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State board grants permission to publish multiple educator licensure regulations
Summary
The State Board approved permission to publish several amended COMAR regulations — including teacher preparation program approvals, teacher licensure pathways, school psychologist compact alignment, military/foreign-service reciprocity and school social worker definitions — to align state rules with recently enacted laws and federal guidance.
The Maryland State Board granted permission to publish a package of amendments to educator licensure regulations Wednesday, moving to align Maryland rules with laws passed in the 2026 legislative session and with federal reciprocity requirements.
Board Chair Darren moved early in the agenda to take up regulatory items while a quorum was present. MSDE staff member Kelly Meadows told the board the package includes changes required by Senate Bill 311 and Senate Bill 238 and explained the intent of each amendment. "The purpose of today's amendments is twofold," Meadows said, summarizing that one change aligns Maryland with the School Psychologist Interstate Compact and the other expands acceptable demonstrations of pedagogical knowledge for teacher candidates.
Key regulatory changes approved for publication include: making explicit a 1,200‑hour supervised practicum requirement for school psychologists with at least 600 hours completed in a school setting (to meet compact obligations); allowing Maryland‑approved programs to use locally developed portfolio assessments in place of the edTPA; recognizing successful completion of MSDE's Registered Teacher Apprenticeship Program (RTAP) as a pathway to demonstrate pedagogical competence; and adding a clearly worded option for some out‑of‑state applicants to use two years of effective teacher evaluations in lieu of a separate teaching‑ability test.
On the school psychologist regulation, Meadows said the board is removing an expedited pathway that allowed experienced practitioners to obtain endorsement on the basis of experience and an out‑of‑state license because that option conflicted with compact requirements. On military and foreign‑service reciprocity, staff explained that the new text implements federal rules for active‑duty members and adds a state law extension for Foreign Service members and their spouses: reciprocity applies only while active orders assign the individual to Maryland and ends when active duty ends.
Chair Darren called the motions for permission to publish in separate votes; members moved and seconded each item and approved them by voice and raised hands. The transcript records no roll‑call tallies for those votes.
Why it matters: the changes are intended to reduce barriers to licensure for certain experienced educators and to ensure Maryland's regulations match statutory and interstate compact commitments. MSDE staff emphasized that the RTAP pathway is an extended, supervised practicum and that apprenticeship completion counts toward licensure only when aligned with a Maryland‑approved educator preparation program.
What comes next: permission to publish starts a public comment period required by administrative procedure; final adoption would follow after MSDE reviews public comments and returns any proposed final text to the board.
