The Board of Regents, at its March 2016 meeting adopted a new Subpart 80-6 of the Regulations of the Commissioner of Education to implement Chapter 56 of the Laws of 2015 relating to the registration process for any holder of a classroom teaching, school leader and teaching assistant certificate that is valid for life (Permanent, Professional and Level III Teaching Assistant) and the establishment of Continuing Teacher and Leader Education (CTLE) requirements for Professional and Level III Teaching Assistant certificate holders.

These new Registration and CTLE requirements do not apply to holders of Continuing Teaching Assistant certificates and Pupil Personnel Services (PPS) certificates, such as School Attendance Teachers, School Counselors, School Psychologists, School Social Workers, School Dental Hygiene Teachers and School Nurse Teachers.

CTLE certificate holder: A Registered holder of a professional classroom teaching certificate, educational leadership certificate, or Level III teaching assistant certificate is required to successfully complete 100 clock hours of acceptable CTLE during the registration period if they practice 90 days or more in a single applicable school district, board of cooperative educational services (BOCES) or nonpublic school that is providing instruction pursuant to Education Law §3204(2) located in New York State. For purposes of this definition, the City School District of New York and any of its components shall be considered a single school district. The CTLE requirement may be completed at any time during the registration period. CTLE completed during a prior registration period may not be carried over.

Permanent classroom teacher and school leader certificate holders practicing in New York State will be subject to Registration requirements, but will not be subject to CTLE.

Holders of Continuing Teaching Assistant certificates or Pupil Personnel Services (PPS) certificates, such as School Attendance Teachers, School Counselors, School Psychologists, School Social Workers, School Dental Hygiene Teachers and School Nurse Teachers, are not subject to Registration or CTLE requirements.

Acceptable CTLE must be taken from a sponsor approved by the Department.

Acceptable CTLE shall be study in the content area of any certificate title held by the individual or in pedagogy and include any required study in language acquisition addressing the needs of English language learners as described in section 80-6.3 of Commissioner’s Regulations.

Acceptable CTLE must be conducted through activities designed to improve the teacher or leader’s pedagogical and/or leadership skills, targeted at improving student performance, including but not limited to formal CTLE activities. Such activities shall promote the professionalization of teaching and educational leadership, as applicable, and be closely aligned to district goals for student performance.

Speech and Language Disabilities Professional Certificate Holders please note: Courses taken from an approved American Speech-Language Hearing Association (ASHA) CE provider are acceptable towards meeting CTLE requirements as long as they are documented with the ASHA CE Registry. One ASHA CEU equals 10 hours of CTLE.

Measurement of Continuing Teacher and Leader Education (CTLE)

CTLE credit shall only be granted for CTLE acceptable to the Department and conducted by a sponsor approved by the Department.

For credit-bearing university or college courses, each semester-hour of credit shall equal 15 clock hours of CTLE credit, and each quarter-hour of credit shall equal 10 clock hours of CTLE credit. For all other approved continuing teacher and leader education courses, one CTLE credit hour shall constitute a minimum of 60 minutes of instruction/education.

CTLE certificate holders shall maintain a record of completed CTLE, which shall include: the title of the program, the total number of hours completed, the number of hours completed in language acquisition addressing the need of English language learners, the sponsor's name and any identifying number, attendance verification, and the date and location of the program. Such records shall be retained for at least three years from the end of the registration period in which the CTLE was completed and shall be available for review by the Department upon request. Completion certificates are not to be submitted to the Office of Teaching Initiatives unless they are requested.

Individual CTLE Record Keeping Form (79KB)

An adjustment to the CTLE requirement in terms of clock hours and/or the time for completing CTLE, may be granted by the Commissioner provided that the CTLE certificate holder documents good cause that prevents compliance, which shall include any of the following reasons: poor health certified by a health care provider, extended active duty in the Armed Forces, or other good cause acceptable to the Department which may prevent compliance. The Department will not pre-approve adjustments prior to the conclusion of a five-year Registration period.

Holders of Professional English to Speakers of Other Languages certificates or Bilingual Extension Annotations are required to complete a minimum of 50 percent of the required CTLE clock hours in language acquisition aligned with the core content area of instruction taught, including a focus on best practices for co-teaching strategies, and integrating language and content instruction for English language learners.

All other Professional certificate holders must complete a minimum of 15 percent of the required CTLE clock hours in language acquisition addressing the needs of English language learners, including a focus on best practices for co-teaching strategies, and integrating language and content instruction for English language learners.

Level III Teaching Assistant certificate holders must complete a minimum of 15 percent of the required CTLE clock hours dedicated to language acquisition addressing the needs of English language learners and integrating language and content instruction for English language learners.

For detailed information about the Language Acquisition Requirements, go to Language Acquisition Requirement Table (23KB).

Suggested Activities for Meeting the

CTLE Language Acquisition Requirements

Best Practices

• Best practices for Bilingual Education (Dual Language and Transitional programs)

• Best practices for English as a New Language (ENL)

• Academic language and English Language Learners (ELLs)/Multilingual Learners (MLLs)

• Co-teaching strategies, structures and supports

• Effective literacy strategies for ELLs/MLLs

• Scaffolds that support ELLs/MLLs in mastering core content

• Home Language and literacy development

• Aligning instructional resources to meet the needs of ELLs/MLLs

• Lesson Planning using the Targets of Measurement (TOMs), Performance Level Descriptors (PLDs), and the Bilingual Common Core Progressions

Identification, Placement, Assessment

• Identification procedures for ELLs/MLLs

• Response to Intervention (RtI) for ELLs/MLLs

• Identification and placement procedures for ELLs/MLLs

• Assigning credits and reviewing international transcripts

• Appropriate assessment procedures/approaches to ELL/MLL assessment

• Language Learning vs. Disability

IEPs, Instruction, Students with Disabilities

• Integrating language and content instruction for ELLs/MLLs

• Meeting the needs of subpopulations of ELLs/MLLs (e.g., Students with Interrupted/Inconsistent Formal Education, ELLs/Students with Disabilities, Newcomers, Developing ELLs, Long Term ELLs, Former ELLs)

• Bridges training for Low Literacy SIFE

• Bilingual Common Core Progressions

• Best practices for working with ELLs/MLLs with an IEP

• Gifted and Talented ELLs/MLLs

Home, Family, Community, Culture and Social

• Home language and literacy development in Bilingual Education programs

• Strengthening home/school communication

• Cultural responsiveness or cultural competency training for teachers and administrators

• Best practices on how to support and sustain ELLs’/MLLs’ social and emotional development needs, including creating a safe and supportive environment that is conducive to learning

• Supporting and strengthening family and community engagement

• Cultivating a multilingual school environment

• Using the home language to accelerate English Language Development

Classroom teachers, school leaders and Level III Teaching Assistants who are employed by a school district or BOCES with an approved exemption pursuant to section 154-2.3(k) shall be exempt from the language acquisition CTLE requirements prescribed in this subdivision for each such year that they practice in a New York State school district or BOCES with an approved exemption. Such exemption does not reduce the 100-hour requirement.

A holder of a certificate in the classroom teaching service who achieves certification from the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards shall be deemed to have met the CTLE requirement for the registration period in which such National Board Certification is achieved; provided that the CTLE certificate holder continues to meet the applicable required CTLE requirements in language acquisition as described above.

A Certificate holder must update their address or submit a name change within 30 days of such change. To receive information relevant to certification, Registration and CTLE requirements, certificate holders must maintain access to their TEACH account and list their current email address on TEACH. Any certificate holder who fails to inform the Department of changes to their name and or address may be subject to moral character review.

• How to Submit a Name Change

• How to Submit an Address Change