(1)
Summary: The Professional
certificate is part of Georgia's tiered teacher certification system and
provides a statewide structure to ensure that classroom teachers meet minimum
requirements and satisfy state teacher effectiveness requirements as defined in
the state teacher evaluation system. The Professional certificate is also
issued in service and leadership fields to educators meeting professional
requirements as outlined in the individual field rules. Georgia issues two (2)
types of renewable Professional certificates: Standard and
Performance-Based.
(2)
Professional Requirements.
(a)
Standard Professional teaching certificate: The Standard Professional teaching
certificate is intended for those individuals evaluated by a school, district,
or agency-approved evaluation system and not evaluated by the statewide
evaluation system. It is issued to individuals who do not meet the requirements
for the Performance-Based Professional teaching certificate but do meet the
following requirements:
1. For individuals
applying by reciprocity, meet the following requirements:
(i) Hold a valid or expired out-of-state
professional certificate at the bachelor's degree level or higher, with three
(3) or more years of successful experience as defined in GaPSC Rule
505-2-.25 EXPERIENCE REQUIREMENTS.
Experience must have been earned while holding a professional educator
certificate or a non-professional certificate that was subsequently converted
to professional status in the state, field and grade level of
experience.
(ii) Meet the following
Special Georgia requirements as outlined in GaPSC Rule
505-2-.24 SPECIAL GEORGIA
REQUIREMENTS:
(I) Pass or exempt the GACE
content assessment.
(II) Satisfy
the Special Education requirement with a grade of B or better.
A. Certificate may be issued prior to
completion of this requirement; however, the course must be satisfied as part
of requirements to renew or convert the certificate.
(III) Meet Standards of Conduct.
(iii) Apply for certification
following procedures outlined in Rule
505-2-.27 CERTIFICATION AND
APPLICATION PROCEDURES.
2. For individuals holding an Induction
certificate, meet the following requirements:
(i) Have three (3) full years of successful
experience while holding the Induction certificate.
(ii) Meet or have met the following Special
Georgia requirements as outlined in GaPSC Rule
505-2-.24 SPECIAL GEORGIA
REQUIREMENTS:
(I) Pass or exempt the GACE
content assessment.
(II) Pass the
GACE Educator Ethics Assessment.
(III) Satisfy the Special Education
requirement with a grade of B or better.
(IV) Meet Standards of Conduct.
(iii) Apply for conversion
following procedures outlined in Rule
505-2-.27 CERTIFICATION AND
APPLICATION PROCEDURES.
3. For individuals holding a Provisional or
previously issued equivalent type certificate, meet the following requirements:
(i) Complete a GaPSC-accepted educator
preparation program.
(ii) Have
three (3) full years of successful experience while holding the Provisional or
previously issued equivalent type certificate.
(iii) Meet the following Special Georgia
requirements as outlined in GaPSC Rule
505-2-.24 SPECIAL GEORGIA
REQUIREMENTS:
(I) Pass or exempt the GACE
content assessment.
(II) Pass the
GACE Educator Ethics Assessment.
(III) Satisfy the Special Education
requirement with a grade of B or better.
(IV) Meet Standards of Conduct.
(iv) Apply for conversion
following procedures outlined in Rule
505-2-.27 CERTIFICATION AND
APPLICATION PROCEDURES.
(b) The Standard Professional Service
certificate is issued in service fields to individuals meeting the requirements
outlined in the GaPSC rule appropriate to the specific service field (See GaPSC
Rules 505-2-.140
AUDIOLOGY through 505-2 .149 TEACHER LEADERSHIP).
(c) The Standard Professional Leadership
certificate is issued in the field of Educational Leadership to individuals
meeting the requirements outlined in GaPSC Rule
505-2-.153 EDUCATIONAL
LEADERSHIP.
(d) For Healthcare
Science and Career and Technical Specializations, complete requirements
outlined in GaPSC Rule
505-2-.87 HEALTHCARE SCEINCE and
505-2-.90 CAREER AND TECHNICAL
SPECIALIZATIONS, and meet requirements in (2)(a) above.
(e) Performance-Based Professional
certificate: The Performance-Based Professional teaching certificate is
intended for those teachers evaluated by the Georgia statewide evaluation
system.
1. Educators must meet the following
requirements:
(i) Complete requirements to
qualify for the Standard Professional certificate.
(ii) Have a minimum of three (3) years of
successful educator experience (as defined in GaPSC Rule 505-2-25 EXPERIENCE
REQUIREMENTS). All three (3) years must have been earned in a Georgia school
with a summative performance rating of "Proficient" or "Exemplary" while being
evaluated on the Teacher Assessment on Performance Standards (TAPS) component
of the statewide evaluation system, Teacher Keys Effectiveness System
(TKES).
(iii) Meet Standards of
Conduct.
(iv) Apply for
certification following procedures outlined in Rule
505-2-.27 CERTIFICATION AND
APPLICATION PROCEDURES.
2. The Performance-Based Professional
Leadership certificate is issued in the field of Educational Leadership to
individuals meeting the requirements outlined in GaPSC Rule
505-2-.153 EDUCATIONAL
LEADERSHIP.
(f) Official
implementation of TKES began with the 2014-2015 school year, after a two-year
pilot period. Successful experience to qualify for the Performance-Based
Professional certificate outlined in (2) (e) above begins with the 2014-2015
school year.
(3)
Non-Renewable Professional Requirements (See GaPSC Rule
505-2-.09 NON-RENEWABLE PROFESSIONAL
CERTIFICATE).
(4)
Renewal.
(a) The Standard
Professional teaching certificate and Performance-Based Professional teaching
certificate may be renewed by satisfying requirements as outlined in GaPSC Rule
505-2-.36 RENEWAL
REQUIREMENTS.
(5)
Restrictions.
(a) Individuals
who have received any combination of two (2) "Unsatisfactory", "Ineffective" or
"Needs Development" annual performance summative evaluations in the previous
five (5)-year period shall not be entitled to a renewable certificate prior to
demonstrating such performance deficiency has been satisfactorily remediated
(See GaPSC Rule
505-2-.43 ANNUAL PERFORMANCE
EVALUATION).
(6)
Validity.
(a) Professional
certificates are valid for five (5) years with the following exceptions:
1. A Performance-Based Professional
certificate issued to replace a valid Standard Professional certificate is only
valid for the remaining validity period of the Standard Professional
certificate being replaced.
2. The
standard validity period may be decreased by the number of years for which the
educator has held a Non-Renewable certificate or license, including a Waiver
certificate, in the same field.