Board approves teacher-prep rule edits, renames special-education endorsements and replaces 'restorative' with 'accountability'

The board approved R277-304 Teacher Preparation Programs (Draft 2) as amended, adopting multiple wording changes to clarify licensure endorsements and classroom-practice language for preparation programs.

On an amendment to rename endorsements attached to special-education licenses, the board voted 11–3 to replace the phrases "mild, moderate disabilities" with "mild, moderate support needs" and "severe disabilities" with "complex support needs." Staff said universities requested the change to move away from deficit-based language; Jordan Dawn Monnoli, special education personnel preparation coordinator, said the intent is "getting away from words that have maybe a negative connotation" and that universities are already moving toward the model. Malia Height, executive coordinator of educator licensing, told the board that once the administrative rule change is enrolled staff will update the state licensing system (the CACTUS system) so that printed licenses will show the new endorsement labels. Height said: "After the change is approved and the board rule is enrolled... when an educator goes in and prints the license... it would say special education with mild, moderate support needs as the endorsement name."

Board members raised concerns about interstate portability and the teacher mobility compact. A board member who chairs the interstate teacher mobility compact advised that renaming endorsements would not affect compact portability; the compact issues reasonable equivalents across states.

On behavioral- and discipline-related language, the board considered multiple proposed edits. A motion to remove the phrase "trauma-informed practices" and replace it with a more specific alternative (various proposals included "sensitive to students' experiences" and "practices accounting for students' individual experience and needs") failed on a 7–7 tie. Separately, the board voted to replace the term "restorative practices" with "accountability practices"; that motion passed 12–2 (those recorded in opposition: Member Reel and Member Lear).

Member Boggess voiced strong concern about changes that could affect interstate licensure and the compact; Member Earl and Member Davis spoke in favor of precise, operational language rather than broad or undefined buzzwords. Member Davis described classroom examples in which teachers need specific trauma-informed tools, saying she would prefer the board define what the term means if it remains in rule.

After adopting the endorsements rename and the accountability-language change (but not the full removal of "trauma-informed" in the form proposed), the board voted to approve the teacher-preparation rule as amended on second and final reading. The final passage of the underlying motion was 9 in favor, 5 opposed (Members Green, Hart, Brenton, Earl, and Boggess opposing).

What happens next: staff will align licensure labels in the CACTUS licensing system after the administrative rule is enrolled; educator-preparation programs will be expected to align coursework and endorsements with the newly adopted language. The board did not specify an exact enrollment date during the meeting.