Summary of the new Preliminary Education Specialist Credentials

Summary of the new Preliminary Education Specialist Credentials

I. Enhanced preparation for Multiple and Single Subject General Education Teachers

The Commission began the work of transforming general education teacher preparation in the fall of 2014 and adopted general education program standards in December 2015 and general education Teaching Performance Expectations (TPEs) in June 2016. The impetus for this work were the calls for action by the Educator Excellence Taskforce, the Teacher Preparation Advisory Panel and the S tatewide Task Force on Special Education. All general education teacher preparation programs began full implementation of the revised standards that include enhanced preparation to teach a diverse range of students in the fall of 2017.

Throughout the general education standards and TPEs, reference is made to “all students,” defined as “….students attending public schools who may exhibit a wide range of learning and behavioral characteristics, as well as disabilities, dyslexia….” There is now a greater emphasis on a candidate’s ability to work effectively with students with disabilities in the general education classroom, implementing approaches such as Universal Design principles, Multi-Tiered Systems of Support, and co-teaching. Specifically, the TPEs have an increased focus on the use of technology for diverse learners, providing supportive learning environments for students with disabilities who may also be English Learners, monitoring student progress towards meeting IEP and other goals, adapting subject matter curriculum and resources, and establishing and maintaining inclusive learning environments. For a full analysis of the universal TPEs, please refer to Appendix F of Agenda Item 1H from the December 2017 Commission Meeting.

II. Comparing the current Education Specialist credentials to the new credentials

In 2018, the Commission approved a new Education Specialist credential structure reducing the number of preliminary credentials from 7 to 5. TPEs for each of the five preliminary Education Specialist credential areas (Mild to Moderate Support Needs, Extensive Support Needs, Deaf and Hard of Hearing, Visual Impairments and Early Childhood Special Education) have also been adopted. The new Education Specialist program standards focus on what programs must offer to candidates including clearly defined expectations for clinical practice, while the TPEs define the knowledge and skills each candidate must have prior to recommendation for the preliminary teaching credential. Candidates in Mild to Moderate Support Needs (MMSN) and Extensive Support Needs (ESN) programs will also need to show mastery of the universal TPEs, currently used in the Multiple and Single Subject credential programs. A PowerPoint presentation was shared at the August 2018 Commission meeting and provides more information on the newly adopted standards and TPEs.

Currently, a Mild/Moderate Disabilities (MMD) or Moderate/Severe Disabilities (MSD) candidate’s preparation program leads to authorization for the teacher to work with students with IEPs in specified disability categories across a variety of educational settings. With the determination that Education Specialist credentials should focus more on a student’s individual needs, the new standards and TPEs place additional emphasis on language development, communication, and behavior, and the additional knowledge to support students with other disabilities (see table below). The Commission is collaborating with the California Department of Education on a clear definition for Extensive Support Needs, and examples of when students may require their teacher to have the ESN credential. More on this topic will be presented at a future Commission meeting.

Neither of these two new Education Specialist Teaching Credentials are authorized to teach students with the following Federal Disability Categories: Visual Impairments (VI), Deaf and Hard of Hearing (DHH), and Speech or Language Impairments (SLI)

Part III. Added Authorizations for Special Education

Currently, there are 9 added authorizations for Special Education: Adapted Physical Education, Autism Spectrum Disorders, Deafblind, Early Childhood Special Education, Emotional Disturbance, Orthopedic Impairment, Other Health Impairment, Resource Specialist, and Traumatic Brain Injury. These programs are each a subset of the full preliminary teacher preparation programs, and are designed to allow teachers to earn an additional authorization in a specialty area not covered in the authorization of their existing credential. While no changes have been proposed to the added authorization standards, it is expected that with the new Early Childhood Special Education (ECSE) credential authorizing service from Birth – Kindergarten (pending regulatory approval), and the inclusion of Orthopedic Impairment, that changes will be needed to the 4 existing ECSE added authorization standards. The plan is to bring these minor modifications to the Commission at a future meeting.

Current Education Specialists will maintain their existing credentials and the accompanying authorization(s). There will be an option for existing Education Specialist credential holders to expand the authorization of their credential to be equivalent to the new credentials. This option would require the development of an added authorization or bridge to be brought forward at a future Commission meeting.

For preliminary program questions related to the new Education Specialist credentials, please email

SpecialEducation@ctc.ca.gov