DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
PROFESSIONAL STANDARDS BOARD
REGULATORY IMPLEMENTATION ORDER
final
1554 Standard Certificate Reading Specialist
I. Summary Of The Evidence And Information Submitted
The Professional Standards Board, acting in cooperation and consultation with the Department of Education, seeks the consent of the State Board of Education to amend 14 DE Admin. Code 1554 Standard Certificate Reading Specialist. This regulation applies to the certification of educational personnel pursuant to 14 Del.C. §1220(a). It is necessary to amend this regulation to clarify to which educators this regulation applies.
Notice of the proposed amendment of the regulation was published in the News Journal and the Delaware State News on August 25, 2004, in the form hereto attached as Exhibit “A”. The notice invited written comments. Written comments were received from the State Council for Persons with Disabilities concerning access to this certificate by all educators, which the language addresses. Verbal comments resulted in some clarification of sections and reformatting and renumbering of items.
II. Findings Of Facts
The Professional Standards Board and the State Board of Education find that it is appropriate to adopt this regulation to comply with changes in statute regarding the licensure and certification of educators.
III. Decision To Adopt The Regulation
For the foregoing reasons, the Professional Standards Board and the State Board of Education conclude that it is appropriate to amend the regulation. Therefore, pursuant to 14 Del.C. §1205(b), the regulation attached hereto as Exhibit “B” is hereby adopted. Pursuant to the provision of 14 Del.C. §122(e), the regulation hereby amended shall be in effect for a period of five years from the effective date of this order as set forth in Section V. below.
IV. Text And Citation
The text of the regulation amended shall be in the form attached hereto as Exhibit “B”, and said regulation shall be cited as 14 DE Admin. Code 1554 of the Administrative Code of Regulations of the Department of Education.
V. Effective Date Of Order
The effective date of this Order shall be ten (10) days from the date this Order is published in the Delaware Register of Regulations.
APPROVED BY THE PROFESSIONAL STANDARDS BOARD THE 4TH DAY OF NOVEMBER, 2004
Harold Roberts, Chair Bruce Harter
Sharon Brittingham Valerie Hoffmann
Norman Brown Leslie Holden
Heath Chasanov Carla Lawson
Edward Czerwinski Mary Mirabeau
Angela Dunmore Gretchen Pikus
Karen Gordon Karen Schilling Ross
Barbara Grogg Carol Vukelich
FOR IMPLEMENTATION BY THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION:
Valerie A. Woodruff, Secretary of Education
IT IS SO ORDERED This 18th Day Of November, 2004
STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION
Dr. Joseph A. Pika, President
Jean W. Allen, Vice President
Richard M. Farmer, Jr.
Mary B. Graham, Esquire
Valarie Pepper
Dennis J. Savage
Dr. Claibourne D. Smith
1.0 Content:
This regulation shall apply to the requirements for a Standard Certificate, pursuant to 14 Del.C. §1220(a), for Reading Specialist.
2.0 Definitions:
The following words and terms, when used in this regulation, shall have the following meaning unless the context clearly indicates otherwise:
“Department” means the Delaware Department of Education.
“License” means a credential which authorizes the holder to engage in the practice for which the license is issued.
“Reading Specialist” means an educator who provides one-on-one or small group, diagnostic, prescriptive teaching of reading, and includes, [but is not limited to,] Title I reading teachers, reading resource teachers, [Reading First teachers reading teachers as specified in SB 320, Epilogue 358, and educators who work with teachers in reading and communication skills, includeing, but not limited to literarcy coaches] and coordinators, and individuals employed as building or district coordinators [or reading or in Reading] Cadre [positions. of reading who work with teachers in reading and communication skills.]
“Standard Certificate” means a credential issued to certify that an educator has the prescribed knowledge, skill, and/or education to practice in a particular area, teach a particular subject, or teach a category of students.
3.0 In accordance with 14 Del.C. §1220(a), the Department shall issue a Standard Certificate as a Reading Specialist to an applicant who holds a valid Delaware Initial, Continuing, or Advanced License; or Standard or Professional Status Certificate issued by the Department prior to August 31, 2003, and who meets the following requirements:
3.1 [Degree Educational requirements.]
3.1.1 [Graduating A master’s degree] from an NCATE specialty organization recognized educator preparation program offered by a regionally accredited college or university, [with a major] in [a program for] Reading [Specialists]; or
3.1.2 [Graduating A master’s degree] from a state approved educator preparation program [for Reading Specialists] offered by a regionally accredited college or university, [with a major in Reading] where the state approval body employed the appropriate [NASDTEC or] NCATE specialty organization standards; or
3.1.1 3.1.3 [A] Master's degree [in any area (or a Bachelor's degree plus 30 graduate credits)] from a regionally accredited college or university and, [completion of the course work set forth in 3.1.4.1 and 3.1.4.2; or]
[3.1.4 A Bachelors’s degree plus 30 graduate credits; and]
3.3 Specialized Professional Preparation
3.1.[34].1 3.3.1 Minimum of 24 semester hour credits in graduate level reading courses covering the following content areas as specified below unless otherwise specified:
3.1.[34].1.1 3.3.1.1 Language Development, , 3 semester hours;
3.1.[34].1.2 3.3.1.2 Methods in Process Writing/Language Arts, 3 semester hours;
3.1.[34].1.3 3.3.1.3 Assessment and Correction of Reading Difficulties, 6 semester hours;
3.1.[34].1.4 3.3.1.4 Practicum in Reading to include application of assessment and correction strategies, parent involvement strategies, and experience in working as a reading resource person with staff, 6 semester hours;
3.1.[34].1.5 3.3.1.5 Reading in the Content Areas, 3 semester hours;
3.1.[34].1.6 3.3.1.6 Children's or Adolescent Literature Across the Curriculum, 3 semester hours; and
3.1.[34.2.1.7] 3.3.2 Minimum of three graduate semester hours from among the following: Seminar in Reading Research, Emergent Literacy, Teaching English as a Second Language or Children's or Adolescent Literature.
3.2 Experience
3.2.1 Minimum of three years of successful teaching experience with at least two years in the K-12 classroom and,
3.3 Specialized Professional Preparation
3.3.1 Minimum of 21 semester hour credits in graduate level reading courses unless otherwise specified:
3.3.1.1 Language Development, graduate or undergraduate, 3 semester hours
3.3.1.2 Methods in Process Writing/Language Arts, 3 semester hours
3.3.1.3 Assessment and Correction of Reading Difficulties, 6 semester hours.
3.3.1.4 Practicum in Reading to include application of assessment and correction strategies, parent involvement strategies, and experience in working as a reading resource person with staff, 3 semester hours.
3.3.1.5 Reading in the Content Areas, graduate or undergraduate, 3 semester hours.
3.3.1.6 Children's or Adolescent Literature Across the Curriculum, 3 semester hours.
3.3.2 Minimum of three graduate semester hours from among the following: Seminar in Reading Research, Emergent Literacy, Teaching English as a Second Language or Children's or Adolescent Literature.
4.0 This regulation shall be effective through June 30, 2006 only. Applicants who apply for a Standard Certificate as a Reading Specialist after that date must comply with the requirements set forth in 14 DE Admin. Code 1516. This regulation shall be effective immediately. Notwithstanding this provision, Reading Specialists [,as defined in 2.0,] hired prior to July 1, 2006, who do not currently meet the requirements set forth herein, but who hold an Initial, Continuing or Advanced License; or a [Standard or] Professional Status Certificate issued prior to August 31, 2003, may be issued a Standard Certificate as a Reading Specialist contingent on their completion of the requirements set forth herein within three (3) years of the effective date of this regulation or their date of employment in the position of Reading Specialist, whichever is later.
