CERTIFICATION INFO: Survey on Proposed Special Education Endorsement

Special Education Administrators,

To address the shortage of qualified special education teachers and better serve Arizona’s special needs students, the Department has drafted a proposal which would provide for a Mild/Moderate and a Moderate/Severe Disabilities endorsement.  If approved by the Board, the proposed endorsements would provide for an additional option for certified and experienced general education teachers to complete targeted training leading to a qualification to teach special education.

The Department is proposing that the Mild/Moderate Disabilities endorsement require the following:

• A valid Standard Professional Early Childhood, Elementary, Middle Grades, Secondary, or Moderate/Severe teaching certificate.
• Verification of three years of full-time teaching in PreK-Grade 12.
• Eighteen semester hours of special education courses to include: methods for teaching reading and mathematics to students with disabilities, behavior management for students with disabilities, special education law, special education assessment and individualized education program planning, and language development and disorders.
• A passing score on the National Evaluation Series (NES) Special Education exam.

The Department is proposing that the Moderate/Severe Disabilities endorsement require the following:

• A valid Standard Professional Early Childhood, Elementary, Middle Grades, or Secondary teaching certificate.
• Verification of three years of full-time teaching in PreK-Grade 12.
• Twenty-one semester hours of special education courses which include the same courses required for the Mild/Moderate Disabilities Endorsement and the following: methods for teaching students with severe disabilities and adaptive communication including language development and disorders.
• A passing score on the AEPA Special Education: Severely and Profoundly Disabled exam.

We are requesting your feedback on the special education endorsement proposal by completing a brief survey.

The link to the brief survey is: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/V8X85N7

Please review and provide feedback by the end of the day on October 25, 2019.

Contact the Certification office at (602) 542-4367 or email [email protected] if you have any questions.