HOME    SEARCH    ABOUT US    CONTACT US    HELP   
           
Montana Administrative Register Notice 10-57-278 No. 23   12/09/2016    
Prev Next

                          BEFORE THE BOARD OF PUBLIC EDUCATION

                                       OF THE STATE OF MONTANA

 

In the matter of the amendment of ARM 10.57.101, 10.57.102, 10.57.107, 10.57.109, 10.57.201A, 10.57.215, 10.57.218, 10.57.410 through 10.57.421, 10.57.424, 10.57.427 through 10.57.433, 10.57.435, 10.57.438, 10.57.601B, and 10.57.602 and the repeal of ARM 10.57.201 pertaining to educator licensure

 )

 )

 )

 )

 )

 )

 )

 

NOTICE OF AMENDMENT AND

REPEAL

 

 

 

TO: All Concerned Persons

 

1. On October 14, 2016, the Board of Public Education published MAR Notice No. 10-57-278 pertaining to the public hearing on the proposed amendment and repeal of the above-stated rules at page 1775 of the 2016 Montana Administrative Register, Issue Number 19.

 

2. The board has amended ARM 10.57.107 as proposed, to be effective upon adoption.

 

3. The board has amended 10.57.101, 10.57.109, 10.57.201A, 10.57.215, 10.57.218, 10.57.411, 10.57.412, 10.57.414 through 10.57.421, 10.57.424, 10.57.427 through 10.57.433, 10.57.435, 10.57.438, 10.57.601B, and 10.57.602 as proposed, to be effective January 1, 2017.

 

4. The board has amended the following rules as proposed, effective January 1, 2017, but with the following changes from the original proposal, new matter underlined, deleted matter interlined:

 

10.57.102 DEFINITIONS The following definitions apply to this chapter. 

(1) remains as proposed.

(2)  "Accredited educator preparation program" means:

          (a) an educator preparation program accredited by the National Council for the Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) or the Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation (CAEP) or the Montessori Accreditation Council for Teacher Education (MACTE). A MACTE educator preparation program is subject to the following restrictions:

          (i)  Completion of a MACTE accredited program may only be used by an applicant for licensure who has also completed at least a bachelor's degree; and

          (ii) The resulting license granted to an applicant for licensure who has completed a MACTE accredited program shall be limited to early grades or middle grades licensure and only for the grade levels covered by the MACTE accredited program completed by the applicant; or

         

          (b) through (12) remain as proposed.

          (13) "Year of administrative experience" means employment as a licensed administrator at any level within a state accredited P-12 school system, or in an educational institution specified in 20-9-707, MCA, as a licensed administrator for the equivalent of at least .5 full-time employee (FTE) for the duration of a school year comparable to a 180 day school year. Experience gained prior to initial licensure is not considered. Experience as a County Superintendent may be considered as "administrative" experience with evidence of the following:

          (a) and (b) remain as proposed.

          (14) "Year of teaching experience" means employment as a licensed teacher at any level within a state accredited P-12 school system, or in an educational institution specified in 20-9-707, MCA, as licensed instructional staff for the equivalent of at least .5 FTE for the duration of a school year comparable to a 180 day school year. Experience gained prior to initial licensure is not considered. 

 

          10.57.410 CLASS 2 STANDARD TEACHER'S LICENSE (1) through (3) remain as proposed.

(4) If the educator preparation program completed by the applicant is not in Montana, upon initial application of a Class 1, or Class 2, or Class 3 license, the applicant must provide:

(a) through (6) remain as proposed.

 

          10.57.413 CLASS 3 ADMINISTRATIVE LICENSE (1) through (3) remain as proposed.

(4) An applicant for a Class 3 administrative license who completed an educator preparation program which does not meet the definition in ARM 10.57.102(2), who is currently licensed in another state at the same level of licensure, may be considered for licensure with verification of five years of successful administrative experience as defined in ARM 10.57.102 as documented by a recommendation from a state accredited P-12 school employer on a form prescribed by the Superintendent of Public Instruction and approved by the Board of Public EducationThe additional requirements set forth in ARM 10.57.414 through 10.57.418 must also be met. The requirements of ARM 10.57.414(1)(c)(i-iii) must be met by an applicant seeking a superintendent endorsement.

          (5) An applicant for a Class 3 administrative license must submit verified completion of the online course "An Introduction to Indian Education for All in Montana."

(5) and (6) remain as proposed but are renumbered (6) and (7).

 

          5.  The board has repealed ARM 10.57.201 as proposed, to be effective January 1, 2017.

 

          6. The following comments were received.

 

          COMMENT 1:  The Certification and Practices Advisory Council (CSPAC) recommended that the Office of Public Instruction (OPI) consider revising the definition of ʺyear of teaching experienceʺ to perhaps include the experience of working in non-teaching positions such as counseling. The OPI commented that the concept of expanding ʺteaching experienceʺ to include non-teaching experience was not discussed through the process of amending these rules and asked the Board of Public Education (BPE) to consider that amendment in a future rulemaking.

          The OPI suggested language clarifying the length of time required in a classroom in the definitions ʺyear of administrative experienceʺ and ʺyear of teaching experienceʺ in ARM 10.57.102.

 

          RESPONSE: The board thanks the CSPAC and OPI for the suggestions and has incorporated the language suggested by the OPI into the rule amendments.

 

          COMMENT 2: The OPI suggested edits to ARM 10.57.410 to clarify that out-of-state applicants for Class 3 administrator licenses are not required to provide PRAXIS test scores. 

 

          RESPONSE: The board thanks the OPI for the comment and has incorporated the language into the rule amendments.

 

          COMMENT 3: The Montana Public Education Center (MTPEC) asked the BPE and CSPAC to consider making an exception for applicants for a Class 3 license with a superintendent endorsement to the requirement for three years of teaching experience. The individual organizations of MTPEC supported the recommendation commenting that out-of-state applicants for a superintendent endorsement would have the requisite experience to be licensed without proof of three years of classroom experience or one year of principal experience.  CSPAC recommended that the BPE accept this amendment.  Ken Morrison also submitted comments in support of the proposed amendment. The MTPEC made the additional comment that the form used to verify work experience of such an applicant be approved by the BPE. 

          The Council of Deans also commented on this issue, opposing the amendment for a variety of reasons. The OPI commented that the agency does not support the amendment and provided statistics indicating there may not be an immediate need for more endorsed superintendents.  Further, the Deans and the OPI commented that teaching experience for administrators is valuable for those administrators responsible for teacher evaluations.

          The BPE received several comments from Montana educators, including the Montana State University Department of Education faculty and members of the University Teacher Education Council, as well as the faculty from the University of Montana Department of Educational Leadership, opposing this suggestion. The commenters felt it was necessary for an administrator to have classroom experience especially if the administrator would be evaluating the educator.

 

          RESPONSE: The board thanks the commenters for their comments and has amended ARM 10.57.413 regarding superintendentsʹ endorsement on a Class 3 license as recommended by CSPAC and MTPEC.

 

          COMMENT 4: The OPI asked that ARM 10.57.413 be amended to include applicants for a Class 3 administrator license in the requirement for educators to have completed the online course: ʺAn Introduction to Indian Education for All in Montana.ʺ If ARM 10.57.410 is amended as suggested above, this requirement no longer applies to applicants for a Class 3 administrative license. The inclusion of this requirement is more appropriate in ARM 10.57.413 which is specifically related to Class 3 applicants.

 

          RESPONSE: The board thanks the OPI for the comment and has incorporated the language into the rule amendments.

 

          COMMENT 5: Ryan Hunter asked the board to consider amendments that would allow an experienced Montessori preschool teacher with a master's degree in Montessori education to be licensed.

 

          RESPONSE: The board thanks the commenter for his comments and has carefully and thoroughly considered ways to address the licensure of Montessori trained applicants for Montana licensure.

         

          COMMENT 6: The Montana Public Education Center submitted comments collectively (and as individual members of MEA-MFT,  MT Rural Education Association, MT Quality Education Coalition, School Administrators of MT, and MT School Boards Association) advocating for inclusion of Montessori Accreditation Council for Teacher Education (MACTE) programs in the ARM 10.57.102(2) definition of ʺaccredited educator preparation programʺ with specific requirements of a bachelor's degree and limiting licensure to elementary and middle grades. CSPAC does not recommend adding MACTE to ARM 10.57.102. Montessori educator Katy Wright and Tiffany Lyden, Helena Public Montessori Parents organization president, also gave comments in support of the amendment to the definition and including Montessori trained teachers in Montana's licensing standards. Previous Montessori classroom student, Ella Currier, provided comments of general support for the Montessori program in public schools.

          The Montana Council of Deans submitted comments regarding the Council's position on recognizing MACTE as equivalent to the Council for Accreditation of Educator Preparation (CAEP), suggesting that the programs are not equivalent. The MCDE stated that any provider of a program offering a postsecondary degree/certificate must be recognized by the Montana Board of Regents and any educator preparation program must be accredited through meeting the accreditation standards promulgated by the Board of Public Education in ARM Title 10, chapter 58. Ann Eubank from Montana State University Department of Education, and Kristi Murphy and Julie Bullard from University of Montana School of Education supported  and added to the concerns of the Deans, opposing the addition of MACTE as an accredited educator preparation program. It was suggested that the requirements for regional accreditation and approval of accreditation by BPE should be met before MACTE is included in the definition of an accredited educator preparation program in ARM 10.57.102

 

          The board received several additional comments from Montana educators from the universities, including the Montana State University Department of Education faculty and members of the University Teacher Education Council, opposing the inclusion of MACTE as an accredited educator preparation program.

 

          RESPONSE: The board thanks the education organizations, the Council of Deans, and other commenters for their comments. The board approved including MACTE preparation programs as comparable to other nationally recognized educator preparation programs currently identified in the definition of ʺaccredited educator preparation programʺ and has amended the definition in ARM 10.57.102.

 

          COMMENT 7: The Montana Public Education Center submitted comments collectively (and as individual members of MEA-MFT, Montana Rural Education Association, Montana Quality Education Coalition, School Administrators of Montana, and Montana School Boards Association) supporting the inclusion of an endorsement of autism in ARM 10.57.412. The Council of Deans expressed concerns with including autism as a stand-alone endorsement, citing among other issues, the problems small schools could face without a special education teacher with broad training across multiple disabilities. The OPI also submitted concerns about adding this endorsement.

 

          REPSPONSE: The board thanks the commenters for their comments but did not approve including autism as an endorsement in ARM 10.57.412.

 

          COMMENT 8: Tom Moore, Assistant Superintendent for Secondary Education in the Great Falls Public Schools, submitted comments in support of adding Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) as a Class 4 endorsement, and support for the Jan. 1, 2017 effective date.

 

          REPSPONSE: The board thanks Mr. Moore for his support and comments.

 

 

 

/s/ Peter Donovan                                /s/ Sharon Carroll

Peter Donovan                                     Sharon Carroll, Chair

Rule Reviewer                                      Board of Public Education           

 

Certified to the Secretary of State November 28, 2016.

Home  |   Search  |   About Us  |   Contact Us  |   Help  |   Disclaimer  |   Privacy & Security