....PA Certification....
"He who has a why can endure any how."
....Friedrich Nietzsche
1. A Pennsylvania Professional Certificate is your authorization to perform as a professional employee-teacher, school nurse, school dental hygienist, librarian, school counselor, home and school visitor, school psychologist, supervisor, principal, assistant or vice-principal in the public schools of Pennsylvania.
NOTE: Technically speaking, there is no such thing as a teaching certificate, although teacher is generically used in the School Code as a reference to professional employees.
2. Professional certificates are issued by the Secretary of Education, Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE).
3. Upon completing an approved program of study in an approved college or university, a person is issued an Instructional I, Educational Specialist I, Administrative I, or Supervisor I certificate. Vocational Intern and Vocational Instructional I certificates are issued to vocational-technical school teachers.
4. Teachers who receive initial certification on or after June 1, 1987 must participate in an induction program. Newly employed professional personnel with prior teaching experience also may be requied by school intities to participate.
5. All Instructional I certificates that were valid on September 13, 1980, remain valid for a total of six years of service. Before that date, Instructional I certificates were valid for three years of service unless the holder applied for and received a renewal for an additional three years.
6. Valid certification is a necessary prerequisite to professional employee status. Allowing an Instructional I certificate to expire voids the employee's employment status.
7. Instructional II, Educational Specialist II, Administrative II, Supervisory II, and Vocational Instructional II certificates are permanent certificates.
8. The requirements for an Instructional II certificate are three years of satisfactory teaching in the state of Pennsylvania, attainment of 24 semester credits beyond baccalaureate degree, and completion of induction.
9. Employment as a long-term substitute in one's area of certification does count as service time against the life of one's Instructional certificate.
10. The requirements for Educational Specialist II, Supervisor II, and Administrative II certificates are three years of satisfactory service on the Educational Specialist I, Supervisory I, or Adminstriative I certificate and 24 post-baccalaureate credits. Credits completed to attain these certificates satisfy the 24-credit requirement.
11. Under Act 178, all persons who have received initial teaching or administrative certification on or after June 1, 1987, shall be required at least once during every five-year period, upon receiving a permanent teaching certificate or initial administrative certificate, to participate in their employing school entity's approved professional development plan. A professionally-related mater's degree permanently meets this requirement.
12. The requirements for Vocational Instructional II certification are three years of satisfactory service on the Vocational Intructional I certificate and the completion of an approved 60-credit program in vocational education. The credit requirement must be completed within a seven-year period.
13. An employee may not teach in an area in which the individual is not properly certificated. Likewise, a school district stands to be financially penalized if it uses improperly certificated teachers for any classes.
14. A person holding a valid elementary teaching certificate may not teach in a junior or senior high school, but may teach grades 7 and 8 in an approved middle school.(Due to "No Child Left Behind," this is no longer valid)
15. Secondary certified teachers are limited to teach in grades 7-12, but they may teach their subject area in grades 5 and 6 in an approved middle school.(Due to "No Child Left Behind," this is no longer valid)
16. Should a properly certificated professional employee not be available to fill a vacancy either as a regular employee or a long-term substitute, an emergency certificate can be issued by the PDE at the request of the school district and the teacher. However, the applicant must agree to pursue a PDE-approved preparation program completing nine credits each year until full certification in the area for which the emergency certificate is issued is attained.
17. Under limited circumstances, an emergency certificate may be issued for one year or less, with the teacher having no commitment to become certificated in that subject area.
18. By request of the school district, an Act 97 waiver of certification may be issued to enable the reassignment or split-assignment of a current employee to an area in which that employee is not certificated. Waivers are issued when the employee would otherwise be furloughed or demoted and when there is no appropriately certificated teacher on the recall list. To be eligible, the applicant must have at least 12 semester credit hours of advanced preparation in the area for which the waiver is sought.
19. Certification Regulations and state law contain provisions for a Master's Degree Equivalency Certificate which is used for pay purposes only.
20. Annually, between October 1 and December 31, any holder of a Pennsylvania certificate may request the deletion of any area on a certificate if that individual has not taught in that area within the previous 10 years or is not a regularly employed full-time teacher.
21. All requests for changes in certification are to be made on the PDE Forms 4511S or 4511A, available from your PSEA office or your school district office.
****The above facts have been taken from the Pennsylvania Public School Code, Chapter 49 or the Regulations of the State Board of Education, and various Teacher Certification Memos issued by the Department. Since many of the aspects of certification are complicated and technical in nature, it is strongly urged that you contact your PSEA UniServ Representative if you have any questions/concerns on certification****
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