Maryland board grants permission to publish amended administrator licensure regulation (COMAR 13A.12.0505)

The Maryland State Board of Education granted permission to publish proposed amendments to COMAR 13A.12.0505 on administrator licensure, collapsing the two-tier Administrator 1/2 structure into a single Administrator credential and specifying minimum education, experience and pathway requirements, board members said during the meeting.

Board members said the proposed regulation retains a master’s degree requirement and adds or clarifies other baseline qualifications while describing multiple pathways to licensure. The regulation would require a master’s degree or higher, 27 months of effective teaching performance or effective performance as a specialist, and three semester hours of coursework in special education as minimum qualifications. Candidates who complete Maryland-approved administrator preparation programs or who hold five years of documented effective experience as an administrator would not be required to take the state assessment; other routes would require the assessment currently used for administrative licensure.

The change eliminates the Administrator 1/Administrator 2 tier and creates one administrator license that, if the regulation is adopted, would allow holders to serve as supervisors of instruction, assistant principals or principals. The work group also added a requirement for a supervised clinical practicum with a minimum of 240 clock hours and clarified the pathways that include Maryland-approved preparation programs, transcript-analysis routes, and an experienced-professional pathway for out-of-state administrators with five years of effective performance.

Kelly, an MSDE staff member who presented the regulation, summarized the main change: “So there are the biggest high level changes that you're gonna see with this regulation is, 1, the elimination of the of the 2 tiered structure.” Kelly told board members the proposed assessment requirement would apply to those who enter licensure via out-of-state programs or transcript-analysis routes; applicants from Maryland-approved programs or experienced administrators with five years of effective performance would not have to take the assessment.

Board members debated several details before moving to a procedural vote to ask for permission to publish the amendments. Members asked that the draft strike the word “certified” and retain a COMAR cross-reference (COMAR 13A.12.04) to define specialists; the board agreed to that change. The group also discussed how qualifying scores for any required assessment would be published outside regulation (in MSDE policy or posted resources) so the regulation would not need to be repromulgated each time a numeric score changes.

The motion to grant permission to publish was moved and seconded; board members present raised hands in favor and no objections were recorded, producing formal permission to publish the amendments for public comment. The vote was conducted by members present and online; the board recorded no abstentions.

If adopted following the public-comment period and any further revision, the amendments will change Maryland’s administrator licensure process by consolidating tiers, clarifying multiple pathways, specifying a supervised practicum minimum, and reassigning assessment obligations for certain applicant routes. The board and MSDE staff said the next procedural steps are publication for public comment and subsequent consideration of any public submissions.