Nebraska Administrative Code
Topic - EDUCATION, DEPARTMENT OF
Title 92 - NEBRASKA DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
Chapter 51 - REGULATIONS AND STANDARDS FOR SPECIAL EDUCATION PROGRAMS
Section 92-51-010 - Qualifications of Special Education Personnel for Program Approval and Reimbursement

Universal Citation: 92 NE Admin Rules and Regs ch 51 ยง 010

Current through March 20, 2024

010.01 School districts and approved cooperatives shall ensure that all personnel necessary to carry out this Chapter are appropriately and adequately prepared and trained including that those personnel have the content knowledge and skills to serve children with disabilities, subject to the requirements of Section 2122 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965.

010.01A Instructional personnel shall hold valid Nebraska Department of Education certification, be endorsed in the assigned area. Instructional personnel may serve children with visual impairments and children with hearing impairments in a multicategorical program if the instructional personnel have attended training approved by the Department of Education or have received consultation from an individual endorsed in the area of visual hearing impairments. This section does not apply to individuals providing inservice.

010.01B Each person employed as a special education teacher who teaches elementary school, middle school, or secondary school shall be a teacher meeting IDEA 2004 criteria as defined in 92 NAC 51-003.62.

010.01C School districts or approved cooperatives shall take measurable steps to recruit, hire, train^ and retain teachers meeting IDEA 2004 criteria to provide special education and related services.
010.01C1 School districts and approved cooperatives shall make positive efforts to employ, and advance in employment, qualified individuals with disabilities in programs assisted under Part B of the IDEA.

010.01D Approvable endorsements for program approval and reimbursement shall include:

Categorical Assignment

NDE Approvable Endorsement

010.01D1

Adaptive Physical Education

Adaptive Physical Education

010.01D2

Autism

Special Education Functional Academic Skills and Independent Living Specialist

Special Education

Special Education Inclusion and Collaboration Specialist

Special Education Behavior Intervention Specialist

Speech-Language Pathologist

010.01D3

Emotional Disturbance

Special Education Behavior Intervention Specialist

Special Education

010.01D4

Deaf-Blindness

Special Education Visual Impairment

Special Education Functional Academic Skills and Independent Living Specialist

010.01D5

Diagnostic Services

School Psychologist Audiologist

Speech-Language Pathologist or any special education endorsement

010.01D6

Early Childhood Special Education in Home and Centerbased Programs for Children Birth-Age Five

Early Childhood plus any Special Education

Early Childhood Inclusive

Special Education Early Childhood

Special Education

Special Education Early Intervention Specialist

010.01D7

Hearing Impairments

Deaf or Hard of Hearing

010.01D8

Home (School Age) and Hospital (Birth to 21) Services

Any Teaching endorsement

010.01D9

Home-School Liaison

Any special education endorsement School Counselor

010.01D10

Intellectual Disability

Special Education

010.01D11

Multicategorical Programs

Instructional personnel serving students in a multicategorical program shall be considered to be endorsed in the assigned area if an endorsement is held in at least one of the disability categories served

010.01D12

Multiple Disabilities

Special Education Functional Academic Skills and Independent Living Specialist

010.01D13

Orthopedic Impairments

Special Education

010.01D14

Program Supervision

Administrative or Supervisory certificate and at least one Special Education endorsement or any Special Education Administrative or Supervisory certificate

010.01D15

Learning Disabilities

Special Education Inclusion and Collaboration Specialist

Special Education

010.01D16

Speech-Language Impairments

Speech-Language Pathologist

010.01D17

Substitute Teacher

Any Teaching certificate

010.01D18

Traumatic Brain Injury

Special Education Functional Academic Skills and Independent Living Specialist

Special Education

Special Education Behavior

Intervention Specialist

Speech-Language Pathologist

Special Education Inclusion and Collaboration Specialist

010.01D19

Visual Impairment

Special Education Visual Impairment

010.01D20

Work Study Program or Transition Program

Any special education endorsement School Counselor

Vocational Special Needs

Cooperative Education - Diversified Occupations

Secondary Transition Specialist

010.02 For purposes of 92 NAC 51-010.01D5, 010.01D14 and 010.01D20 "special education endorsement" shall include any approvable endorsement under 92 NAC 51-010.01D except 010.01D8, 010.01D17 and excluding the specific endorsements of guidance and counseling, educational audiologist, vocational special needs, cooperative education diversified occupations and special services certificate for school transition specialist.

010.03 Related Services Personnel and Paraprofessionals

010.03A Related services personnel and paraprofessionals shall hold any State-approved or State-recognized certification, licensing, registration, or other comparable requirements that apply to the professional discipline in which those personnel are providing special education or related services.

010.03B Related services personnel who deliver services in their discipline or profession shall not have had certification or licensure requirements waived on an emergency, temporary, or provisional basis.

010.03C Paraprofessionals shall be appropriately trained and supervised by qualified special education personnel to be used to assist in the provision of special education and related services under this Chapter.

010.03D A paraprofessional shall not teach, as defined in Neb. Rev. Stat. § 79-101.12.

010.04 Personnel providing special education services who do not hold Department of Education certification and endorsement, shall be licensed by the appropriate State of Nebraska Board of Examiners.

010.05 Personnel employed by approved service agencies shall be certified by the Department of Education or shall hold the credential or training required by the licensing standard under which the service providers operate.

010.06 Qualified Educational Sign Language Interpreters

010.06A In order to be a qualified educational sign language interpreter for the purposes of 92 NAC 51-010.06, an individual must have a high school diploma, high school equivalency diploma or higher, and meet the requirements of 92 NAC 51-010.06A1 or 010.06A2:
010.06A1 Receive a passing score on the El PA written exam, and attain and maintain one or more of the following competency levels as measured by the following assessments:
010.06A1a Educational Interpreter Performance Assessment (ElPA), Competency level 4.0 or above

010.06A1b Registry of Interpreters of the Deaf Certification (RID)

010.06A1c National Association of the Deaf (NAD) Competency level 4.0 or above

010.06A1d National Interpreter Certification (NIC)

010.06A1e Quality Assurance Screening Test (QAST) Competency level 4.0

010.06A2 Educational interpreters providing sign language interpreter services in a school district or approved cooperative for two consecutive school years immediately prior to the effective date of this Rule shall be considered qualified educational sign language interpreters if:
010.06A2a the individual has attained a competency level of 3.5 or higher on the ElPA, and

010.06A2b the individual has met the requirements of 92 NAC 51-010.06F.

010.06B Subject to the exceptions in 92 NAC 51-010.06C, and 010.06D, school districts and approved cooperatives shall ensure that all sign language interpreters employed by such school districts or approved cooperatives to provide special education services are qualified educational sign language interpreters who meet the competency requirements in 92 NAC 51-010.06A.

010.06C If the school district or approved cooperative is unable to find a qualified educational sign language interpreter who meets the requirements of 92 NAC 51-010.06A, the school district or approved cooperative may employ for up to one year an interpreter who has received a "Skills at or above the required level" or a "Hire with Caution" on the ElPA pre-hire screening.

010.06D If a school district or approved cooperative is unable to find a qualified educational sign language interpreter who meets the requirements of 92 NAC 51-010.06A, the school district or approved cooperative may employ for up to two school years, an interpreter who demonstrates the minimum competency level of 3.0 on the ElPA, NAD or QAST. The school district or approved cooperative must require that the interpreter participate in a professional development plan designed to improve his or her skills and enable him or her to become a qualified educational sign language interpreter within two school years. The plan shall include at least 40 clock hours of training in interpreting per year (August 1 to July 31). The plan shall be approved by the school district or approved cooperative. The school district or approved cooperative must require that the interpreter attain one or more of the competency levels in 92 NAC 51-010.06A within two school years of employment.

010.06E If an interpreter does not achieve the required competency levels within the time periods as specified in 92 NAC 51-010.06D, the school district or approved cooperative must reopen the position and seek a qualified educational sign language interpreter.

010.06F School districts and approved cooperatives shall require that all sign language interpreters employed by the school districts or approved cooperatives to deliver special education services submit evidence to the school district or approved cooperative of having obtained 24 clock hours of professional development every two years (August 1 -July 31). This should include at least 18 hours of training related to sign language interpreting. The remaining six hours of training can be in any of the following areas: history, psychology and sociology of the Deaf and hard of hearing; child development; language development; curriculum development; methods of instruction; interpreting for students who are deaf-blind; legal and ethical issues for educational interpreters.

010.06G If a sign language interpreter cannot provide the evidence required in 92 NAC 51-010.06F of the professional development, the school district or approved cooperative shall require that the sign language interpreter be retested and achieve the applicable competency level specified in 92 NAC 51-010.06A, 010.06C, or 010.06D.

010.07 Notwithstanding any other individual right of action that a parent or student may maintain under this Chapter, nothing in this section or Chapter shall be construed to create a right of action on behalf of an individual student or class of students for the failure of a school district or approved cooperative employee to meet IDEA 2004 criteria or to prevent a parent from filing a complaint about staff qualification pursuant to Section 009 of this Chapter.

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