On April 24, 2001, the Massachusetts Board of Education approved the Regulations for the Licensure of Adult Basic Education Teachers, a voluntary license. Massachusetts is now the first state in the nation to have an ABE-dedicated teacher's license that is not predicated on a K-12 license and that requires the same depth of knowledge, rigor of standards, and minimum educational requirements equivalent to the state's other teacher licenses.

This achievement caps off a long history of past task forces and committees, and most recently was brought to fruition through the efforts of a statewide Advisory Committee, several support groups, hundreds of practitioners, and the Department of Education under the leadership of Bob Bickerton, Ruth Derfler, and Mary Jayne Fay. The ABE Teacher's License will be available beginning October 1, 2001, when DOE will begin accepting applications. The approved regulations and other relevant documents are posted at: www.doe.mass.edu/acls/certification.html

The approved regulations cover the requirements for organizations that might wish to offer teacher preparation programs. They also cover a process where teachers can demonstrate their proficiency of the teacher standards by collecting evidence and submitting it to DOE and, if needed, to a review panel. There are also four routes to licensure, through which candidates' prior experience may be acknowledged as well as the possession of any Massachusetts preK-12 teacher's license. All candidates, regardless of experience and credentials, will be required to demonstrate their teaching.

DOE must now implement the new license. Toward that end, Mary Jayne Fay has convened an Implementation Work Group to advise the Department on guidelines, such as the levels of proficiency for each teacher's standard and ways to indicate that proficiency. Please watch for opportunities to review and comment on proposed guidelines.

Support for Practitioners
Meanwhile, SABES is developing a licensure-support system to assist license-seeking teachers through the process. This summer, SABES hopes to bring together a group composed of SABES staff and ABE practitioners to design a field test of its support system to begin in late fall.

History
Last fall, the Massachusetts Department of Education, with the assistance of the SABES Regional support Centers distributed a Needs Survey for Adult Basic Education Teacher Certification across the state. An analysis of the returns reveals that of the 737 respondents, there are over 500 ABE practitioners who have expressed interest in pursuing an ABE license. Most of these individuals would qualify for Route 4 (five years of ABE teaching experience).

In the coming fiscal year, ACLS and SABES will collaborate to pilot five more courses designed to be compatible with the new license. Three of the courses-- Foundations of Reading and Writing, Reading and Writing (4-8 GLE), and Diversity and Equity for ABE -- are already being developed. For the final two -- Reading and Writing (9-12 GLE) and Adult Human Development -- ACLS will be posting RFRs to seek developers. Watch the SABES Web sites for course announcements and the DOE COM-PASS system for developer solicitations, and, of course, future Licensure Updates. Also feel free to contact Mary Jayne Fay at mjfay@doe.mass.edu or Carey Reid at creid@worlded.orgif you have any questions.

Final state regulations will be posted on the DOE licensure Web site sometime this summer. Also, older documents (interim reports, Advisory Committee meetings) will be archived soon.