activities, granting appropriate clock hours for those activities, and recommending renewal of five-year continuing or professional teaching and support service licenses. It is understood that the purpose of continuing education is to increase or enhance the capabilities of the professional educator in performing assigned professional responsibilities. It is not intended to be primarily a reward for effort expended in lieu of other compensation. All activities for which clock hours are granted must address standards in Minnesota Rules 8710.2000. View Minnesota Rules 8710.2000. (http://www.revisor.leg.state.mn.us/arule/8710/2000.html). Since mandated continuing education cannot provide absolute assurance of maturing professionalism, the major responsibility for professional growth lies with the individual. Each staff member must demonstrate professional commitment by being a discriminating appraiser of his/her own growth needs and possible growth alternatives and by actively pursuing opportunities to upgrade and improve educational capabilities. The local committee provides assistance through interpretation of state rules and guidelines in order to provide equitable implementation and to encourage a variety of growth possibilities. Minnesota Department of Education Licensing Information The Licensing Division of MDE oversees the licensing of all educations and administrators working in Minnesota public K-12 schools. Information may be found at Licensing http://education.state.mn.us/mde/edexc/licen/index.html Who Is Subject To Committee Action? Except for individuals holding life licenses, all individuals with continuing or professional licenses are subject to the Board of Teaching continuing education rules. This includes vocational licenses previously under the jurisdiction of local vocational committees and renewed under separate rules. The same renewal requirements now apply to both standard and vocational licenses. 1
Correlation Of Licenses The correlation of expiration dates will be done as follows: the first license(s) renewed whether standard or vocational -- will be renewed to the expiration date of the later-expired licenses. The correlated licenses may then be renewed in the year of expiration using a single set of 125 clock hours and a single application fee. Because clock hours must be earned in the five years prior to renewal application, it is possible that some activities may be used for both the first and second renewals of such correlated licenses if those activities fall within the five years prior to BOTH renewals. Correlation of teaching licenses and administrative licenses is not included in this automatic process because administrative licenses are under the jurisdiction of the Board of School Administrators rather than the Board of Teaching. Individuals who have both vocational and standard licenses that already expire in the same year may renew all licenses with a single application fee and a single set of 125 clock hours. When administrative licenses have become correlated to teaching licenses, the single fee will renew the administrative licenses as well, but the continuing education renewal requirements for administrative licenses are done separately, according to Board of School Administrator procedures. Code Of Ethics For Teachers All teachers are expected to know, understand, and abide by the Code of Ethics for Teachers. View the Code of Ethics for Teachers. https://webrh12.revisor.leg.state.mn.us/rules/?id=8700.7500) Each teacher, upon entering the teaching profession, assumes a number of obligations, one of which is to adhere to a set of principles which defines professional conduct. These principles are reflected in the following code of ethics, which sets forth to the education profession and the public it serves standards of professional conduct and procedures for implementation. This code shall apply to all persons licensed according to rules established by the Board of Teaching. Standards of professional conduct. A. A teacher shall provide professional education services in a nondiscriminatory manner. B. A teacher shall make reasonable effort to protect the student from conditions harmful to health and safety. C. In accordance with state and federal laws, a teacher shall disclose confidential information about individuals only when a compelling professional purpose is served or when required by law. D. A teacher shall take reasonable disciplinary action in exercising the authority to provide an atmosphere conducive to learning. E. teacher shall not use professional relationships with students, parents, and colleagues to private advantage. F. A teacher shall delegate authority for teaching responsibilities only to licensed personnel. G. A teacher shall not deliberately suppress or distort subject matter. 2
H. A teacher shall not knowingly falsify or misrepresent records or facts relating to that teacher's own qualifications or to other teachers' qualifications. I. A teacher shall not knowingly make false or malicious statements about students or colleagues. J. A teacher shall accept a contract for a teaching position that requires licensing only if properly or provisionally licensed for that position. Committee Membership The local committee consists of the following members: A. Eight persons licensed by the Board of Teaching who hold at least a baccalaureate degree. One teacher representing each of the buildings in the district will be part of the committee (BHS, BCMS, Discovery, Hanover, Montrose, Northwinds, Parkside, and Tatanka). B. One licensed person who holds an administrator's license selected/elected by the licensed administrators employed by the district. C. One resident of the district who is not an employee of the district. School board members are not considered to be employees of the district. D. Committee members may develop sub-committees within individual buildings to help process submissions. All members of the sub-committees must be approved by the committee. Election Procedures If more than one person vies for a particular committee position, the committee will initiate an election with the assistance of building representatives who will conduct the secret balloting. Ballots will be distributed one day prior to the election. Notice of positions open on the committee and solicitation of nominations will be publicized in each building, the April of a committee member's last year of a term. The election will be the first school Tuesday in May in each building with ballots returned to the building representative. The ballots and vote totals will be sent to the committee to certify the election. Eligible voters are persons in the building who are licensed by the Board of Teaching. Holders of only life licenses who possess at least a baccalaureate degree may vote in committee elections and may be elected to serve on the local committee, whether or not they are subject to committee action. 3
Members of the local committee will be elected in May of each year, for terms to begin no later than the following September. The term of office is three years. Reelection is not subjected to limitations. Names of committee members will be made known to all staff following the appointment or election. In order to fill vacancies that occur during a term, the committee will appoint an eligible replacement. Prior to November 3 of each year, the membership roster for the current school year must be submitted to the Board of Teaching. Failure to submit the roster by November 3 will result in deactivation of the committee s access to the Continuing Education Clock Hour Reporting System. Committee Meetings If necessary, the committee will hold an organizational meeting no later than the last day of September of each year, at which time a chairperson and secretary will be chosen and an orientation provided for new members. A schedule of monthly meetings will be established and published to those subject to the committee s jurisdiction. For the purpose of transacting business, a quorum is more than 50 percent of the total membership of the committee. A majority vote of the committee members present and voting is sufficient to take action. If the committee members choose to not physically meet, a majority vote of the committee members may take place via email. Unless otherwise announced and posted at least one month in advance, regular meetings (Credit Approval Days) will be held four times per year on the third Monday of November/January/March/May. Meeting discussion time will be included in the Organizational meeting (September) and the January meeting. Additional meetings may be called by the chairperson of the committee or by written request of three or more of the members. Notice of the meeting will be provided to each member of the committee at least five days prior to the date of the meeting, and will be advertised in the school bulletin and community paper, in order to provide reasonable notice to those teachers subject to the action of the committee. A quorum is more than 50 percent of the total voting membership of the committee. A majority vote of those members present is sufficient to take action. In order to facilitate planning of the meeting agenda, licensed staff are to submit their applications for clock hours to the committee prior to the committee's meeting day. To avoid a backlog of work for the committee at any one meeting, applicants should submit requests for final approval of clock hours within one year after completion of the renewal activity. Approval for emergency requests, during periods the committee does not meet (for example, summer), may be obtained by contacting the committee chairperson or administrative member who is authorized to consult with one or two other committee members and take action on the 4
emergency request. This procedure is limited to actual hardship situations and is not to be employed simply as a "convenience" measure or as a substitute for proper committee action. At regular meetings of the relicensure committee, the chairperson apprises the members of any correspondence. The committee receives clock hour applications and assigns the numbers of clock hours earned for each licensed staff person. In order to ensure consistent and equitable interpretation, any applications that do not readily conform to established guidelines are discussed by the committee and clock hours assigned based upon a file of past decisions and practices that is maintained for each category. A committee member s signature is affixed to each approved clock hour application. A. Established written Operational Guidelines Committee Duties 1) Establish meeting schedule and procedures, and assign clock hour allocations for each activity category according to state rules. The meeting schedule and procedures are as stated in the Committee Meeting section of this document, and the allocations are as stated in the Clock Hour Categories section. 2) Make membership list and guidelines available to each staff member. Distribute the complete local bylaws document to each affected individual whenever significant changes are made. The bylaws will be available on the district website. 3) Hold an annual review of guidelines and committee operations at one of the meetings each school year. a) A working draft of local guidelines and proposed revisions will be available from committee members prior to the local hearing. b) If possible, all committee members will be present at the hearing. c) The hearing shall continue until all persons who wish to speak have had an opportunity to do so. d) Although input received at the hearing is not binding, the local committee will consider modifications consistent with licensure rules, if the information received during the hearing indicates that changes are necessary or desirable. B. Provide recommendations to the Board of Teaching for the renewal of teaching licenses. 1) Act, within a reasonable time, upon requests for recommendation for renewal of the continuing license by determining whether the applicant has met renewal requirements. 2) Enter the approved clock hours into the individual s record in the Minnesota Department of Education s Continuing Education Clock Hour Reporting System or keep a completed file of materials. 5
3) Provide supporting evidence to the Board of Teaching when an appeal is taken from a decision of the local committee. C. Forward to the Board of Teaching the following information: 1) Prior to November 1 of each year, verification of current membership of the local committee. 2) Prior to November 1, 1980, and every five years thereafter, a copy of the published local guidelines shall be forwarded to the Board of Teaching. 3) During February of each year, any recommendations the committee has for modification in the continuing education rule, based upon an evaluation of procedures and criteria for granting clock hours. D. Provide those services and reports that may be required from time to time by the Board of Teaching. E. Provide recommendations to appropriate personnel concerning the in-service needs of the district. Committee Member Duties In addition to sharing operational duties with other committee members, the chairperson calls and conducts meetings, prepares agendas, provides leadership in orienting new committee members, serves as liaison and contact person in the committee s relationship with outside agencies and individuals, and coordinates revision of local guidelines when needed. In addition to sharing operational duties with other committee members, the secretary records the minutes of each meeting and distributes them to the committee members and administration at least five days before the next meeting of the committee, handles committee correspondence and announcements/posting, maintains relicensure records, keeps forms current, and chairs the committee when the chairperson is absent. Though the officers may not personally perform all of the assigned duties, they are responsible for their timely and successful performance. Members will be eligible for election as an officer at the conclusion of their first year of service on the committee. Committee members are responsible for processing credit requests and entering approved credits into the state licensing database or compiling credits in a stored file. A. Processing credits Committee members will approve credit requests that are properly documented, clearly verified, germane to the teacher s license, and within the accepted 6
categories listed in the guidelines. Any requests that are not clearly acceptable should be discussed for approval by the CEU Committee. If not acceptable, the committee will return the request with an explanation. The request may be re-submitted at a later date with proper documentation or verification. Approved documents should be signed by the committee member and entered into the state licensing database or properly filed. A summary of credits and checkoffs should be returned with the documents to the teacher. B1. Entering credits Committee members will enter all approved credits into the state licensing database. (All approved credits must be entered, even if the 125 hour requirement has been surpassed.) Each request should be titled, dated, given credit hours, and placed in the appropriate category on the database. A check-off may be approved when the teacher has completed the one hour of experience necessary in each category. Or B2. Entering credits The committee can approve, document, and file credit totals. In a timely manner, they should notify the applicant with an updated record of credit totals. The updated files will be kept until all requirements are met and the applicant is ready for license renewal. At that time the committee will approve the renewal on the MDE database. Responsibilities of Licensee It is the responsibility of the person seeking the renewal of a continuing license to submit the application, appropriate verification, and other supporting materials to the local committee of the employing school district, in accordance with procedures and the due dates established by the committee and stated in these guidelines. It is also the responsibility of the applicant to submit the online renewal application and pay the processing fee after the committee has verified that all renewal requirements have been met. Although recordkeeping is one of the committee s functions, licensure is a personal responsibility, and each applicant is urged to keep the paper set of records as a safeguard against accidental mishap during the relicensure process. Because license information is accessible online, a teacher will no longer receive a copy of the renewed license. Previously a teacher was required to send a copy of the green teacher license to the Superintendent's Office to be placed in the personnel file. This is no longer a requirement as MDE's online website contains the license information. However, a teacher may forward a copy to be placed in his/her personnel file for easy access. Forms needed for the relicensure procedure may be obtained online from the District website under the category of Teacher Licensing. (http://www.bhmschools.org/departments/teachinglearning/teacher-licensure) In order to facilitate planning of the meeting agenda, licensed staff are to submit their applications for clock hours to the committee before the regularly scheduled meeting day. (The deadlines will vary by building, so check with your representative). To avoid a backlog of work 7
for the committee at any one meeting, applicants should submit requests for final approval of clock hours to the committee within one year after completion of the renewal activity. The applicant should have clock hours granted by the committee of the district where he or she was employed when the experience was completed. Approval for emergency requests during periods when the committee does not meet (e.g. summer) may be obtained by contacting the chairperson or the administrative member who is authorized to consult with one or two other committee members and take action on the emergency request. This procedure is limited to actual hardship situations and is not to be employed simply as a "convenience" measure or as a substitute for proper committee action. If continuing licensure is requested in two or more areas (e.g. math and special education), the applicant should earn at least 30 clock hours in each area in which licensure is requested. A total of no fewer than 125 clock hours, with priority given to work in areas in which the candidate is employed during the licensure period, must be earned in each five-year relicensure period, from the date the current license application was submitted but not before January 1 st of the year of issuance through June 30 of the year of expiration. No "banking" of hours is allowed. The licensee must choose experiences for clock hour credit that aid him or her in maintaining and improving general, academic, or professional qualifications. The applicant is responsible to show that the experience does contribute to increased competency as shown by indicators such as: 1. Growth in academic areas directly related to the professional's teaching field. 2. Growth in interpersonal communication skill. 3. Growth in pedagogical techniques with potential for application. 4. Growth in professional breadth and general educational knowledge Although activities of several kinds are to be undertaken for clock hours, each must provide opportunity for new professional growth, as opposed to repetition of previous growth/knowledge. In addition, during each five year license period, applicants must include at least one hour in each of the following areas: Positive behavioral interventions Modifications and accommodations of curriculum for students with special needs Reading strategies Signs of early on-set mental illness in adolescents Technology Professional reflection and growth in best teaching practices English Language Learners best practice techniques to support student learning Area #1. Positive behavior intervention strategies. View Minnesota Statutes Section 122A.09 (http://www.revisor.leg.state.mn.us/stats/122a/09.html). Area #2. Modification, and adaptation of curriculum, materials, and instruction to appropriately meet the needs of varied students in achieving graduation standards (i.e., differentiated instruction). View Minnesota Statutes Section 122A.09 (http://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/?id=122a.09). 8
Area #3. Reading preparation related to comprehensive scientifically based reading instruction; Teachers must have in-service preparation in scientifically-based reading instruction, which the law identifies as: instruction and practice in phonemic awareness, phonics and other word-recognition skills, and guided oral reading for beginning readers, as well as extensive silent reading, vocabulary instruction, instruction in comprehension, and instruction that understanding and higher-order thinking for readers of all ages and proficiency levels. View Minnesota Statutes Section 122A.06, Subdivision 4 (http://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/?id=122a.06). Note: the following licensure fields are exempt from evidencing the reading preparation renewal requirement: school counselors, school psychologists, school nurses, school social workers, audiovisual directors and coordinators, recreation personnel. Area #4. Understanding the key warning signs of early onset mental illness in children and adolescents. Area #5. Integrate technology effectively with student learning to increase engagement and student achievement. Note: Licensed school personnel who do not provide direct instruction to students, including, at least, counselors, school psychologists, school nurses, and school social workers are exempt from this requirement. Area #6 Reflective Statement providing evidence of work that demonstrates professional reflection and growth in best teaching practices. The applicant must include a 3-5 paragraph reflective statement of professional accomplishment and the applicant's own assessment of professional growth in their license renewal materials. View Minnesota Statutes Section 122A.18, Subdivision 4b (http://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/?id=122a.18). Who must meet this requirement? Full-time classroom teachers Long-term substitute teachers, who have taught more than 15 consecutive days in a teaching assignment during any part of the five-year period. Who is exempt from meeting this requirement? Classroom teachers who have not taught for any portion of the five-year renewal period immediately preceding license renewal. Licensed school administrators, including principals, who have not taught for any portion of the five-year renewal period immediately preceding license renewal. Licensed related services personnel (school social workers, school psychologists, counselors, speech-language pathologists, school nurses). Area #7 Relicensure applicants who have been employed as a teacher during the renewal period of their expiring license, as a condition of relicensure, must present to their local continuing education and relicensure committee or other local relicensure committee evidence of work that demonstrates professional reflection and growth in best teaching practices, including among other things, practices in meeting the varied needs of English learners, from young children 9
to adults under section 124D.59, subdivisions 2 and 2a. The applicant must include a reflective statement of professional accomplishment and the applicant's own assessment of professional growth showing evidence of: (1) support for student learning; (2) use of best practices techniques and their applications to student learning; (3) collaborative work with colleagues that includes examples of collegiality such as attested-to committee work, collaborative staff development programs, and professional learning community work; or (4) continual professional development that may include (i) job-embedded or other ongoing formal professional learning or (ii) for teachers employed for only part of the renewal period of their expiring license, other similar professional development efforts made during the relicensure period. Clock hours are to be earned in at least two categories listed in items A to I. In order to facilitate clock hour approval, the applicant needs to express professional growth objectives clearly on the clock hour approval form. The objectives are to state what the applicant anticipates gaining from the experience in relation to the teaching function. Generally a written objective will include the word "to". Examples of appropriate objectives might include these: "To increase my knowledge of..." "To increase my understanding of..." "To increase my ability to deal with..." The more concrete and specific the objective is, the more precisely the applicant will be able to assess accomplishment, and the more easily the experience can be evaluated by the local committee. Persons who have not been employed by a school district for a period of time will be granted clock hours in one of the following ways: 1. Hours may be granted by the local committee of the district where the applicant was last employed, or by the local committee of the district where the applicant currently resides, if accepted by the local committee. 2. Persons who have never been employed on a continuing basis by a school district in Minnesota shall affiliate with the local committee in the district in which they reside. 3. Persons residing out of the state of Minnesota who wish to maintain continuing Minnesota licensure may maintain a previous committee affiliation or may make application for renewal to the Board of Teaching in accordance with provisions of the licensure rules governing continuing education. Exception for National Board Certification A local continuing education committee shall accept verification that a teacher is actively engaged in and making progress toward National Board of Professional Standards Certification or other national professional teaching certification approved by the Board of Teaching at the time of renewal as equivalent to fulfilling all clock hour requirements for continuing license 10
renewal. A local continuing education committee shall accept verification that a teacher has earned National Board or other approved certification as equivalent to all clock hour requirements during the life of the certificate. If the certificate expires during the five-year renewal period, the local committee shall prorate hours completed under this exception and require completion of a prorated number of clock hours for the years the certificate is not in effect. The NBC individual earns 25 clock hours for each year the certification was valid during the life of the five-year teaching license. The NBC individual will still need to complete 1 hour in each of the mandatory state areas of continuing education credit. Clock Hour Categories The examples are included only to illustrate the intent of the various categories and to suggest specific activities that might be applied. They do not constitute a mandated or exclusive listing of appropriate activities. The first continuing license, valid for five years, is issued to applicants who hold a valid entrance license and have met the requirements for the issuance of the continuing license as set forth in the rules of the Board of Teaching. A license renewal period begins on July 1 of the year of expiration. Applications for renewal are accepted for processing by the Department of Education after January 1 of the year of expiration. A valid continuing license will be renewed for subsequent five-year periods when an applicant presents evidence of having been granted 125 clock hours by the local continuing education/relicensure committee during the five-year period immediately preceding the date on which the renewal is to be made effective. A clock hour is defined as "an hour of actual instruction, or planned group or individual professional development activity as approved by the local continuing education/relicensure committee. Current emphasis in continuing education for teachers is on professional development. All experiences must be appropriate to the licensure area and be justified as experiences that aid the applicant in maintaining and improving general, academic or professional qualifications. Except for item F, sub-item (1), teaching experiences for which licensure is required shall not qualify for clock hour credit. Clock hours must be earned from at least two activity categories and be accumulated within the five-year period from the issue date of the new license through June 30 of the year of expiration. No more than 30 credits may be accumulated in any one area F-I in a 5-year period. Hours may not be "banked" for use toward future renewals. An applicant who seeks renewal of a continuing license for two or more areas, should allocate at least 30 clock hours to each of the licensure areas for a total of no fewer than 125 clock hours, 11
with priority given to work in areas where the candidate is employed during the licensure period. Those candidates possessing administrative licensure may allocate clock hours for the renewal of teaching licensure in this same manner. The clock hour categories A-I are specified in the relicensure rule and must be adopted by all local committees. Also the following clock hour allocations are stipulated in rule: One quarter credit = 16 clock hours One semester credit = 24 clock hours Categories B-I: one clock hour of participation = up to one clock hour Supervision of clinical experiences of persons enrolled in teacher licensure programs for one quarter = 16 clock hours, or one semester = 24 clock hours One week of travel for purposes of improving instructional capabilities = 10 clock hours maximum Maximums from the rules for any five-year period are as follows: Supervision of clinical experiences = 30 clock hours Travel to improve instructional capabilities = 30 clock hours Categories A. Relevant coursework completed at accredited colleges and universities: -To be verified by transcript or grade slip. Note: An audit or a non-credit course (appropriate for professional growth) requires verification from the teacher of the course that work completed was equivalent to work required for credit, in which case, clock hours will be equal to clock hours for a credit course. If work was not equivalent, the experience will be treated as a workshop and evaluated on a clock hour basis. B. Attendance at educational workshops, conferences, institutes, seminars or lectures in areas appropriate to licenses held: -To be verified by attendance certificate or written statement from workshop sponsor, with validation of hours of participation. Note: These are organized, structured learning experiences presented and attended for the purpose of professional development in education. They do not include travel time to the workshop, registration, meal or coffee breaks, negotiation sessions, or "business meeting" portions of professional meetings. 12
Acceptable example: MEA/MFT/MVA conferences, special ed workshops. C. Staff development activities, inservice meetings, and inservice courses: -To be verified by attendance certificate or written statement of inservice sponsor, with validation of hours of participation. Note: This category does not include regular faculty meetings or preschool workshop hours spent working on preparation for one's own contracted assignment. Acceptable examples: Local inservice/staff development workshops or courses, athletic or coaching inservice workshops or clinics, portions of fall preschool local workshops that are structured educational learning experiences. CQEP is included in this category. Applicants must include a copy of the final evaluation to receive the 25 approved credits. D. Building, district, regional, state, national, or international curriculum development: -To be verified by written statement of administrator of the educational unit responsible for the curriculum development, with validation of hours of participation. Acceptable examples: Development of curriculum for use with student teachers or curriculum revision in a discipline. E. Engagement in formal peer coaching or mentor relationships with colleagues. -To be verified by District Mentorship Coordinator or by building principal. Maximum of 20 hours/year. F. Professional service in the following areas: (1) supervision of clinical experiences of persons enrolled in teacher licensure programs -To be verified by written statement of local administrator or college representative responsible for the student teaching experience, with validation of hours of participation. (2) membership on national, state, and local committees involved with licensure, teacher education, or professional standards. -To be verified by written statement of committee chairperson or representative of agency responsible for committee operation, with validation of hours of participation. Note: Membership on other committees is NOT included in this category. 13
Acceptable examples: Local relicensure committee, state licensure committee, professional standards committee, staff development committee, or teacher testing committee. (3) participation in national, regional, or state accreditation To be verified by written statement of representative of accrediting agency, with validation of hours of participation. Acceptable examples: North Central accreditation, state vocational program evaluation. G. Leadership experiences in the following areas: Note: The rule requires these activities to be "leadership" experiences, meaning beyond normal "membership" or "participation." (1) development of new or broader skills and sensitivities to the school, community, or profession. -To be verified by written statement of representative of the agency or organization in which the activity occurred, with validation of the applicant's leadership role, the hours of participation, and the way in which the service contributed to the well-being of the agency or organization. Acceptable examples: Scouting or 4-H leadership, jury duty, political leadership, region or state advisory positions including extracurricular activities, direction of planning and production of television or other special programs for professional growth and use in the school or for the media, offices held in community organizations, chair of textbook evaluation or child study committee. (2) publication of professional articles in an appropriate field. (3) volunteer work in professional organizations related to the areas of licensure held. H. Opportunities to enhance knowledge and understanding of diverse educational settings in the following areas: (1) experiences with students of another age, ability, culture, or socioeconomic level (2) systematic, purposeful observation during visits to schools and to related business and industry -To be verified by a written statement from an official representative of the school or business/industry visited, with validation of educational content and hours involved in the visit. 14
Acceptable examples: Foreign school study tour, observation of Legislature, tour of ceramic plant for art teacher or of electronics firm for industrial teacher, observation in model technology site or recognized exemplary program. I. Preapproved travel or work experience: (1) travel for purposes of improving instructional capabilities related to the field of licensure -To be verified by submitting a detailed trip itinerary, including appropriate lodging and/or trip receipts, clearly stated educational objectives for the trip, a summary report of the experiences undertaken to accomplish the objectives, and justification of how the experience contributed to improved instructional capabilities. Pre-approval is required. (2) work experience in business or industry appropriate to the field of licensure -To be verified by written statement from the employer, with validation of work hours and duties. Self-employment is to be verified as bona fide work experience by a written statement from a reputable representative of the work field in which the self-employment occurred, or from copies of the applicant's business records, with validation of work hours and duties. Note: The work experience must consist of more than repetition of what the applicant already knows. Acceptable examples: Office employment using current technology for business teacher, paid work on library board for English teacher, historical society employment for social studies teacher, Red Cross or other health occupation employment for health teacher, business management (including legitimate paid self-employment) related to the license held, construction work for industrial teacher, paid translator work for language teacher. Note this change from The Minnesota Department of Education Once teachers have renewed their license, they may begin their next set of hours and CEUs upon that renewal date. Any additional credits for re-licensure received after the date of issue from MDE, may be used for the next 5 years. Teachers do not need to wait until July 1st of the renewal year to begin accumulating CEU hours. Exceptions to The 125 Clock Hour Requirement Clock Hour Exception for National Board Certification The National Board of Professional Standards Certification (NBPS) has been approved by the Minnesota Board of Teaching as a substitute for the 125 clock hours required for the license renewal. If the NBPS certification expires during the five-year renewal period, the local committee will prorate hours completed at 25 hours per year and require completion of a prorated number of hours for the years the certificate is not in effect. 15
Applications with NBPS Certification must also provide verification to the local continuing education committee of meeting all applicable mandatory requirements. Clock Hour Exemption for School Psychologists The National Certification of School Psychologists (NCSP) Certification has been approved by the Minnesota Board of Teaching as a substitute for the 125 clock hours required for license renewal. If the NCSP certification expires during the five-year renewal period, the local committee will prorate hours completed at 25 hours per year and require completion of a prorated number of hours for the years the certificate is not in effect. School psychologists must also provide verification to the local continuing education committee of meeting all applicable mandatory requirements including positive behavior strategies; accommodation, modification and adaptations to meet the needs of varied students; and understanding the warning signs of early onset mental illness. School psychologists are exempt from meeting the reading preparation, technology and reflective statement of professional accomplishment and assessment of professional growth requirements. Clock Hour Exemption for Speech-Language Pathologists The American Speech and Hearing Association (ASHA) Certification has been approved by the Minnesota Board of Teaching as a substitute for the 125 clock hours required for renewal. If the ASHA certification expires during the five-year renewal period, the local committee will prorate hours completed hours completed at 25 hours per year and require completion of a prorated number of hours for the years the certificate is not in effect. Speech-Language Pathologists must also provide verification to the local continuing education committee of meeting all applicable mandatory requirements with the exception of the reflective statement of professional accomplishment and assessment of professional growth. 16