This memo replaces Director's Memo ACC-01-108, dated July 13, 2001.
Please follow this Director's Memo with regard to new policies regarding the adding of additional areas of licensure/endorsements to an existing Arkansas teaching license and for gaining an initial teaching license through the Probationary Route to Licensure.
The rules and regulations attached to Director's Memo ACC-01-108 were correct. For your information, we have included the attachment with this Director's Memo.
Highlights of these rules and regulations are as follows. As of May 14, 2001, deficiency and removal plans ceased to be issued in the areas of Special Education, Elementary Education, Middle School and all areas of Science. Teachers who already have a DRP on file with Professional Licensure for one of these areas will have until December 31, 2003, to complete all requirements for adding these areas to their license. Teachers without a DRP on file with Professional Licensure for these areas may add any of these areas to their license by finishing all required coursework and testing prior to December 31, 2001.
Teachers and administrators can now add additional teaching areas and endorsements to their teaching license by taking the Praxis II Specialty Area Test required for the area they have selected. The completion of coursework will no longer be required for a DRP or the new Additional Licensure Plans, as long as the area of licensure or endorsement has a Praxis II Specialty Area Test assigned to it. Teachers and administrators wishing to add a licensure area or endorsement for which there is no Praxis II Specialty Area Test, may do so by completing the coursework and testing required on the old DRP or completing the program of study and testing required under the new Additional Licensure Plans.
Areas that once required a Master's Degree, such as School Counseling, Library Media, and Reading Specialist K-12 can now be added to a current teaching license by taking and passing the Praxis II Specialty Area Test for those areas. The Master's Degree is no longer required.
The current DRP(s) will be replaced by Additional Licensure Plans on September 1, 2001. These Additional Licensure Plans will serve the same purpose as the old DRP(s). Those teachers who will be teaching out-of-field, will need to have an Additional Licensure Plan on file with the school district and with the Office of Professional Licensure. Teachers or administrators who are just interested in adding an area of licensure or endorsement and who are not teaching out-of-field, will not have to file an Additional Licensure Plan with Professional Licensure.
The Additional Licensure Plans will be available in late August by contacting the Office of Professional Licensure. School districts will be receiving a complete packet of Additional Licensure Plans as soon as they can be prepared and shipped. Teachers can work under the new Additional Licensure Plans for three years. They must, however, take and pass the Praxis II Specialty Area Test for their area or complete the program of study and required testing for their area within this three-year period of time.
Teachers and administrators working on administrator licensure, who have a DRP for Principal or Superintendent on file with Professional Licensure, will have until December 31, 2002, to finish all coursework, and until June 30, 2002, to complete the Praxis II Educational Leadership exam. Applicants failing to complete their DRP requirements by these dates will have to be licensed according to the new performance based licensure system.
Individuals who are gaining their initial teaching license through the Probationary Route to Licensure and who have met the minimum requirements for their first provisional license or who have already taught a year, can now convert that provisional license to a standard license by completing all required assessments. No further coursework will be necessary unless they wish to license under the old requirements. Those wishing to license under the old requirements will have until December 31, 2004, to complete all coursework and required testing. They must also follow the guidelines established for renewing that provisional license on a yearly basis. The Probationary Route to Licensure was phased out as of June 30, 2001, and new applications will no longer be taken for this route to licensure. All individuals interested in initial licensure through the Arkansas Department of Education will now work through the Non-Traditional Teacher Licensure Program. The contact person for this program is Mr. Jim Chism at 501-682-4375.
Please advise your teachers of these recent changes in policy regarding the adding of additional licensure areas or endorsements to a current teaching license and the Probationary Route to Teacher Licensure. Teachers need to know as soon as possible that they no longer have to take the required coursework if they can take and pass the Praxis II Specialty Area Test.
A Praxis II Specialty Area Test does not exist for Gifted and Talented, Adult Education, English as a Second Language, Educational Examiner and Coaching. Therefore, a teacher must complete the program
of study and required Praxis II Principles of Learning and Teaching
to add these areas to their current license.