The Massachusetts Board of Elementary and Secondary Education
Final Amendments to 603 CMR 7.00 - Regulations for Educator Licensure and Preparation Program Approval (Professional Standards for Teachers)
At the November 19, 2013 meeting, the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education voted to solicit public comment on proposed amendments to 603 CMR 7.00, Regulations for Educator Licensure and Preparation Program Approval. The proposed amendments:
- Align the licensure standards for teachers with the standards for teacher evaluation that the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education approved in June 2011;
- Align the licensure standards for library teachers to the licensure standards for all other teachers, based on the Educator Evaluation Framework; and
- Streamline the licensure regulations by including only the teacher standards and publishing more detailed indicators for each standard in guidelines (except for the indicators for Sheltered English Immersion, which will be retained in the regulations).
The Department received four comments from individuals and organizations during the public comment period. Enclosed is a table summarizing the comments and the Department's responses. As a result of the public comments received, I am proposing a few minor changes to the amendments that I presented to you at the November Board meeting.
The changes from the November proposed regulations, based on public comment, include:
- Deleting all past implementation dates from 7.03 (8);
- Inserting language in 7.05 and 7.08 to further clarify that candidates, regardless of the route to teacher initial licensure, are required to address the Professional Standards for Teachers; and
- Inserting language in 7.08 (1) clarifying that the performance assessment requirement is for initial teacher licensure.
Proposed amendments are indicated by underline (new language) or strikethrough (deleted language). Unchanged sections of the regulations are omitted. For the complete text of the current Regulations for Educator Licensure and Preparation Program Approval, 603 CMR 7.00.
Heather Peske, Associate Commissioner for Educator Quality; Liz Losee, Assistant Director of the Office of Educator Policy Preparation and Leadership; and Attorney Debra Comfort of our legal staff will be present at the Board meeting to answer your questions.
Attachments:
and strikethrough version 