New York State Education Department

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The New York State Education Department is the state education department in New York State. It is responsible for the supervision for all public schools in New York State, all standardized testing, as well as the production and administration of all state tests and Regents Examinations.

1 Organization
2 State exams
3 Teaching license requirements
4 See also
5 Sources
6 External links

[edit] Organization

The New York State Education Department has five main offices, each under the direction of the Commissioner of Education:

Elementary, Middle, Secondary and Continuing Education (EMSC) oversees pre-K through 12th grade programs, as well as continuing education. The division has diverse responsibilities, including learning and curriculum standards, Regents exams and other State tests, non-public school services, facilities planning, the GED program, and school report cards.

Higher Education (OHE) oversees colleges, universities and proprietary (for profit) schools; is responsible for the certification of teachers and other school professionals; and oversees programs to improve teacher preparation and recruitment.

Office of Cultural Education (OCE) is home to the New York State Archives, the New York State Library, the New York State Museum, and the Public Broadcasting Office.

Office of the Professions (OP) supervises and administers over 40 licensed professions.

Vocational and Educational Services for Individuals with Disabilities (VESID) promotes educational equity for students with disabilities; assures appropriate continuity between the child and adult services systems; and provides vocational rehabilitation and independent living services to all eligible persons to enable them to work and live independent, self-directed lives.

[edit] State exams

The NYS Education Department requires that all students in Grades 3-8 take state tests in the areas of Mathematics, English, Science, and Social Studies. All Grade 8 students are tested in these subjects as well as a Foreign Language test in a Language Other Than English of the student's choice. Regents exams are administered to the students up until their junior year of high school, in the subjects of English, Mathematics, Science, Social Studies and a LOTE (Language other than English). Students who decide not to study a foreign language may make up the regents credit by taking an appropriate number of business education, art, music, and technology classes.

Students, for instance some with IEPs for special needs, who cannot pass the regents exams may receive a local diploma by passing the RCT (Regents Competency Test).

[edit] Teaching license requirements

In order to teach in New York State, the applicant must hold a valid New York State Teaching License. Most new certified teachers come from NYS-approved teaching programs in colleges or universities either in New York State or another state that has an agreement with New York State. Upon graduation, they must past the New York State Liberal Arts & Science (LAST) test, the Assessment of Teaching Skills Test-Written (ATS-W), and a Content Specialty Test (CST), appropriate to the subject the student wishes to teach. This initial teacher certification is temporary and will expire after a few years.

To become a full-time, permanent teacher, the applicant must attend a NYS-approved teacher education program at a college/university. Each state has different requirements to become a permanently certified teacher, and the requirements keep increasing. For example, permanent certification in NYS requires 2 to 3 years of classroom teaching experience, depending on the certification you are working toward. It also requires being mentored by a permanently certified teacher within the first year teaching, as well as 175 hours of professional development every 3 years.

[edit] Limited state funding for processing applications

The department not only licenses teachers, it coordinates licensing for all other professions that must receive state licenses, such as nurse practitioners, accountants, and social workers. The Office of the Professions is a division of the NYS Education Department.

Staff answer the telephone --only for non-teacher professions; call traffic for those professions is segregated away to a unit called 'Office of Professions'.

For reasons including the above, applications for certification sent to the Education Department generally take a few months to process.

[edit] Foreign teachers and career changers

Career-changers and others who did not graduate from a teacher education program can earn a teaching certificate by completing the above-mentioned tests, completing satisfactory education coursework in college, and finally apply for a license for teaching with the NYSED Office of Teaching Initiatives. Some new teachers will have college degrees in an academic field (e.g. English or History, but do not have a teaching certificate. If they wish to enter teaching, they must have a baccalaureate degree with a satisfactory GPA, take all of the above mentioned tests, and apply for a license with the Office of Teaching Initiatives.

Programs such as the New York City Teaching Fellows allow uncertified teachers to teach under a transitional license, provided that they have received a bachelor's degree, passed the LAST and the CST in their area, and are enrolled in a cooperating master's degree program. Teachers with a Transitional B license have three years to apply for their Initial Certification, which requires completion of student teaching, education coursework, subject-area coursework, and the ATS-W exam.

[edit] Teachers from another state

If a teacher moves to New York from a state that has an agreement with NY, all they have to do is apply for a teacher's license from the NYSED,. They then have two years to complete all required tests. A teacher that has moved to New York from a state that NOT have an agreement with NYS must have at least a bachelor's degree with satisfactory hours, complete all required tests, and then apply for the certificate. Teachers that wish to gain additional certification in another subject must have a valid NYS classroom teaching certificate, apply for the new certificate, complete 30 hours of satisfactory semester work, in the subject, and take a CST.