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Task force endorses revisions to Bulletin 746 to broaden Montessori standalone certification
Summary
A Department of Education task force voted to endorse proposed changes to Bulletin 746 that would expand eligibility for a standalone Montessori teacher certification and update approved providers; the endorsement will be presented to the Educator Effectiveness Committee Oct. 8 and the full board Oct. 9.
Speaker 1, an unidentified task force member chairing the meeting, opened consideration of revisions to Bulletin 746 that would broaden eligibility for a standalone Montessori teacher certification beyond nonpublic schools and update provider language in the bulletin.
The task force’s recommended edits would remove a restriction limiting the standalone certification to nonpublic schools, replace references to "type" with "class" (class A/B/C) to match statutory language, and update section 1363’s list of approved providers (removing the Montessori Institute of America and renaming Southwestern Montessori Training Center). "What we have recommended to the department is that we just scratch out the line that says nonpublic and say that the teacher certification...is actually all teachers will be eligible for that," Speaker 1 said during the discussion.
Members discussed operational details, including how the department can map Montessori certificate levels (primary, lower elementary, upper elementary, secondary) to existing state certificate categories in back-end systems rather than enumerating every level in policy. Speaker 2 explained that the department can add supplemental metadata so a hiring official can see whether a Montessori training aligns with the grade level being hired.
During the meeting Speaker 5 moved to endorse the policy revisions; Speaker 2 acknowledged the motion and Speaker 1 called for a voice vote. Members responded in the affirmative and the chair declared the motion carried. The motion was recorded as a voice vote with no roll-call tallies listed in the transcript. The task force was asked to consider attending the Department of Education committee meetings when the item is presented; Speaker 7 noted the revisions are scheduled for the Educator Effectiveness Committee on Oct. 8 and for a full board vote on Oct. 9.
Next steps identified by members include transmitting the endorsed draft to department staff for formal submission, preparing supplemental documentation that maps Montessori training levels to state certificate categories, and organizing testimony and written public comment for the Oct. 8 committee meeting. The motion endorsement is administrative direction from the task force and will not by itself change state policy until the department and board complete their formal rulemaking process.
