Sec. 13a.12.02.20. Certification in Special Education

A. Generic Certificate. The generic special education certificates are:

(1) Infant/primary (birth-grade 3);

(2) Elementary/middle (grade 1-grade 8); and

(3) Secondary/adult (grade 6-grade 12).

B. Content and Professional Education Courses. The requirements for a generic special education infant/primary and elementary/middle certificate are that the applicant shall have a bachelor's or higher degree from an IHE and:

(1) 3 semester hours in historical, philosophical, and legal foundations of special education;

(2) 6 semester hours in human growth and development emphasizing normal growth and development patterns;

(3) 9 semester hours in assessment, diagnosis, and prescriptive techniques emphasizing formal and informal assessment procedures, administration, interpretation, and appropriate programming, including 3 semester hours at the appropriate age/grade level;

(4) 18 semester hours in curriculum and methodology of instruction at the infant/primary and elementary/middle level including the following:

(a) 3 semester hours in processes and acquisition of reading skills;

(b) 3 semester hours in best practices in reading instruction that include the cuing systems of graphophonics, semantics, and syntactics;

(c) 3 semester hours in the use of reading assessment data to improve instruction;

(d) 3 semester hours in materials for teaching reading in order to gain literary experience, to perform a task, and to read for information; and

(e) 6 semester hours specific to special education at the appropriate age/grade level;

(5) 3 semester hours in communications skills emphasizing human relations, parent counseling, parent conferencing, and communications; and

(6) 6 semester hours in practicum at the appropriate age/grade level.

C. Content and Professional Education Courses. The requirements for a generic special education secondary/adult certificate are that the applicant shall have a bachelor's or higher degree from an IHE and:

(1) 3 semester hours in historical, philosophical, and legal foundations of special education;

(2) 6 semester hours in human growth and development emphasizing normal growth and development patterns;

(3) 9 semester hours in assessment, diagnosis, and prescriptive techniques emphasizing formal and informal assessment procedures, administration, interpretation, and appropriate programming, including 3 semester hours at the appropriate age/grade level;

(4) 12 semester hours in curriculum and methodology of instruction at the secondary level including the following:

(a) 3 semester hours in the essentials of the reading process which shall include:

(i) Types of reading;

(ii) Use of reading assessment data to improve instruction;

(iii) Skills in reading including cognitive strategies in reading;

(iv) Reading instruction including reading aloud strategies and methods for diagnosing reading difficulties and making instructional modifications and accommodations for the student; and

(v) Strategies for intrinsic and extrinsic motivation for reading;

(b) 3 semester hours in teaching students to learn from text which shall include:

(i) Theories, strategies, and practices in daily classroom use including additional content in types of reading using authentic texts;

(ii) Skills in reading including processing of multimedia information and strategies to connect reading with study skills; and

(iii) Reading instruction that integrates content area goals with reading goals including strategies for students to communicate effectively orally and in writing about what they have read in content area texts; and

(c) 6 semester hours specific to special education which shall include 3 semester hours specific to prevocational or vocational methods;

(5) 3 semester hours in communications skills emphasizing human relations, parent counseling, parent conferencing, and communications; and

(6) 6 semester hours in practicum at the secondary level.

D. Sections B(4)(a)-(d) and C(4)(a) and (b) of this regulation may be taken through CPDs.

E. Special Provisions.

(1) If a teacher has not yet submitted the required reading course work under §B(4)(a)-(d) or C(4)(a) and (b), or both, of this regulation, the teacher shall present the reading course work in addition to the requirements in §E(2) or (3) of this regulation.

(2) For a teacher holding a generic special education certificate at one age/grade level who wants to be certified at a second age/grade level, the 15 semester hours of age/grade level credit in the second age/grade level, including 6 semester hours of age/grade level practicum, may be satisfied by one of the following:

(a) Option I, completing the 15 semester hours taken at an IHE;

(b) Option II, completing 9 of the 15 semester hours taken at an IHE or CPDs, and 6 semester hours in practicum at the second age/grade level through an IHE; or

(c) Option III, completing 9 of the 15 semester hours taken at an IHE or CPDs and 9 months of satisfactory teaching experience at the second age/grade level.

(3) A teacher holding a professional certificate in another area who wants to be certified as a generic special education teacher shall meet the following requirements:

(a) 3 semester hours in historical, philosophical, and legal foundations of special education;

(b) 3 semester hours in human growth and development emphasizing normal growth and development patterns;

(c) 6 semester hours in assessment, diagnosis, and prescriptive techniques emphasizing formal and informal assessment procedures, administration, interpretation, and appropriate programming, including 3 semester hours at the appropriate age/grade level;

(d) 6 semester hours in curriculum and methods specific to special education; and

(e) 6 semester hours in practicum at the appropriate age/grade level or 9 months of satisfactory teaching experience at the age/grade level.

F. Issuance and Renewal of Special Education Certificates. An applicant shall be issued a generic special education certificate at the appropriate age/grade level of the applicant's teaching experience, practicum, or student teaching experience and shall be required to complete the specific requirements of that certificate for renewal if the applicant:

(1) Completed a Maryland-approved categorical special education teacher preparation program before July 1, 1986;

(2) Completed a categorical special education teacher preparation program covered under the Interstate Contract Agreement; or

(3) Possesses a categorical special education teaching certificate from another state and qualifies under the experienced teacher provision of the Interstate Contract Agreement.