*This advisory replaces Charter School Technical Advisory 17-1: Educator Qualifications in Commonwealth Charter Schools
Charter School Technical Advisory 20-1 was last updated June 18, 2020
This technical advisory provides guidance regarding educator qualifications in Commonwealth charter schools1. It is intended to clarify the requirements of the charter school statute in Massachusetts, G.L. c. 71, § 89; the charter school regulations, 603 CMR 1.00; the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA); and the state statute governing the education of English Language Learner (ELL) students, G.L. c. 71A, as amended in 2002; and the federal Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) as they apply to Commonwealth charter schools.
Qualifications and Licensure Requirements for Massachusetts Charter and Traditional Public Schools
In general, except for teachers of English as a second language (ESL), teachers in Commonwealth charter schools, including special education teachers, are not required to be licensed.
Within a teacher's first year of employment5 in a teaching role6 at a Commonwealth charter school, however, teachers must either:
In addition, the Education of English Learner regulations8 require that all core academic teachers responsible for the education of one or more students who are ELs to hold a Sheltered English Immersion (SEI) Teacher Endorsement within one year of employment.
These qualifications are required for staff with the title of teacher and/or who are acting as a teacher9.
All staff implementing specialized instruction included in an Individual Education Plan (IEP) must meet the qualifications for a service delivery provider established by the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE), pursuant to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA)10.
The qualifications to deliver specialized instruction independently are the teacher must:
Specialized instruction provided by staff who do not meet the above qualifications must be delivered under the direct supervision and oversight of an individual who is independently qualified to deliver special education services. For direct supervision, the supervisor must be physically proximate and readily available to the teacher on an ongoing basis throughout the day and whenever the teacher is delivering direct, specialized instruction to student(s) with disabilities. Direct supervision does not refer to, for instance, whether an individual is the teacher's supervisor on an organizational chart or conducts the teacher's evaluation. Additionally, consultation alone is insufficient to meet the requirement of direct supervision. This supervision must be documented in students' Individualized Education Plan in Grid A.
Every charter school that enrolls English learners must have the appropriate number of licensed ESL teachers to deliver an adequate English language education program. Every ESL teacher in a charter school must be licensed.
All ESL teachers or teachers of EL students must have obtained a MA educator license in:
Every district must have at least one part-time or full-time ESL/ELL/TBE teacher on staff.
Licensed ESL teachers are automatically eligible for SEI endorsement but must apply for it.
ESL teachers or teachers of EL students must be appropriately licensed in order to serve students identified as English learners. Unlike some core academic teachers, ESL teachers do not have a year to earn this licensure.
A core academic teacher* who provides instruction to an English learner in a bilingual education setting, such as two-way immersion or transitional bilingual education program, must be properly qualified in the field and grade level of the assignment, and hold the appropriate endorsement, as follows:
*See definition of Core Academic Teacher under the teacher section below
Effective July 1, 2018
All core academic teachers* assigned to teach English learners are required to earn the Sheltered English Immersion (SEI) Teacher Endorsement. Any teacher without a SEI endorsement has one year from date of assignment to teach ELs to earn the endorsement. The school must take all reasonable steps to ensure student is not assigned to non-endorsed teachers in subsequent years.
If a teacher fails to earn the endorsement within one year, the teacher can no longer teach any EL students until the endorsement has been earned, irrespective of whether it is a student new to them or not.
*"Core academic teacher" shall mean early childhood and elementary teachers, teachers of students with moderate disabilities, teachers of students with severe disabilities, and teachers of the following academic subjects: English, reading or language arts, mathematics, science, civics and government, economics, history, and geography. (603 CMR 14.07)
All teachers of Career Vocational Technical Subjects* assigned to teach English learners are required to earn the Sheltered English Immersion (SEI) Teacher Endorsement. Any teacher without the SEI endorsement has one year from date of assignment to earn the endorsement.
*Career Vocational Technical Subjects: For purposes of Sheltered English Immersion, such subjects shall include automotive technology, carpentry, culinary arts, engineering, exploratory, masonry, information technology, and any other subjects listed by the Department in guidance.
Effective July 1, 2021 Passed by BESE June 26, 2018
Not Applicable
(Resource room, inclusion classroom, sub-separate program, but not including students with severe special needs)
Teachers required to hold one of the following licenses:
*The previous "Early Childhood: Students with and without disabilities (K–2)" license is no longer offered and is not considered a special education license. The Early Childhood: Students with and without disability (K–2) license does not qualify a teacher to be a special education teacher.
Teachers are qualified to teach independently if the teacher holds one of the following qualifications for the appropriate grade and severity level:
If a teacher does not hold any of the qualifications above, the teacher may only deliver specialized instruction if:
And
(2 or more subject areas in resource room, inclusion classroom, sub-separate; but not including students with severe special needs)
Teachers are required to hold one of the following licenses:
(1 subject area, in resource room, inclusion classroom, or sub-separate program, but not including students with severe special needs)
Same as Teacher of Students with Moderate Disabilities qualifications above,
and
Subject area license
Must pass the following MTELs within the first year of employment:
(IEP team determines if student has severe special needs; may be in an inclusion, resource, or sub-separate classroom.)
See requirements for Special Education Teacher (2 or more subject areas) for — PreK–4 and 5–8, 9–12 above
1 Please note that this advisory does not address educator qualifications in Massachusetts Horace Mann charter schools because, pursuant to G.L. c. 71, § 38G, employees of a Horace Mann charter school are employees of the school district and are therefore subject to the same licensure and other requirements as other district public school educators. The table below includes some educator qualification requirements for Horace Mann charter school, but it not comprehensive.
2 "Core academic teacher" shall mean early childhood and elementary teachers, teachers of students with moderate disabilities, teachers of students with severe disabilities, and teachers of the following academic subjects: English, reading or language arts, mathematics, science, civics and government, economics, history, and geography. (603 CMR 14.07)
3 Primary responsibility is at least 50 percent of time on oversight of the ELE program.
4 This license is no longer obtainable, but is valid in the field.
5 Employment after August 10, 2000.
6 If this person is under direct supervision of a qualified teacher, they need not be licensed. If this person is acting as a teacher, they are subject to these requirements.
7 603 CMR 1.06(4); see also G.L. c. 71, § 89(ii).
8 603 CMR 14.07
9 See the Paraprofessionals, Aides, Instructional Assistants, etc. section for requirements of staff working under the direct supervision of a qualified teacher.
10 34 CFR 300.156(a)
11 Primary responsibility is at least 50 percent of time on oversight of the ELE program.
12 This license is no longer obtainable, but it is valid in the field.
13 This license is no longer obtainable, but it is valid in the field.
14 This license is no longer obtainable, but it is valid in the field.
Last Updated: June 18, 2020
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