In response to the COVID-19 crisis, the State Education Department (SED) continues to amend regulations that govern certification in NY. These amendments may help individuals who have applied/are applying for certificates or certificate extensions before September 1, 2022, special education teachers who teach in a special class, and individuals with temporary coaching certificates.
Emergency COVID-19 Certificate
Slideshow highlighting the Emergency COVID-19 Certificate process
The Emergency COVID-19 Certificate is intended to address situations where applicants for certificates and/or certificate extensions have completed all the requirements except for state certification examinations. The COVID-19 certificate would permit individuals in this situation to be considered certified and thus employable in the area of the certificate and/or certificate extension sought.
The COVID-19 certificate is valid for two (2) years. During that time, the COVID-19 Certificate holder must take and pass the missing exam(s).
Examples of individuals who may be eligible for the Emergency COVID-19 certificate include, but are not limited to, those who:
- Complete or completed a New York State registered teacher or educational leadership preparation program leading to Initial or Professional certification, or a registered extension program, prior to the Fall 2022 term, including traditional programs and Transitional B, C, and D programs;
- Graduate or graduated from an acceptable out-of-state teacher or educational leadership preparation program and have less than three years of acceptable experience in another state prior to the Fall 2022 term;
- Are seeking Initial or Professional teacher certification through the "Individual Evaluation" pathway;
- Are seeking a Teaching Assistant certificate and have not passed the Assessment of Teaching Assistant Skills (ATAS);
- Are seeking a Transitional A certificate through the Option B pathway, or a Transitional B, C, or D certificate;
- Held an Initial teacher or school building leader certificate, have less than three (3) years of experience, and are seeking an Initial Reissuance;
- Hold or held a Transitional G certificate, or have acceptable postsecondary teaching experience, and are seeking an Initial or Professional teacher certificate; and
- Hold a valid New York State teacher certificate and are seeking an additional Initial or Professional teacher certificate, Supplementary certificate, or certain extensions.
Application Process (Application Deadline is September 1, 2022):
TWO (2) applications are required: one for the certificate (or extension) sought AND one
for the COVID-19 Certificate. Applications are submitted on TEACH.
Application Example: candidate for the Childhood 1-6 certificate has met all the
requirements for the certificate EXCEPT for the Content Specialty Test (CST) required.
This individual will submit two (2) applications on TEACH: one for the Childhood 1-6
certificate AND one for the COVID-19 certificate. The COVID-19 certificate will be
issued if all other requirements are met; the Childhood 1-6 will be issued once the missing
CST is successfully completed.
There is NO FEE TO APPLY for the Emergency COVID-19 certificate. Applicants apply
on TEACH and do not pay the fee; SED will waive the application fee and change the
application status to “Ready for Review”.
There is still a fee for the certificate or certificate extension sought.
October 2020: Professional Coaching Certificate Flexibility
In response to the COVID-19 crisis, individuals who held a temporary coaching certificate for the winter 2019-2020, spring 2020, fall 2020, winter 2020-2021, and/or spring 2021 sports seasons are not required to have received an evaluation by the principal or athletic director during the applicable sport season(s) for the Professional coaching certificate.
Prior to this change, temporary coaching candidates of extracurricular interscholastic sports were required to receive a satisfactory evaluation by the principal or athletic director for each of the preceding three years that they coached in the sport for which a Professional coaching certificate is sought.
September 2020: edTPA Safety Net Extended
The edTPA safety net has been extended through the 2020-2021 academic year, including the Fall 2020 through Summer 2021 terms. This extension recognizes the difficulty in completing the edTPA due to the impact of COVID-19. General information on this is available at http://www.highered.nysed.gov/tcert/news/newsitem091520_edTPA-safety-net.html.
The safety net continues to include graduates of NY teacher preparation programs, yet it now is also available to individuals from other states who are applying for a NYS certificate as well as applicants for NYS certification who are using the Individual Evaluation pathway. These individuals can submit an official transcript that shows they completed student teaching during the 2020-2021 academic year or they can submit a verification of teaching experience form that shows teaching experience during the 2020-2021 academic year.
PRIOR CERTIFICATION CHANGES, MAY 2020:
- Individuals with an Initial certificate, an Initial Reissuance, a Provisional certificate, or a Provisional Renewal that was scheduled to expire on August 31, 2020 had the expiration date extended to January 31, 2021 in order to provide additional time to complete the requirements for the next level certificate.
Note: Individuals who have not previously received a time extension, certificate reissuance, or certificate
renewal can still access these options if they need more time beyond January 31, 2021 to complete
requirements.
- Individuals with a Conditional Initial certificate that was scheduled to expire on August 31, 2020 had the expiration date extended to August 31, 2021.
- SED will allow any undergraduate or graduate level content core or pedagogical core course, completed during the Spring, Summer, or Fall 2020 terms with a “pass” grade, or its equivalent, to count towards the content core or pedagogical core semester hour requirements for certification through the Individual Evaluation pathway.
The passing grade, or its equivalent, must be in accordance with the pass/fail grading policy, or its equivalent, at the institution of higher education (e.g., credit/no credit, pass/fail, satisfactory/unsatisfactory policy).
PRIOR CERTIFICATION CHANGES, APRIL 2020:
- SED created an edTPA safety net for candidates in NYS teacher education programs whose student teaching or similar clinical experience in spring of 2020 was impacted by COVID-19. These candidates can take and pass either the ATS-W or edTPA. Eligible candidates who choose to take the edTPA but do not pass it, could take and pass the ATS-W or pursue the edTPA Multiple Measures Review Process (MMRP).
- SPECIAL EDUCATION: The SOCE application deadline has been extended to June 30, 2021. The deadline to complete satisfactory full-time teaching experience while being considered Highly Qualified through passing a HOUSSE rubric for the SOCE or limited extension has been extended to June 30, 2021 as well.
For additional information on changes to certification requirements for special education teachers, please see Fact Sheet 20-10: NYS Certification: Students with Disabilities.
For State Education Department guidance on all COVID-19 related changes to certification, please visit their website.
