Resource Specialist Added Authorization (CL-625)

Authorization

The holder of a Preliminary or Clear Resource Specialist Added Authorization may conduct Educational Assessments, provide instruction and Special Education Support services to students across disability areas who are assigned to general education classroom teachers for a majority of a school day whose needs have been identified in an Individualized Education Program (IEP), Individualized Family Service Program (IFSP), and/or
Individualized Transition Plan (ITP) developed by the IEP, IFSP, and ITP team from birth through age 22, and classes organized for adults across the continuum of program options available.

Requirements

Individuals applying for the Preliminary Resource Specialist Added Authorization through an employing agency must satisfy all of the following requirements:

1. Possess a valid Special Education credential other than an emergency permit (See Terms and Definitions).
   
   
2. Verify three or more years of teaching experience. Experience shall be verified by the appropriate administrative official of the school district or county office at which the experience took place.
   
   
3. Provide a written statement verifying that the candidate, if granted the Preliminary Resource Specialist Added Authorization, will be employed as a resource specialist. The written statement of employment must include a statement indicating that the candidate will engage in a course of study for the Clear Resource Specialist Added Authorization.

Individuals applying for the Clear Resource Specialist Added Authorization based upon a recommendation from a California college or university must satisfy all of the following requirements:

1. Possess a valid Special Education credential other than an emergency permit (See Terms and Definitions).
   
   
2. Verify three or more years of teaching experience, including both general and special education (Experience shall be verified by the appropriate administrative official of the school district or county office in which the experience took place).
   
   
3. Complete a Resource Specialist Added Authorization program at a California college or university with a Commission-accredited program.
   
   
4. Obtain the recommendation of the college or university where the program was completed (application completed online).

Individuals applying for the Clear Resource Specialist Added Authorization on direct application must satisfy both of the following requirements:

1. Possess a valid Special Education credential other than an emergency permit (See Terms and Definitions).
   
   
2. Verify the completion of two years of full-time service in California prior to September 1, 1981, providing the instruction and services specified in Section 80070.1(a) of Title 5, of the California Code of Regulations listed below or verification of the completion of two years of full-time service in California prior to June 30, 1983, providing the instruction and services specified in the authorization statement on the front of this leaflet. Experience shall be verified with an original letter on letterhead of the employing agency and shall be signed by the appropriate administrative official of the school district or county office of education where the service was rendered. To be applicable, service performed after September 1, 1981, must be covered by a preliminary Resource Specialist Certificate or a waiver from the Department of Education. Please submit a copy of the certificate or waiver with the application. 

Terms and Definitions

Refer to the chart below for a list of appropriate prerequisite credentials to obtain a Resource Specialist Added Authorization.

Educational Assessment: Assessment of students in a comprehensive manner within the authorization of the added authorization using multiple sources of information and a variety of strategies that directly measure a student's performance to meet goals in areas of grade-level academic curriculum and/or functional goals designed to meet the Individualized Education Program (IEP), Individualized Family Service Program (IFSP), and/or Individualized Transition Plan (ITP) goals and objectives regarding eligibility and services that directly result from the student's disability according to state and federal accountability systems. The assessment process may include both formal and informal assessments to evaluate students' educational instruction needs and strengths for the purpose of making accommodations, modifications, and instructional decisions.

Special Education Support: Participation in the Individualized Education Program (IEP), Individualized Family Service Program (IFSP), and/or Individualized Transition Plan (ITP) process including planning and implementation of the student's IEP, IFSP, and/or ITP; providing consultative, collaborative, and coordinating instruction with students, parents, teachers including general education teachers, and other community and school
personnel; planning, developing, and implementing instructional program plans relative to and within the authorization of the added authorization. Special Education Support does not include providing speech, language and hearing, orientation and mobility, or audiology services.

Service Across the Continuum of Program Options Available: Pursuant to Education Code Sections 56031, 56360, and 56361, the continuum includes resource rooms or services; special education settings; general education settings; special schools; home/hospital settings; state hospitals; development centers; correctional facilities; non-public, non-sectarian schools and agencies as defined in Education Code Sections 56365 and 56366; and alternative and non-traditional instructional public school settings other than classrooms.

Renewal

A Clear Resource Specialist Added Authorization need not be renewed, but authorizes service only if a valid special education credential, other than an emergency permit, is held concurrently. The Preliminary Resource Specialist Added Authorization authorizes service for up to three years if a valid special education credential other than an emergency permit is held concurrently. If the special education credential expires, it must be
renewed in order to continue to serve based on the Resource Specialist Added Authorization. The Preliminary Resource Specialist Added Authorization is not renewable.

Definition of Experience Requirement

The minimum amount of general education classroom teaching experience required is one semester of student teaching. Various other general education classroom teaching experiences may be substituted. These may include one or more of the following experiences:

1. Two sessions of summer school teaching in a general education classroom.
   
   
2. Participation in in-service programs designed to provide teaching experience with general education students (The in-service programs must be conducted by a school district, county office, or special education service region with a comprehensive “local plan” approved by the State Department of Education. The hourly equivalent of the program must equal one semester of full-time teaching.)
   

"Three or more years of teaching experience, including both general and special education teaching experience” means full-time experience in one or more of the combinations specified below:

1. One year of general education classroom teaching experience and two years of special education classroom teaching experience.
   
   
2. One year of special education classroom teaching experience and two years of general education classroom teaching experience.
   
   
3. Two and one-half years of general education classroom teaching experience and one semester or two quarters of full-time special education classroom teaching or student teaching.
   
   
4. Two and one-half years of special education classroom teaching experience and one semester or two quarters of full-time general education classroom teaching or student teaching.
   
   
5. Two years of general education classroom teaching experience and two semesters or three quarters of full-time special education classroom teaching or student teaching.
   
   
6. Two years of special education classroom teaching experience and two semesters or three quarters of full-time general education classroom teaching or student teaching.
   

For more information, visit the Institutions with Commission-approved Resource Specialist Programs website.