new teacher q & a
Q: What constitutes the three years of teaching for the professional certificate? How is the one year of mentoring verified?
Feb 28, 2008 2:21 PM
A: The New York State Education Department (SED) accepts classroom teaching experience in a variety of situations to fulfill its three-year requirement. Your teaching experience may be in a public or approved nonpublic preschool or elementary, middle or secondary school. Claimed experience may be in any grade or subject. And experience that is not full time may be credited on a prorated basis.
If you plan to present teaching experiences from a number of different schools, be sure to get from each one a letter on official letterhead that states the nature and length of your work experience. (When you are ready to complete the online application, these letters will be a good backup and reminder for completing the section about your years of service.) The SED advises teachers working as substitutes in numerous districts to have each district verify the experience by providing a short letter on district letterhead.
Candidates for a professional teaching certificate also must provide proof of having been mentored for one year. Keep in mind that, in accordance with the regulations of the state’s Commissioner of Education, teachers working under an initial teaching certificate, who will become candidates for professional certification, are required to complete a mentored teaching experience in their first year of teaching. If you are in this category and are not receiving this mentoring experience, call your UFT borough office immediately and ask to speak to your UFT district representative.
Your mentoring experience is verified using a form called “Superintendent Verification of Mentored Experience.” The form can be found at www.highered.nysed.gov/tcert. Click on Superintendent Verification of Mentored Experience on the right and then click the link for the form.
This form must be signed by a superintendent or a designated representative of the superintendent. Since the DOE’s restructuring last year, that person should be available at the Integrated Service Center (ISC) in your school’s region or district.
The UFT’s Department of Certification Services advises teachers planning to apply for a professional teaching certificate to download and print this form. Complete the parts of the form that pertain to you toward the end of your first year of teaching, just before you finish your mentoring. Then bring the form to your principal to find out who at the ISC has been designated to sign this form.
Bring the form to the ISC in person to make sure the form is properly completed and signed and that you retain an original copy of the form for your records. When you are ready to apply for your professional certification, you will need to include this form with your documentation so file it in a safe place with your other important papers for certification.
