Compilation of Rules and Regulations of the State of Georgia
Department 505 - PROFESSIONAL STANDARDS COMMISSION
Chapter 505-2 - CERTIFICATION
Rule 505-2-.25 - Experience Requirements
Universal Citation: GA Rules and Regs r 505-2-.25
Current through Rules and Regulations filed through March 20, 2024
(1) Summary: Work experience as an educator or in another occupation may be required as a qualification for certification in the following situations:
(a) To meet eligibility requirements for
specified fields in Career, Technical and Agricultural Education as outlined in
GaPSC Rules
505-2-.87 HEALTHCARE SCIENCE, and
505-2-.90 CAREER AND TECHNICAL
SPECIALIZATIONS;
(b) To meet
eligibility requirements for selected permit fields, and the certificate field
of Educational Leadership, as outlined in the appropriate field rule;
(c) To exempt selected Special Georgia
Requirements with successful out-of-state educator experience; and
(d) To meet eligibility or renewal
requirements for the Standard Professional, Performance-Based Professional,
Lead Professional and Advanced Professional certificates.
(2)Verification of Experience. The GaPSC shall verify satisfactory experience for certification purposes. Employing local units of administration (LUAs) are responsible for verifying and evaluating satisfactory experience for salary purposes in accordance with State Board of Education rules.
(3) Successful Educator Experience.
(a) Experience must be accompanied by
satisfactory ratings on annual performance evaluations.
(b) Only full-time experience will be
accepted.
1. One (1)-year of full-time
experience in a Birth through grade 12 (B-12) setting is defined as a minimum
of one hundred twenty (120) days working full time in a GaPSC-accepted
educational setting. No computations for partial-year experience will
apply.
2. One (1)-year of full-time
experience in a government agency is defined as twelve (12) full months of
employment, working forty (40) hours per week with the exception of standard
leave or holidays. Non-consecutive full months of employment may be combined to
constitute a full year of experience in a government agency, but no partial
years of this type of experience may be combined with experience in a B-12
setting.
(c) Experience
must have been earned while holding a government-issued educator
certificate/license in the field in which the experience was earned, and the
experience and certificate must be from the same state/country. Experience
earned while holding a non-professional educator certificate/license is
acceptable as long as a professional educator certificate/license was
subsequently earned in the same state/country and field.
(d) Unless otherwise specified, full years of
educator experience in different settings may be combined. The following are
GaPSC-accepted educational settings:
1. A
U.S. P-12 public school;
2. A U.S.
P-12 private school accredited by a GaPSC-accepted P-12 accrediting
organization when the experience was earned (See GaPSC Rule
505-2-.31 GaPSC-ACCEPTED
ACCREDITATION);
3. A government
agency or educator preparation provider (EPP) while working in an education
position that required maintenance of a valid professional educator
certificate;
4. A school
administered by a jurisdiction that has signed the NASDTEC Interstate
Agreement, such as the District of Columbia, Department of Defense Education
Activity (DoDEA), etc., as identified on the NASDTEC web site at
www.nasdtec.org;
5. A kindergarten, pre-kindergarten, Head
Start Program or early care center that met one of the following qualifications
at the time the experience was earned:
(i)
Under the legal authority of a U.S. public school board of education or a
jurisdiction that has signed the NASDTEC Interstate Agreement as outlined in
Section 4 above;
(ii) Licensed by
the state or country in which it was located;
(iii) Certified by the U.S. Department of
Defense;
(iv) Accredited by a
GaPSC-accepted P-12 accrediting organization (See GaPSC Rule
505-2-.31 GaPSC-ACCEPTED
ACCREDITATION); or
(v) Accredited
by a GaPSC-accepted early care accrediting organization (See GaPSC Rule
505-2-.31 GaPSC-ACCEPTED
ACCREDITATION).
6. A
P-12 school setting in a foreign country, as long as:
(i) The individual held the equivalent of a
U.S. bachelor's degree prior to the time the experience was earned;
(ii) The individual held a valid professional
certificate issued by the appropriate governing body in the field and subject
taught at the time the experience was earned; and
(iii) The school was organized and conducted
with educational curriculum similar to that found in U.S. public schools. This
determination will be made by GaPSC Certification Division staff.
(e) Experience as a
supply/substitute, a paraprofessional or as a member of a board of education
does not apply toward educator experience for certification purposes.
(f) Acceptable educator experience must be
evaluated by a school, district or agency approved performance evaluation
system.
1. Each successful year of
out-of-state educator experience must have been rated "Satisfactory" or
equivalent on an annual evaluation. This may be documented in one of the
following ways:
(i) On the Experience
Verification Form, as outlined in section (h) below;
(ii) On official performance evaluations;
or
(iii) In a letter from an
administrator who supervised the educator during the years reported.
(g) If an individual is
a member of the military Reserve or National Guard and is called to active
duty, one (1) full year of active duty status will be accepted as a
satisfactory year of educator experience. No more than two (2) full years of
experience within the last five (5) years may result from military active duty.
Military experience as described above must be documented on a DD214 form,
Member Copy #4.
(h) Unless
otherwise noted, successful experience must be documented on the GaPSC
Experience Verification Form, found on the GaPSC web site,
www.gapsc.com . It must be completed by the
Superintendent, Headmaster, Agency Director or designated personnel officer of
the current or previous employing LUA. Principals are not authorized to
complete the Experience Verification Form unless they are the designated
personnel officer. The form should be completed in its entirety; if a current
or former employer is unable or unwilling to complete all parts of the
Experience Verification Form, supplemental documentation provided by the
applicant may be accepted at the discretion of the GaPSC.
(4) Occupational Experience.
(a) Individuals applying for certification in
Healthcare Science or certain Career and Technical Specialization fields, or
applicants for Permits may be required to submit occupational experience in
order to qualify. (See GaPSC Rules
505-2-.87 HEALTHCARE SCIENCE,
505-2-.90 CAREER AND TECHNICAL
SPECIALIZATIONS, and
505-2-.10 PERMIT CERTIFICATE.) This
experience may be documented in one of the following ways:
1. Correspondence on official organization
letterhead, signed by the individual's supervisor at the time the experience
was earned, outlining dates of employment, job title and job duties.
2. If self-employed, copies of business or
personal tax records that reflect self-employment work experience in the field
being requested.
(5) Out-of-State Experience Exemption.
(a) Veteran out-of-state
educators moving into Georgia may be eligible to exempt all Special Georgia
Requirements except the standards of conduct. To be eligible, the individual
must have a minimum of five (5) full years of successful educator experience
earned outside of Georgia, as defined in section (3) above, which also meets
the following requirement:
1. Earned in a
single field (subject area) that is comparable to the Georgia certificate field
being sought. For example, to exempt the mathematics assessment, the experience
must be in teaching mathematics; to exempt the school counseling assessment the
experience must be in school guidance counseling, etc. Out-of-state educators
certified in multiple fields will be eligible to exempt the content knowledge
assessment only for the field in which the acceptable experience was earned.
Other fields will be subject to the assessment requirement, but will be exempt
from all other applicable Special Georgia Requirements with the exception of
the standards of conduct.
O.C.G.A. § 20-2-200.
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