(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
Teaching1. Candidates will choose one
of three methods to demonstrate their teaching:
a. 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;
b. 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,
c. 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.
1.1. 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:
a. The license was obtained through fraud or
misrepresentation of a material fact;
b. The holder of the license is unfit to
perform the duties for which the license was granted;
c. 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;
d. 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.
e. 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.
2.2. If any of the above grounds are
determined, the Commissioner may put limitations on a license that may include:
a. Restrictions on the ages of students with
whom the certificate or license holder may work;
b. Additional supervision
requirements;
c. Education,
counseling, or psychiatric examination requirements;
d. 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.
