State Board reviews proposed standalone special-education endorsement amid support and concern

The Michigan Department of Education on Jan. 14 presented proposed standards for a new standalone special-education teacher endorsement and fielded public comment from educators, advocates and parents who largely supported the move as a way to address staffing shortages and improve preparation for special educators.

The proposal, presented as an informational item and not a request for adoption, would create an endorsement focused solely on special-education pedagogy that does not require an accompanying general-education endorsement. Michelle Harmala, Deputy Superintendent for the Division of Educator Excellence, said the department is asking only for public comment now: “Weare not asking you to do that today. This is informational,” she said.

The Standards Writing Team—25 members on the writing team and 13 participants in targeted feedback, according to MDEaligned the draft standards to the Council for Exceptional Children (CEC) practice-based preparation standards and to recommendations from Optimize, the legislatively created task force charged by Section 94d of the State School Aid Act with developing a multi-year plan to attract, prepare and retain special-education personnel. Kelly…