Current through Register Vol. 48, No. 3, March 22, 2024
I.
Types of Credential Classification
A. Initial
Certificate
An initial certificate is valid for three years. Beyond the
initial three-year validity period, teachers who do not yet meet the
requirements for professional certification, but who are employed by a public
school district at the induction or annual contract level, as defined in S.C.
Code Ann. Section
59-26-40,
may have their certificates extended annually at the request of the employing
school district.
Teachers who hold initial certificates and are employed in a
public school setting in a position that does not require certification or is
not included in the ADEPT system may have their certificates extended annually
for an indefinite period at the request of the employing school or school
district, provided that certificate renewal requirements, as specified in
Reg.43-55 (Renewal of Credentials) are met every five years.
Teachers who hold initial certificates and are employed in a
nonpublic school educational setting may have their certificates extended
annually for an indefinite period at the request of the educational entity,
provided that certificate renewal requirements, as specified in Reg.43-55
(Renewal of Credentials) are met every five years.
Teachers who hold initial certificates but who are not employed
by a public school district in a position requiring certification at the time
the initial certificate expires, and who have not otherwise met the
requirements for professional certification, may reapply for an initial
certificate at such time as they become employed by a public school district or
private school, subject to the requirements for initial certification in effect
at the time of reapplication. To qualify for an initial certificate, the
applicant must fulfill the following requirements:
1. Earn a bachelor's or master's degree
either from an institution that has a state-approved teacher education program
and is accredited for general collegiate purposes by a regional accreditation
association, or from a South Carolina institution that has programs approved
for teacher education by the State Board of Education (SBE), or from an
institution that has programs approved for teacher education by a national
accreditation association with which the South Carolina Department of Education
(SCDE) has a partnership agreement. Professional education credit must be
earned through an institution that has a teacher education program approved for
initial certification.
2. Submit
the required teaching content area examination score(s) and the required score
on the examination of general professional knowledge (pedagogy) as adopted by
the SBE for purposes of certification.
3. Undergo a criminal records check by the
South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED) and a national criminal records
check supported by fingerprints conducted by the Federal Bureau of
Investigation (FBI). If the applicant does not complete the initial
certification process within eighteen months from the original date of
application, the FBI fingerprint process must be repeated. Eligible applicants
who have prior arrests and/or convictions must undergo a review by the SBE and
be approved before a certificate may be issued. Background checks from other
states or agencies are not transferable to South Carolina.
B. Professional Certificate
All professional certificates are valid for five years and may
be renewed as specified in Reg. 43-55 (Renewal of Credentials). To qualify for
a professional certificate an individual must
1. Meet all criteria to advance from an
initial to a professional certificate as specified in Section
59-26-40.
OR
2. Meet
all criteria to advance from an alternative route certificate as specified in
the SBE-approved guidelines for the specific alternative route program.
OR
3. Meet
all educator experience criteria as specified in Reg. 43-51 (Certification
Requirements) to be issued a professional certificate if applying as a
certified educator from out-of-state.
OR
4. Meet
all criteria of Section
59-26-85
to be issued a professional certificate if applying from out-of-state as an
educator holding a current, valid certification through the National Board of
Professional Teaching Standards.
C. Alternative Route Certificate
The alternative route certificate for an individual who
qualifies under the rules and guidelines published by the SBE for one of the
state's approved alternative route programs is valid for one year initially and
may be renewed under the conditions specified in the rules and guidelines for
that program. The teacher will be eligible for a professional certificate upon
his or her successful completion of all requirements as outlined in the
SBE-published guidelines for that program, including additional testing
requirements approved by the SBE and the formative and summative evaluation of
teaching performance and effectiveness as part of the state's system for
Assisting, Developing, and Evaluating Professional Teaching
(ADEPT).
D. International
Certificate
An International Certificate may be issued to a teacher from a
country outside of the United States provided the individual has completed at
least a bachelor's degree with a major in the teaching field. Organizations
that recruit and select teachers from other countries to teach in South
Carolina must assure that all cultural/educational visa requirements have been
met. The International Certificate may be renewed annually for up to three
years at the request of the local school district, provided the teacher has
demonstrated content competency based on the SCDE review of the official
transcript evaluation or has met the certification examination requirements
specified by the SBE during the first year of certification.
E. Internship Certificate
1. Approved Educator Preparation Program. The
Internship Certificate will be issued to individuals who are currently enrolled
in an SBE approved educator preparation program in South Carolina and have
completed all academic and bachelor's degree requirements, with the exception
of the teaching internship, as well as all certification examination
requirements. The certificate will be issued for up to one year, and must be
requested by the employing school district. Upon completion of the teaching
internship and verification by the college or university that all approved
program requirements have been met, the internship certificate will be
converted to an initial certificate.
2. School Psychologist. The Internship
Certificate will also be issued to any individual who is serving the required
internship for certification as a School Psychologist I or II under the
supervision of a certified School Psychologist II or III, or who is serving the
required internship for School Psychologist III under the supervision of a
certified School Psychologist III.
The applicant for the Internship Certificate in School
Psychology must submit official written verification from the college or
university that he or she is currently enrolled and working toward full
certification as a school psychologist, and that the internship is being served
through an SBE-approved training program. The Internship Certificate may be
renewed once on the basis of written documentation from the director of the
school psychology program that the applicant is a full-time student in the
program during the second year of the renewed certificate. Upon successful
completion of the internship year(s) and recommendation for certification by
the SBE-approved training program, the candidate for school psychologist will
be issued a professional certificate.
3. Speech-Language Pathology. The Internship
Certificate will also be issued to any individual who holds the Certificate of
Clinical Competence in Speech-Language Pathology issued by the American
Speech-Hearing Association (ASHA) or who has completed a master's degree that
includes the academic and clinical requirements for the ASHA Certificate of
Clinical Competence and has achieved the minimum qualifying score on the
required certification examination(s). The certificate will be effective for
one academic year and must be requested by the employing school district. The
Internship Certificate may be renewed once upon the written request of the
employing school district. The Internship Certificate may be converted to an
initial certificate upon verification of a successful formative evaluation in
fulfillment of the state's induction requirements.
F. Limited Professional Certificate
The purpose of the Limited Professional Certificate is to
provide a certificate advancement option for educators who hold South Carolina
Initial teaching certificates and who are employed as educators in eligible,
non-regulated educational entities in this state. In this context,
"non-regulated" means that the entity is not required to comply with SBE
regulations and guidelines for evaluating educator performance and
effectiveness. Examples of eligible, non-regulated educational entities include
South Carolina public charter schools that elect not to participate in the
SBE-approved process for evaluating teacher performance and effectiveness,
state or regionally accredited private and parochial schools in South Carolina,
and South Carolina institutions of higher education that have programs approved
for teacher preparation by the SBE.
1.
In order to be eligible to advance from an initial certificate to a Limited
Professional Certificate, the educator must be employed by an eligible,
non-regulated educational entity in South Carolina and must have accrued a
minimum total of three years of experience credit over the previous seven years
in one or more of these entities. During the entirety of the qualifying time
period, the educator must
(a) hold a valid
South Carolina Initial teaching certificate,
(b) be employed as a teacher or a
professional support specialist, such as a library media specialist, school
guidance counselor, or other support professional, in an area in which the
educator holds Initial certification, and
(c) successfully complete an annual
performance evaluation process that is approved by the employing educational
entity.
2. In order to
activate the certificate advancement process (i.e., from Initial to Limited
Professional), the educator must submit the following documents to the SCDE
office that is responsible for educator certification:
(a) a request for change/action requesting
advancement for the Limited Professional Certificate,
(b) official verification of
experience,
(c) verification of
successful annual performance evaluations from each employing entity,
and
(d) a recommendation for the
Limited Professional Certificate signed by the head of the educational entity
in which the educator is employed at the time the certificate is
requested.
3. All
Limited Professional Certificates are valid for a period of five
years.
4. Requirements for renewing
Limited Professional Certificates, including the provisions for expired
certificates, are the same as those for Professional Certificates, as specified
in SBE Regulation
43-55
(Renewal of Credentials).
5. An
educator who holds a valid Limited Professional Certificate and who applies for
a position as a teacher or a professional support specialist in a "regulated"
South Carolina public school is eligible for employment at the annual-contract
level. Once employed under an annual contract, the teacher is subject to all
requirements and sanctions for annual-contract teachers, as set forth in the
applicable state statutes, regulations, and guidelines. Upon successful
completion of the SBE-approved process for evaluating teaching performance and
effectiveness, the educator is eligible to move from a Limited Professional
Certificate to a Professional Certificate and to be employed under a continuing
contract.
G.
Certification Permit
A one-year certification permit may be issued to an educator
who holds a valid South Carolina initial or professional teaching certificate
and is assigned teaching duties for any amount of time in an area for which he
or she is not appropriately certified. Permits may be issued to classroom-based
teachers and for the areas of administration, library media specialist, and
school guidance counselor. Certification permits are not issued for the areas
of school psychologist and speech-language therapist.
The SCDE has the authority to develop guidelines for the
issuance of certification permits in accordance with the provisions of this
regulation to include eligibility for the issuance of a certification permit,
annual coursework requirements and progress necessary for renewal of the
permit, and final requirements for attaining full certification in the permit
area. Certification permits must be requested by the educator and his or her
employing school or school district.
II. Levels of Credential Classification
A. Bachelor's degree: the educator must meet
all criteria for an initial area of certification and have earned a bachelor's
degree that meets SBE regulations for teacher certification and program
approval.
B. Bachelor's degree plus
18 hours: the educator must have 18 hours of graduate credit that he or she
earns within seven years from the time the course work is started. Individuals
who do not complete the requirements during the seven years must request that
the college/university revalidate the course credits before the work can be
submitted for credential advancement.
C. Master's degree: the educator must have
earned a master's degree that meets SBE regulations for teacher certification
and program approval.
D. Master's
degree plus 30 hours:
In order to advance to the level of master's degree plus 30
hours, the educator must fulfill one of the following requirements:
1. The educator must earn 30 semester hours
of graduate credit above the master's degree with 21 hours of the graduate
credit in one area of concentration. These hours may or may not be in the
teacher's initial area of certification. The course work must be completed
within seven years from the time it was started. Individuals who do not
complete the course work during the seven years must request that the
college/university revalidate the course credits before the work can be
submitted for credential advancement.
OR
2. The
educator must earn an additional master's degree that meets SBE regulations for
teacher certification and program approval.
OR
3. The
educator must earn a specialist's degree that meets SBE regulations for teacher
certification and program approval.
OR
4. The
educator must earn a single master's degree with at least 60 graduate semester
hours that meets SBE regulations for teacher certification and program
approval.
OR
5. If the
educator has earned a single master's degree containing 51 or more graduate
semester hours, the educator must complete additional courses to equal at least
60 graduate semester hours in order to be eligible for the master's degree plus
30 credential classification. The master's degree must meet SBE regulations for
teacher certification and program approval, and the additional hours must be
earned in a single concentration area and completed within seven years of the
conferral of the master's degree. Individuals who do not complete the course
work during the seven years will not be eligible for this option.
E. Doctorate: the teacher must
have earned a doctoral degree that meets the SBE regulations for teacher
certification and program approval.
III. Requirements for Credential Advancement
A. To advance his or her credential from one
classification to another, the applicant must submit to the teacher
certification office of the SBE the following:
1. Written request to have the certificate
advanced on the designated action form.
2. Documentation, including transcripts, that
the SBE requirements have been met for certificate advancement.
3. The specified fee, if such a fee is
currently being charged.
B. The effective date of the credential
advancement will be based on the following:
1.
If an applicant completes the degree or coursework to become eligible for the
advancement of his or her South Carolina educator certificate between May 1 and
November 1, the effective date of the credential is July 1 of that year
provided that all documentation is on file in the SCDE teacher certification no
later than November 1.
2. If an
applicant completes the degree or coursework to become eligible for the
advancement of his or her South Carolina educator certificate after November 1
and all required documentation is received within forty-five days of completion
and no later than April 30, the effective date of the credential is the
completion date. If documentation is received forty-five or more days after
completion and no later than April 30, the effective date of the credential is
the date on which the last supporting document is received by the SCDE teacher
certification office. If documentation is submitted after April 30, the
effective date of the credential is July 1 of that year.
Statutory Authority: S.C. Code Ann. Sections
59-5-60(1)
(2004), 59-25-110 (2004), 59-26-10 et seq.
(2004 and Supp. 2010), and
20 U.S.C.
6301 et seq
(2001)
