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Reforming California’s special education teacher preparation system
For years, California’s education leaders have recognized that the state has struggled to effectively serve students with disabilities.
California’s ongoing efforts to improve services for students with disabilities now include major changes to special education teacher preparation. All of California’s teacher education programs must now conform to new program standards aligned with new teaching performance expectations by the fall of 2020.

The state’s current accountability system highlights this issue: two-thirds of the 228 districts receiving differentiated assistance based on their 2017 Dashboard reports were identified based on their outcomes for students participating in special education.

California’s ongoing efforts to improve services for students with disabilities now include major changes to special education teacher preparation. All of California’s teacher education programs must now conform to new program standards aligned with new teaching performance expectations by the fall of 2020.

The changes are the result of years of research as part of the state’s commitment to meeting the needs of students with disabilities. In 2013, the California Department of Education convened a task force to address persistently low educational, social, health and economic outcomes for the state’s nearly 775,000 students with disabilities. In its 2015 report, the California Statewide Task Force on Special Education described an educational system that essentially functions as two separate systems: general and special education. The task force found this separation reflects teacher education programs that prepare the state’s educators and recommended a comprehensive series of reforms.

The reforms also aim to improve a chronic shortage of special education teachers, which approximately half of all California districts report as being an issue. A 2017 report from the Learning Policy Institute found that intern and emergency permits nearly doubled between 2011–12 and 2015–16, while the number of new teachers holding preliminary special education credentials dropped by almost a third.

A more coherent teacher preparation system

In response to the task force’s recommendations, the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing worked with stakeholder groups to revise its Teacher Performance Expectations and Credential Program Standards for both general and special education teachers. First, the CTC revised the state’s preliminary multiple and single subject credential programs, creating a set of TPEs that integrated substantially more knowledge, skills and abilities necessary for serving students with disabilities. Teacher preparation programs implemented these standards in 2017.

These changes represent a new approach, as most of the current general education teachers and special education teachers received their credentials from programs that operate in distinct silos. Education specialists, also known as special education teachers, have not been required to earn a general education credential since 1996. With programs that focused primarily on the special education context, teacher candidates learned apart from the general educators with whom they would need to collaborate. Likewise, general education teachers reported feeling unprepared by their teacher preparation programs to serve students with disabilities.

This summer, the CTC approved sweeping changes to the preparation of California’s education specialists. All of California’s teacher education programs must conform to the new program standards aligned with new teaching performance expectations by fall 2020.

Changes

Based on Work Group and Commission staff recommendations, teacher preparation programs in California will offer five preliminary credentials, a reduction from the seven current offerings, all beginning with the title Education Specialist:

  • Early Childhood Special Education
  • Mild/Moderate Support Needs (formerly Mild/Moderate Disabilities)
  • Extensive Support Needs (formerly Moderate/Severe Disabilities)
  • Deaf and Hard of Hearing
  • Vision Impairments

By 2020, the state will no longer issue credentials for Orthopedic or Physical Health Impairments or Language and Academic Development. The related TPEs, along with those for serving students with traumatic brain injuries, have largely been integrated into the Mild/Moderate and Extensive Support Needs programs.

Currently, Early Childhood Special Education credential holders can teach students from birth through age 5. The new ECSE credential authorizes teachers to work with students from birth through kindergarten. Additionally, new ECSE credential holders will also be allowed to work with students who qualify in the “orthopedic impairment” category.

Once the new credentials are issued, Mild/Moderate and Extensive Support Needs credentials will authorize teachers to work with students from all federal disability categories, except for deaf-blindness. Only teachers with an Extensive Support Needs credential can serve students who are both deaf and blind. This will provide additional flexibility for districts in their staffing decisions, and it represents a shift in approach from focusing on federal disability categories to the intensity of supports that students need. The CDE is currently working to define “extensive support needs” to help IEP teams determine which credential is appropriate for providing services to particular students.

Adding to the flexibility offered by the new credential authorizations, teachers with Mild/Moderate Support Needs credentials can now work with students who have multiple disabilities if they do not need extensive support. In our present system, only Moderate/Severe credential holders are authorized to serve those students.

Shortages remain a problem
Special education teacher shortages have plagued most California districts for years. The added flexibility is good news for school districts struggling to ensure that students work with educators who hold the appropriate authorizations. However, this is a long-term strategy, and districts will not benefit from these changes for several years. Other challenges remain in the short term. The CTC Work Group urged the Commission to address requirements for the Intern credential, for example. CSBA will continue to keep its members updated on changes as they occur.