Educator Resources
Memos to the Field
 |
THE STATE EDUCATION DEPARTMENT / THE UNIVERSITY OF THE NEW YORK / ALBANY, NY 12234
Assistant Commissioner of Office of Teaching Initiatives |
| Date: | December 9, 2009 |
| To: | Human Resource Officers, Career and Technical Education Coordinators, Regional Certification Officers |
| From: | Robert G. Bentley |
| Subject: | Career and Technical Education – Required College Coursework |
I write in follow up to our recent conference call with BOCES Regional Certification Officers, several school district human resource staff members, and several school district career and technical education coordinators. In that phone call, a question was asked regarding the acceptance of work skills examinations for purposes of teacher certification. The purpose of this memorandum is to clarify the policy of the Office of Teaching Initiatives regarding the thirty semester hour credit for trade competency allowed by some colleges.
Several institutions of higher education having an approved career and technical education program grant up to 30 semester hours of undergraduate credit toward the bachelor’s degree for appropriate trade experience which is verified by the satisfactory completion of the related skill examinations. In some instances, i.e., State University Colleges at Buffalo and Oswego, students enrolled in an approved Career and Technical Education teacher preparation program may have credit entered on their transcripts for these skill examinations.
The acceptance of such credit for any certification requirements would provide double credit, since the work experience, validated at those two institutions by examination, is separately credited by the Office of Teaching Initiatives, toward the provisional/initial certificate.
The Department’s long standing policy on this issue remains the same. Collegiate credit granted for the work experience by means of the related skill examinations will not be accepted toward satisfying the 30 semester hours of content core for the provisional/initial certificate or 30 additional semester hours of coursework toward the permanent/professional types of occupational teaching certificates.
A teacher holding a Provisional/Initial certificate must complete the required 30 additional semester hours of collegiate study beyond the provisional/initial certificate requirements and exclusive of the work/examination credit to qualify for the permanent/ professional certificate.
If you have any questions regarding this procedure, please direct them to ctecertreq@mail.nysed.gov
Thank you for your cooperation.
cc:
Lori Quigley, Associate Dean, Buffalo State College
Linda Rae Markert, Ed.D, Dean, School of Education/SUNY Oswego
Mark Perez, Certification Advisor/New York University
Richard Gervais, Supervisor of College and University Evaluation
Charles F. McCarthy
Cathy Rekemeyer