REGULATORY

  Please replace the attached superintendent's memorandum with
  the one previously received dated April 17, 1998.

  Inadvertently some wording was omitted from a portion of the
  memo that was previously disseminated.  We are sorry for any
  inconvenience that this may have caused.


    PDS/pg   

                       COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA
                        DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
                            P. O. BOX 2120
                     RICHMOND, VIRGINIA 23218-2120


                                         SUPTS. MEMO. NO. 2 
                                             April 17, 1998


  REGULATORY

  TO:          Division Superintendents

  FROM:        Paul D. Stapleton
               Superintendent of Public Instruction

  SUBJECT:     Licensure Regulations for School Personnel (8 VAC
               20-21-10) and Technology Standards for Instructional
               Personnel (8 VAC 20-25-10)


  During the January 8, 1998, meeting of the Board of
  Education, the Licensure Regulations for School Personnel
  were approved.  The revisions approved by the Board aligned
  the licensure requirements for prospective teachers with the
  Virginia Standards of Learning; established a statewide
  licensure system that provides flexibility for the approved
  teacher preparation programs, and reduced the number of
  endorsements for licensure.  With the exception of four
  endorsement areas in special education (learning
  disabilities, emotionally disturbed, mentally retarded, and
  severe disabilities), the regulations have completed the
  requirements of the Administrative Process Act (APA).  The
  approved regulations will be accessible on the Department of
  Education's website by May 1, and printed copies will be
  available on or before July 1, 1998.

  A workshop has tentatively been scheduled for May 15, 1998,
  in Charlottesville to review the licensure regulations and
  the technology standards.  A letter of invitation will be
  sent to directors of personnel and licensure contacts within
  a week.

  The Board of Education has also approved the Technology
  Standards for Instructional Personnel.  The regulations will
  ensure that instructional personnel in Virginia have
  mastered and demonstrated competency in technology
  consistent with the Standards of  Learning for students in
  the fifth and eighth grades.  A copy of the technology
  standards is enclosed for your information.

  This memorandum highlights some of the major revisions in
  the licensure regulations and provides information regarding
  the new technology standards.  Guidance in the
  implementation of these new regulations is also provided.


  LICENSURE REGULATIONS FOR SCHOOL PERSONNEL (8 VAC 20-21-10)


  1. Effective Date of Licensure Regulations

     The implementation of the licensure regulations for
       school personnel will become effective on July 1, 1998. 
       However, institutions of higher education with approved
       teacher preparation programs will be required to
       implement the regulations for individuals entering
       their programs by the fall of 2000.  

     Individuals currently enrolled in Virginia approved
       teacher preparation programs will complete the program
       (endorsement area) in effect at the time of their
       enrollment.  For example, an individual currently
       enrolled in a middle education teacher preparation
       program in Virginia will receive the middle education
       endorsement upon completion of that program.  The
       endorsement will allow the prospective teacher to teach
       in any of the four areas of concentration.  Individuals
       from other states seeking a middle education
       endorsement after July 1, 1998, or individuals entering
       Virginia programs in the fall of 2000 will receive a
       license designating at least two areas of concentration
       as required in the new regulations.

  2. Competencies and Endorsement Requirements

     The regulations outline competencies and semester-hour
       requirements for each endorsement area.  Institutions
       of higher education with approved programs must
       incorporate the competencies in their programs (these
       competencies are listed separately in each endorsement
       area); however, the institutions are not subject to the
       specific semester-hour requirements listed.  The
       endorsement requirements (specific semester-hour
       requirements) will be applied to individuals seeking
       licensure outside of  state-approved programs and
       individuals seeking licensure through the alternative
       route to licensure.  

  3. License Holders' Existing Endorsements

     License holders will maintain their existing
       endorsements.  Individuals who are working toward
       satisfying written evaluations received from the
       Licensure Office will continue to have three years from
       the date of the evaluation to satisfy the requirements
       stipulated on the evaluation.  Individuals who are
       currently enrolled in a state-approved teacher
       preparation program are considered to be in the
       pipeline and may continue to follow the existing
       regulations until completion of their program.  These
       individuals will receive the endorsement  corresponding
       to the program in which they enrolled.

  4. Provisional License

     Provisional licenses may be issued for qualified
       individuals for a period not to exceed three years as
       allowed by the Code of Virginia.  During the three-year
       period, individuals must meet all requirements
       (including the professional teacher's assessment
       (Praxis I and II), professional studies course work,
       and/or experience) specified at the time the
       provisional license is issued.  An extension of the
       three-year provisional license may not be granted
       because state law does not allow the issuance of the
       provisional license beyond three years.

  5. Endorsement Grade Levels

     There are five grade configurations identified in the
       regulations: Early/primary PreKindergarten through
       Grade 3 (PreK-3), Elementary PreKindergarten through
       Grade 6 (PreK-6), Middle Education 6-8, PreK-Grade 12
       (PreK-12), and secondary grades 6-12.

     The secondary grades 6-12 configuration is a
       continuation of the previous regulations.  Since the
       early 1960s, the Virginia Department of Education has
       developed and distributed to local school divisions,
       The School Administrators Handbook of Course Codes and
       Endorsement Codes for determining the appropriate
       teaching endorsement for each course offered within a
       school division.  Those codes, used by school divisions
       to assign teachers, have always allowed an individual
       teacher with a secondary teaching endorsement such as
       English or mathematics to teach that subject in grades
       6, 7, and 8 in a departmentalized setting.  A revised
       School Administrators Handbook will be distributed to
       school divisions in the next few months.

  6. Consolidation of Endorsements

     The licensure regulations combine principal and
       supervision endorsements into one endorsement in
       Administration and Supervision PreK-12.  Individuals
       seeking this endorsement must complete an approved
       preparation program in administration and supervision
       with a focus on educational leadership including
       knowledge and skills in both supervision and
       administration.

     The elementary, middle, and secondary school counselor
       endorsements have been consolidated into one
       endorsement, School Counselor PreK-12.  Endorsements in
       health and physical education have been combined into
       one endorsement, Health and Physical Education PreK-12.

  7. Special Education Conditional License

     The Special Education Conditional License is a three-year,
       nonrenewable teaching license issued to an
       individual employed as a special education teacher who
       does not hold the appropriate special education
       endorsement.  An individual is no longer required to
       hold another license to receive a Special Education
       Conditional License; however, the initial application
       fee will be applicable. The conditional license is not
       applicable to individuals employed as speech
       pathologists.  To receive the Special Education
       Conditional License an individual must:  (1) be
       employed by a Virginia public or nonpublic school and
       have the recommendation of the employing educational
       agency; (2) hold a baccalaureate degree from an
       accredited college or university; (3) have an assigned
       mentor endorsed in special education; and (4) have a
       planned program of study in the assigned endorsement
       area and have completed a minimum of six semester hours
       in the core competencies of characteristics of students
       with disabilities and legal aspects associated with
       students with disabilities  (Consideration may be given
       to individuals who have not completed the six semester
       hours but have been employed.  They must complete the
       six semester hours of course work during the first year
       of the Special Education Conditional License.) 

  8. Technical Professional License

     The Technical Professional License has been expanded to
       include individuals with or without a baccalaureate
       degree who have demonstrated academic proficiency and
       technical competency and who have completed
       occupational experience.  The National Occupational
       Competency Testing Institute Test (NOCTI) will no
       longer be required for endorsements in trade and
       industrial education.  However, an individual must be
       licensed or certified, if applicable, as a professional
       practitioner in the area in which he or she will be
       teaching or providing a service.

  9. License Renewal

     At least 90 points of the 180 points required for
       renewal for license holders without a master's degree
       must be satisfied by completing a three-semester-hour
       content course.  A course in special education designed
       to assist classroom teachers and other school personnel
       in working with students with disabilities, a course in
       gifted education, a course in educational technology,
       or a course in English as a Second Language may be
       completed to satisfy the content course requirement for
       one cycle of the renewal process.  Professional
       development activities designed to support the Virginia
       Standards of Learning, Standards of Accreditation, and
       the Virginia Assessment Program may be accepted in lieu
       of the content course for one renewal cycle.

 10. Vocational Education-Technology Education Endorsement

     An individual seeking the endorsement in technology
       education may become eligible for the endorsement by
       (1) completing of an approved program in technology
       education; (2) completing a major in technology
       education or 39 specified hours in technology
       education; or (3) earning a baccalaureate degree from
       an accredited college or university with a major in one
       of the following fields of study: architecture, design,
       engineering, or physics; and completing 18 semester
       hours in technology education.  The third option is a
       new route to endorsement.

 11. Middle Education 6-8 Endorsement

     Individuals seeking a Middle Education 6-8 endorsement
       must complete two 21-semester-hour concentrations in
       the core areas of mathematics, science, English, or
       history/social science.  The areas of concentration
       will appear on a license, and teaching assignments
       should be based on those areas of concentration.   

 12. Special Education Endorsements

     Endorsement areas were approved by the Board of
       Education in special education early childhood, hearing
       impairments, speech-language disorders, and visual
       impairments.  Proposals in special education mild-moderate
       disabilities and special education moderate-severe disabilities
       were not approved.  The Board of Education appointed a task
       force to develop a compromise proposal for the four special
       education areas in learning disabilities, emotionally disturbed,
       mental retardation, and severe disabilities.  

     A meeting of the Special Education Task Force convened
       on February 11, 1998, with  membership representing
       teacher preparation programs in institutions of higher
       education, the Virginia Branch of the International
       Dyslexia Society, the Learning Disabilities of
       Virginia, the State Special Education Advisory
       Committee, the Association for Retarded Citizens, the
       Advisory Board on Teacher Education and Licensure, and
       Department of Education staff.  On February 26, 1998,
       the Board of Education received and approved the
       substitute proposal in these four endorsement areas of
       special education.  

     A public hearing was held April 6, 1998, for
       individuals to share ideas and suggestions on these
       proposed licensure regulations.  Based on the comments
       from this hearing, written comments that might be
       received through April 30, and advisement from the
       Advisory Board on Teacher Education and Licensure, the
       Board of Education will approve final licensure
       regulations in these areas of special education.


  A  copy of the Licensure Regulations for School Personnel
  will be forwarded to you upon final printing.  We anticipate
  that you will be notified in the near future concerning a
  statewide workshop to overview the licensure regulations and
  provide assistance in implementing the regulations.


  TECHNOLOGY STANDARDS FOR INSTRUCTIONAL PERSONNEL (8VAC 20-25-10)

  Instructional personnel are ultimately responsible for the
  use of technology in the classroom.  As a result of the
  availability of technology and the requirement that students
  in Virginia must master technology standards, instructional
  personnel will be required to meet the Technology Standards
  for Instructional Personnel.  These technology standards set
  forth those competencies required of instructional personnel
  in Virginia.  Individuals completing approved preparation
  programs will also be required to demonstrate competency in
  technology as a requirement of  program completion.

  School divisions must incorporate the technology standards
  into their local technology plans and develop strategies to
  implement the standards by December 1998.  The goal is that
  all instructional personnel meet the standards prior to the
  2002-2003 school year.  The local technology plan must
  include a time line and strategies to meet this goal. 
  School divisions must also ensure that newly-hired
  instructional personnel demonstrate proficiency in the
  technology standards during the three-year probationary
  period of employment.  Even though this requirement is
  applicable to all school personnel required to hold a
  license issued by the Virginia Board of Education, it is not
  a  requirement for continued licensure or license renewal. 
  Please note, however, that instructional personnel without a
  master's degree may complete a course in educational
  technology in lieu of a content course for one renewal
  cycle.

  School divisions must include strategies to implement and
  assess the standards in the local technology plans.  The
  standards are intended to be entry level; therefore, school
  divisions will need to establish provisions for 
  instructional personnel who have already acquired higher
  levels of knowledge and skills to test out of the entry-level
  requirements.   

  Institutions of higher education must incorporate technology
  standards in their approved programs and assess students'
  proficiency of the standards by December 1998.  Institutions
  will verify that students have met the technology standards 
  on form DA 035, College Verification Form, now used to
  recommend students for licensure.  The form will be revised
  by the Department of Education and distributed directly to
  colleges and universities with approved programs prior to
  the beginning of the 1998 fall semester.  Institutions will
  need to establish provisions by which students who have
  already acquired higher levels of knowledge and skills may
  test out of the standards which are intended to be entry
  level.

  By the fall of the year 2000, institutions must align their
  teacher education programs with the licensure regulations. 
  The newly-developed programs will be reviewed on a five-year
  cycle to verify both alignment with the licensure
  competencies and incorporation of the technology standards. 
  Institutions will not be required to submit written
  documentation of the incorporation of the technology
  standards into their approved programs prior to the adoption
  of revised accreditation and program approval standards now
  being developed.  The revised standards and procedures will
  establish the schedule for the reinstatement of the five-year
  review cycle.  Institutions that are scheduled for
  national accreditation or technical assistance reviews prior
  to the fall of 2000 will be expected to demonstrate
  incorporation of the technology standards into their
  programs and strategies for assessing student competency in
  the use of technology at the time of their on-site review.

  Please do not hesitate to contact Dr. Thomas A. Elliott,
  Assistant Superintendent for Compliance, at (804) 371-2522;
  Mr. Lan W. Neugent, Assistant Superintendent for Technology,
  at (804) 786-2260; or  Mrs. Patty S. Pitts, Associate
  Director for Licensure, at (804) 225-2022 if you have any
  questions regarding the licensure regulations or the
  technology standards.

  PDS:psp      

  Enclosure

  c: Deans/Chairs, Schools/Departments of Education
     Directors of Human Resources
       Licensure Contact Persons


                    8 VAC 20-25-10 et seq.  
       TECHNOLOGY STANDARDS FOR INSTRUCTIONAL PERSONNEL

   Statutory Authority:   22.1-16 of the Code of Virginia

                Effective Date:  March 4, 1998

  8 VAC 20-25-10.  Definitions.

  The following words and terms, when used in this regulation,
  shall have the following meaning unless the context clearly
  indicates otherwise:

     Demonstrated proficiency means a demonstrated level of
       competence of the technology standards as determined by
       school administrators.

     Electronic technologies means electronic devices and
       systems to access and exchange information.

     Instructional personnel means all school personnel
       required to hold a license issued by the Virginia Board
       of Education for instructional purposes.

     Productivity tools means computer software tools to
       enhance student learning and job performance.

  8 VAC 20-25-20.  Administration of technology standards.

   A.     School divisions and institutions of higher education
            shall incorporate the technology standards for
            instructional personnel into their division-wide
            technology plans and approved teacher education programs,
            respectively, by December 1998.

   B.     School divisions and institutions of higher education
            shall develop implementation plans for pre-service and
            in-service training for instructional personnel.  The
            implementation plan shall provide the requirements for
            demonstrated proficiency of the technology standards.

   C.     Waivers shall be considered on a case-by-case basis of
            the 18-hour professional studies cap placed on teacher
            preparation programs for institutions requesting
            additional instruction in educational technology.

   D.     School divisions shall ensure that newly-hired
            instructional personnel from out of state demonstrate
            proficiency in the technology standards during the 
            three-year probation period of employment.

   E.     Course work in technology shall satisfy the content
            requirement for licensure renewal for license holders who
            do not have a master's degree.

   F.     School divisions shall incorporate the technology
            standards into their local technology plans and develop
            strategies to implement the standards by December 1998.

   G.     Institutions of higher education shall incorporate
            technology standards in their approved program
            requirements and assess students' demonstrated
            proficiency of the standards by December 1998.

  8 VAC 20-25-30.  Technology standards.

   A.     Instructional personnel shall be able to demonstrate
            effective use of a computer system and utilize computer
            software.

   B.     Instructional personnel shall be able to apply knowledge
            of terms associated with educational computing and
            technology.

   C.     Instructional personnel shall be able to apply computer
            productivity tools for professional use.

   D.     Instructional personnel shall be able to use electronic
            technologies to access and exchange information.

   E.     Instructional personnel shall be able to identify,
            locate, evaluate, and use appropriate instructional
            hardware and software to support Virginia's Standards of
            Learning and other instructional objectives.

   F.     Instructional personnel shall be able to use educational
            technologies for data collection, information management,
            problem solving, decision making, communication, and
            presentation within the curriculum.

   G.     Instructional personnel shall be able to plan and
            implement lessons and strategies that integrate
            technology to meet the diverse needs of learners in a
            variety of educational settings.

   H.     Instructional personnel shall demonstrate knowledge of
            ethical and legal issues relating to the use of
            technology.