603 CMR 47.00

Licensure of Adult Basic Education Teachers and Preparation Program Approval

Section:

47.01: Purpose and Authority
47.02: Definitions
47.03: Adult Basic Education Teacher Preparation Program Approval
47.04: Adult Basic Education Panel Review for Licensure
47.05: Types of Licenses, Requirements for Licensure, and Requirements for Field-Based Experience
47.06: Routes to Professional Licensure of Adult Basic Education Teachers
47.07: Subject Matter Knowledge Requirements for Adult Basic Education Teachers
47.08: Professional Standards for Adult Basic Education Teachers
47.09: Standards for Orientation of Adult Basic Education Teachers
47.10: Licensure Renewal and Professional Development for Adult Basic Education Teachers
47.11: General Provisions
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Adopted by the Board of Education April 24, 2001, effective October 1, 2001
Most Recently Amended by the Board of Education June 22, 2004

47.11: General Provisions

(1) Performance Assessment.
All candidates shall participate in a performance assessment, which includes a demonstration of teaching. The assessment may be conducted either in a field-based experience (603 CMR 47.05) or for the ABE Panel Review for Licensure (603 CMR 47.04). Performance assessment must be designed to ensure that practicing teachers apply learning to practice and meet the applicable professional standards in 603 CMR 47.06 and 47.08. The Department will provide guidelines for performance assessment.

(a) Methods of Demonstrating Teaching
1. Candidates will choose one of three methods to demonstrate their teaching:
  1. A classroom observation performed by an Educator Preparation Program Supervisor, an ABE Field Supervisor, or someone authorized by the Department as set forth in the guidelines;
  2. A videotape of one or two classroom sessions of no less than 20-minutes in length, to be submitted to an Educator Preparation Program Supervisor, to the ABE Panel Review for Licensure, or someone authorized by the Department as set forth in the guidelines; or,
  3. A demonstration lesson conducted for the ABE Panel Review for Licensure.
2. Candidates will complete appropriate student releases as set forth in guidelines provided by the Department.
(b) Documentation to Accompany Demonstration of Teaching
The following documentation must accompany the teaching demonstration:
1. The teacher's prior planning for the demonstration [e.g., lesson plan, relevant theory, relevant background of learner(s)]; and
2. The teacher's detailed reflections on the experience (including what, if anything, the teacher would do the same or differently in other circumstances).

(2) Additional Licenses for Teachers.
ABE teachers who hold a teacher license issued under 603 CMR 7.04(3)(a) or (b) and are licensed under 603 CMR 47.05 may earn additional licenses as set forth in 603 CMR 7.14.

(3) Educator Preparation Program Supervisors and ABE Field Supervisors.
Educator Preparation Program Supervisors and ABE Field Supervisors must be approved by the ABE program provider, or by the Department. Educator Preparation Supervisors and ABE Field Supervisors must meet standards required by the Department as set forth in the guidelines.

(4) Waiver.
The Commissioner may waive the requirements listed in 603 CMR 47.05(2)(a) and (b), except for the passing score on the Massachusetts Tests for Educator Licensure (MTEL) for those whose route to licensure so requires, and the demonstration of sound moral character, for applicants who meet the professional standards in 603 CMR 47.08 and the subject matter requirements in 603 CMR 47.07 through both their experience and their formal education.

(5) Reconsideration.
An applicant for licensure may request that the Commissioner reconsider the Department's decision not to issue a license. The applicant shall submit a written request for reconsideration to the Commissioner within 30 days of the date that the applicant received notice that his or her application for license has been denied. The decision of the Commissioner shall be final.

(6) Revocation, Suspension, Limitation, and Denial of Licenses

(a) Grounds for License Action.
1. The Commissioner may suspend or limit, either indefinitely or for a fixed period of time, or revoke a license if after investigation any of the following is determined:
  1. The license was obtained through fraud or misrepresentation of a material fact;
  2. The holder of the license is unfit to perform the duties for which the license was granted;
  3. The holder of the license has pleaded guilty, received deferred adjudication, or been convicted in a court of law of a crime involving moral turpitude or of any other crime of such nature that in the opinion of the Commissioner the person so convicted discredits the profession, brings the license into disrepute, or lacks good moral character;
  4. The holder has had one or more licenses or certificates revoked, suspended, surrendered, or otherwise limited as part of an administrative proceeding in another jurisdiction or by another licensing body for reasons that are sufficient for limitation of a Massachusetts license, regardless of whether or not the holder obtained a Massachusetts license through the NASDTEC Interstate Contract.
  5. There exists other good cause to revoke, suspend, or limit the license including, but not limited to, gross misconduct or negligence in the conduct of the license holder's professional duties and obligations, commitment of an offense against any law of the Commonwealth related to the license holder's professional duties and responsibilities, willful action in violation of Board regulations or Department orders, or dismissal for just cause from a position in a school or child care facility.
2. If any of the above grounds are determined, the Commissioner may put limitations on a license that may include:
  1. Restrictions on the ages of students with whom the certificate or license holder may work;
  2. Additional supervision requirements;
  3. Education, counseling, or psychiatric examination requirements;
  4. Notification to the employer of the circumstances surrounding the Commissioner's decision to put limitations on the license holder.
(b) Investigatory Subpoenas.
1. At any stage of the investigation, the Department may request that the Commissioner or his designee issue a subpoena requiring the attendance and testimony of a witness, including the license holder, and the production of any evidence, including files, records, correspondence, or documents, relating to any matter in question in the investigation. The request shall be made in writing.
2. The subpoena shall require a witness to appear at the Department at a specified date and time and shall specify any evidence to be produced. The licensee shall not be entitled to be present, but the Department shall provide the licensee with a copy of any recorded testimony prior to any hearing under 603 CMR 47.11(6)(e).
3. Failure of a license holder to comply with a duly issued investigatory subpoena shall be grounds for revocation, suspension, limitation, or denial of a license.
(c) Procedure. No license may be revoked, suspended, or limited until:
1. The Department has determined that there is probable cause to find that the holder's license may be revoked, suspended, or limited for one or more of the grounds set forth in 603 CMR 47.11(6)(a); and
2. The Department sends written notice to the license holder of its determination of probable cause and of the holder's right to request a hearing before the Commissioner in accordance with M.G. L. c. 30A and 801 CMR 1.00: Adjudicatory Rules of Practice and Procedure. Notice shall be sent by certified mail and regular mail to the holder's last known address. The holder shall have 21 days from receipt of the notice to make a written request for a hearing. If no written request for a hearing is received by the Commissioner in accordance with the above, the holder's license shall be deemed to be revoked, suspended, or limited and the holder shall be so notified by certified mail.
(d) Surrender. A license holder may surrender a license by submitting documentation to the Commissioner in an approved manner. If a license holder surrenders a license after the Department has found probable cause to revoke, suspend, or limit the license, the surrender will be treated as a revocation.
(e) Hearing.
1. If the Commissioner receives a request for a hearing from the license holder in accordance with 603 CMR 47.11 (6) (c), the Commissioner or his designee shall schedule a hearing no later than 60 days after receipt of the request. The hearing shall be conducted in accordance with M.G.L. c. 30A and 801 CMR 1.00: Adjudicatory Rules of Practice and Procedure. The hearing shall not be open to the public unless the license holder requests a public hearing.
2. Within 30 days of the date the hearing concludes, the Commissioner or his designee shall render a written decision determining whether or not the holder's license shall be revoked, suspended, or limited. The decision shall comply with the requirements of M.G.L. c. 30A, § 11 and 801 CMR 1.00: Adjudicatory Rules of Practice and Procedure.
3. The Commissioner shall send a copy of the decision to the license holder along with a notice informing him or her of the right of appeal in accordance with the provisions of M.G.L. c. 30A, § 14.
(f) Notice of License Action. The Department shall send notice of the revocation, suspension, limitation, or surrender of a license to all Massachusetts superintendents of schools and to the certification or licensure officers of every state.
(g) Reinstatement.
1. A person whose license has been revoked in accordance with 603 CMR 47.11(6) may again be licensed in Massachusetts only upon a 2/3 vote by the Board.
2. The Department may reinstate a suspended license upon determination by the Commissioner that the condition causing the suspension has been corrected.
3. License limitations or conditions shall remain in effect as determined by the Commissioner.
(h) Administrators' Obligation to Report. Any administrator who has dismissed, declined to renew the employment of, or obtained the resignation of any educator for any of the reasons cited in 603 CMR 47.11 (6) (a) shall report in writing such resignation or dismissal and the reason therefor to the Commissioner within 30 days. This obligation to report also applies when an administrator acquires relevant information after an educator's dismissal, resignation, or non-renewal. Failure to make such reports shall be grounds on which the Commissioner may revoke the administrator's license.
(i) License Holder's Obligation to Report. Any license holder who has been convicted of a crime in a court of law shall notify the Commissioner of such conviction in writing within ten days of such conviction. The term "convicted of a crime" shall include any guilty verdict, admission to or finding of sufficient facts, and any plea of guilty or nolo contendere, whether or not a sentence has been imposed. Any license holder who is the subject of an enforcement action by the Massachusetts Ethics Commission shall notify the Commissioner of such action in writing within ten days of such action. Any license holder who has surrendered an educator license or any professional license or certificate or who has had such a license or certificate revoked, suspended, or limited in any jurisdiction or by any agency shall notify the Commissioner of such action in writing within ten days of such action. Failure to do so shall be grounds on which the Commissioner may revoke the holder's license.
(j) Records. Nothing herein shall be construed to require the Department to disclose, under the Massachusetts public records law M.G.L. c. 66, § 10 and M.G.L. c. 4, § 7 Clause Twenty-sixth, any information, documents, or evidence sought by or provided to the Commissioner pursuant to his responsibilities under 603 CMR 47.11(6) until final disposition of the matter.
(k) License Denial. The Commissioner may deny an applicant's application for a license for the reasons set forth above and for reasons enumerated in 603 CMR 47.00. If the Commissioner denies an application for a license, an applicant may request reconsideration by the Commissioner under 603 CMR 47.11 (5). All of the above rules pertaining to investigatory subpoenas apply to license applicants. Failure of an applicant to comply with a duly issued investigatory subpoena shall be grounds for denial of a license.

(7) General Provisions for Employment.
M.G. L. c. 69, § 1H states that "nothing herein shall be construed to require certification of teachers of adult education." Therefore, the licensure of ABE teachers may not be required by the Department, but may be required by individual employers or other agencies that sponsor ABE programs.

Regulatory Authority:
603 CMR 47.00: M.G.L. c.69, § 1H.

Disclaimer:
For an official copy of these regulations, please contact the State House Bookstore, at 617-727-2834 or visit Massachusetts State Bookstore.

Last Updated: November 24, 2004