APPENDIX : I. Getting Started • II. Classroom Management • III. Lesson Planning and Curriculum • IV. Safety and Disciipline •
V. How Special Education Students Receive Services • VI.Certification Nuts and Bolts • VII. Tuition Help •
VIII. Your Money • IX. How the School System is Organized

Section Contents

• Check Your Credentials
• National Board Certification
• Teacherline for Certification Questions

VI. Certification Nuts and Bolts

Check Your Credentials

The State Education Department (SED) will issue you a teaching certificate that allows you to teach in New York State.
On the face of your certificate, you’ll find:

• The name and type of certificate you currently hold.
• Its expiration date.

With this information you can determine the requirements you need to fulfill and the amount of time you have to complete them.
Here are the most common types of certificates teachers hold:

Initial Certificate

This entry-level certificate became available on Sept. 1, 2004, under new state requirements. With this certificate, you have five years from the issue date to complete the requirements for a professional certificate:

• A master’s degree.
• 12 graduate credits in the certificate area’s content core or a related field.
• Three years of full-time teaching experience.
• One year of mentoring.
• U.S. citizenship or permanent residency.

Professional Certificate, Professional Development Requirement

You earn this advanced certificate when you have met all current state requirements.
After you have received it, the state requires that you:

• Complete 175 hours of professional development (35 hours per year) within five years of the effective date to keep your certificate valid.
• Continue meeting this requirement every five years to maintain this certificate.

The four days of mandated DOE professional development plus other school-based professional development offered during the school day can be used to meet this requirement. The union urges you to keep a personal log, along with all paperwork showing the professional development you have taken so you can enter the information on line to be transmitted by the DOE to the SED.

The DOE has not put this form online yet. We will let you know via the New York Teacher when the form is available.

Special Situations

Under special circumstances, the SED may issue temporary certificates to candidates who do not meet all the qualifications for an initial certificate but who fill a specific educational/recruitment need. Here are a few examples:

Conditional Initial Certificate

The SED may issue a conditional initial certificate to candidates who hold a teaching certificate in the same or equivalent title from another state but who do not meet all New York State requirements. If you hold this temporary certificate, you must meet the following requirements within two years of the issue date:

• Pass the LAST, ATS-W and CST certification exams (the UFT Teacher Center offers coaching sessions for the LAST and ATS-W exams).
• Complete the Child Abuse Detection and Recognition Workshop (available at low-cost through the UFT).
• Complete the low-cost Violence Prevention Workshop, offered through the UFT School Safety Department.
• Within five years of the effective date of your conditional initial certificate, you must complete all requirements for the professional certificate.

Extended Certificate

Rarely, the SED issues this temporary certificate to give a candidate with a provisional or initial certificate some extra time to complete all requirements for permanent or professional certification. (The SED has not issued provisional certificates since Feb. 1, 2004.) If you hold an extended certificate, be sure to fulfill your remaining requirements within the time limits specified in the extension. The state will rarely grant more than a two-year extension.

Transitional A Certificate

Districts that need teachers in specific technical or vocational fields may offer this temporary certificate to candidates who have related work experience, but who do not meet all the requirements for an initial certificate. With this certificate, you have three years from the issue date to complete the requirements for an initial certificate.

Transitional B Certificate

This temporary certificate is issued to those enrolled in an alternative teacher certification program, such as the Teaching Fellows or Teach for America.

• The college in which you are enrolled for a master’s degree filed your application with the SED for a Transitional B certificate.
• The title of your Transitional B certificate should match the master’s program in which you are enrolled and the teaching position you hold. If they don’t match, contact the DOE’s Teaching Fellows Program at fellows@nycboe.net or Teach for America.
• You have three years from the issue date to complete your master’s degree and/or other requirements for the initial or professional certificate.
• When you do, your college will process an application for the initial or professional certificate, whichever pertains (see above).

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