Recertification

Lesley University is a state-approved professional development provider, offering courses, seminars, institutes, workshops and other activities which fulfill Massachusetts recertification requirements. Professional development activities are available in a wide range of formats, on weekends, week days and evenings, on campus and at school sites.

• How do I become recertified?
• How do I find out how many PDPs I need for recertification?
• I would like a recertification booklet. Who should I contact to get a booklet at Lesley?
• Does Lesley offer courses or workshops for recertification?
• Click here to learn about recertification regulations www.doe.mass.edu/recert/2000guidelines

Massachusetts teachers, administrators and support service personnel who have professional Licensure must apply for recertification every five years. For more information on recertification requirements contact the Massachusetts Department of Education or the Lesley University Certification Office, 29 Everett Street, Cambridge, MA 02138.

Question 1: How do I become recertified? The recertification process application is on the DOE website. The website is http://www.doe.mass.edu/recert/2000guidelines/

Question 2: How do I find out how many PDP's I need to get for recertification? Please click here : http://www.doe.mass.edu/recert/qa.html

Question 3: I would like a recertification booklet. Who should I contact to get a booklet at Lesley? Please e-mail the Certification Office @ cert_off@lesley.edu 

Question 4: Does Lesley offer recertification courses? Faculty and Program Directors suggest these courses in light of emerging or long standing professional development needs in Massachusetts’ schools.  Some areas are English Language Learners, Teacher as Researcher, Integration of Technology, Inclusion Strategies, Assessment, Mentoring and Supervision, Science, Mathematics and Language Literacy to name a few. These courses within each licensure area update and deepen teacher knowledge in the field. Click here for the list

Recertification in Massachusetts

As most Massachusetts educators are aware, to keep your Massachusetts teacher or specialist license current, you must engage in recertification every five years once you have achieved professional licensure (formerly called standard certification). There is no longer lifetime or permanent licensure; all Massachusetts teaching licenses must be renewed every five years. This year some 80,000 educators are due to recertify with the Department of Education.

Depending upon what you are teaching, you may also be facing the need to acquire or demonstrate additional credentials or experience in order to be “highly qualified” under No Child Left Behind (NCLB). You may wonder how these two requirements come together. The short Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) below may help you to understand your responsibilities under NCLB and how Massachusetts has defined “highly qualified” for its teachers.

There is much more specific information and examples regarding particular licenses available online at the Massachusetts DOE website. The FAQ below is mean to give a general overview only.

1)      I need to be recertified this year but I haven’t filed yet. How do I get started?

Go to the Mass. DOE website: http://www.doe.mass.edu/recert/2000guidelines/

2)      What are the ways Massachusetts teachers become “highly qualified?”

There are three ways to become highly qualified: Take and pass the content MTELs appropriate to your license; take and pass content coursework or complete a content degree in your license area; or finally, engage in Massachusetts HOUSSE activities.

3)      What is “HOUSSE.”?

This acronym stands for High Objective Unified Statewide Standards of Evaluation. To participate you must create an approved Individual Professional Development Plan (IPDP), that shows you are completing PDP’s that will lead you to be “highly qualified” under NCLB.

4)      I already have an approved professional development plan that I am using for my recertification. Isn’t that the same as the IPDP?

No. In order for your professional development plan to meet the qualifications of HOUSSE, it must include “provisions regarding end-of-course assessments and products, which allow educators the opportunity to demonstrate subject-matter competency. These provisions were new to the 1999 Massachusetts Recertification Regulations, so educators may use only PDPs from 1999 on. Furthermore, 80% of the PDPs in the plan should reflect the subject area being taught.

“For the majority of non-generalist teachers, their current recertification IPDP will probably meet the HOUSSE requirements as long as the teacher is recertifying in the specific subject that he or she teaches. There is one recertification cohort (Educators with standard/professional certificates/licenses issued between October 1, 1994 and June 17, 1999 AND those issued prior to October 1, 1994 and renewed for their first time after December 1, 2001) that has to have a minimum of 60 PDPs in content which is less than the 80% of 120 PDPs (96 PDPs) that is required for HOUSSE.

“Administrators should review IPDPs to ensure that they meet the HOUSSE requirements before they deem someone to be highly qualified.

“For additional guidance and clarification about the differences in the two plans, please refer to Clarification of Individual Professional Development Plan requirements posted as a news item on the following website: http://www.doe.mass.edu/nclb” (Highly qualified FAQ, Mass. DOE).

5) My plan was approved before I knew about the requirements for HOUSSE, and I have almost finished it. What do I do now?

“If a teacher's current professional development plan does not sufficiently reflect the correct concentration or number of professional development points that are needed to demonstrate subject matter competency in the area(s) in which the teacher teaches, the plan can be amended. The teacher and district may also opt to wait until the creation of a new plan to reflect the correct concentration of professional development for purposes of demonstrating subject matter competency. If this is the case, the teacher cannot be considered highly qualified until the new plan is approved by the supervisor and the individual is making sufficient progress toward completing the plan” (Highly Qualified FAQ, Mass. DOE).

6)  I need to be highly qualified but I can’t change my plan now, in time for recertification this year (2004). What should I do?

The Department of Education recognizes that for many generalist educators there is not enough time to modify their plans and complete requirements for HOUSSE. These educators should complete their current approved recertification plan. The HOUSSE policies and details will not negatively impact an educator's ability to recertify.

“To meet the HOUSSE requirements, however, they will need to create a supplemental "log" that documents how the HOUSSE requirements are being met - basically, how the 80% of the 120 PDPs have been distributed across the areas that they teach. This log will include PDPs gained through multiple rounds of recertification dating back to June 1999. 80% of the 120 PDPs will need to be completed by 2006. The HOUSSE log allows generalist teachers to draw PDPs from multiple recertification IPDPs for purposes of meeting the HOUSSE requirements.

“Teachers who create these supplemental logs can be considered highly qualified once they have made sufficient progress toward completing the HOUSSE requirements” (Highly Qualified FAQ, Mass. DOE).

7) I plan to get my principal’s license in the next two years. May I use that license to be highly qualified?

No. Neither administrator nor school guidance licenses can be used to meet the highly qualified guidelines. You must possess a teaching license or specialist license (e.g., teacher of reading).

8) Does the 80% of 120 PDP’s in the plan that need to focus on my content teaching areas, have to be in content only, or can I use pedagogy experiences as well?

“The 80% of the 120 PDPs in the HOUSSE individual professional development plan can focus on pedagogy as well as content as long as the pedagogy is related to the content or core academic subject that the teacher is teaching” (Highly Qualified FAQ, Mass. DOE).