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DISTRICT

Licensure

Recent MDE Licensure Updates Related to COVID-19

  • Student Teachers - Spring 2020 candidates will be eligible for teaching license (waiving the 12 weeks required student teaching/counting the virtual experience as sufficient).
  • Testing requirements for entry to colleges of ed. are being waived through Dec. 31, 2021.
  • Alternate route program admission - Candidates have to have 18 hours in the area they are seeking licensure, degree in that area, or they have to have already passed the required test for admission to the alt. route/non-traditional route programs. 
  • Licensure testing criteria is suspended for all licensure applications until December 31, 2021. A 5 year license will be issued for those who qualify by meeting other standard criteria. 
  • Licensure Renewal - Anyone with a license that expires June 30, 2020, is eligible for an extension. The process is as follows: Go to MDE's licensure page forms icon: https://www.mdek12.org/OEL/Forms and click on Licensure Application or get it from the attachment in this email. Don't be confused by the application option on MDE's website titied COVID-19 Extension. This one is for District requests only, so educators who need a license extension/renewal must use the attached form or the first application link on MDE's website.). They will see the regular license application now has a place to check for COVID-19 extension. After completing the form, employees need to upload it as a PDF and attach it to the Correspondence section of their ELMS account. CTE and AP licenses are included in this renewal extension opportunity. 
  • Local District Requests - Anyone currently employed who Kristi helped get a special non-renewable license for 19-20, is eligible for a one year extension. Contact her and she will be reaching out as well to get these extensions per your recommendation for a 20-21 contract of these employees. They have different steps to take than before if this is their second year, so Kristi will walk them through it. 
  • Reciprocity licenses - For educators coming to RCSD from out of state, the testing requirements are suspended through Dec. 31, 2021.  

MDE Licensure Application

One-Year Licensure Renewal Extension

Mississippi State Board of Education to Meet Virtually on March 26 

The Mississippi State Board of Education (SBE) will hold a special-called virtual meeting at 10 a.m. Thursday, March 26, to consider policy waivers for promotion and graduation and recommendations to manage the effects of the statewide school closure. We know you have questions on next steps on policy decisions. MDE is working to address policy questions and will present information to the SBE. You may view the meeting via livestream at bit.ly/SBElive. 

Educators: How to Apply for a One-Year Extension on Your Standard License 

Those educators holding a standard Mississippi educator license that is scheduled to expire on June 30, 2020, may request a one-year extension by printing and completing a paper Licensure Application for renewal.  Please upload the application to your  Educator Licensure Management System (ELMS) account for processing.   

This extension applies only to standard Mississippi educator licenses held by administrators, teachers, and instructional support personnel that will expire on June 30, 2020. Those educators who have already completed all requirements for licensure renewal are encouraged to complete the application process for obtaining their five-year license. 

Visit the MDE Licensure page for further updates: www.mdek12.org/OTL/OEL/Updates 

 Free LETRS Webinar Opportunity:  
Speech to Print: Language Essentials for Teaching Reading 

Tuesday, March 31st at 2:00 p.m. CT 

In this edWebinar, renowned literacy expert Louisa Cook Moats will present an overview of the concepts and language content that are essential for effectively teaching reading, spelling, and writing. Participants will gain insight into what there is to learn about the language essentials for teachers of literacy—speech sounds, spelling, sentences, and text structures. This edWebinar is ideal for educators responsible for teaching literacy or supporting intervention for students who struggle with reading and writing. 

Register online.  

Distance Learning Educator Resources 

Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) 
SREB has convened education leaders to find ways to help one another across state boundaries and to anticipate solutions to the challenges ahead. A few quick items to share: 

Georgia Virtual Learning: Open educational resources from Georgia are freely available to all states: 

Webinars: SREB is bringing you quick webinars on issues of need right now, beginning with counseling, a subject near and dear to my heart. Our first webinar filled up fast, a second is scheduled, and the recordings will be available. School Counseling From a Distance 

Home-based Learning Resources to Support Parents From ExcelinEd 
As of March 23, 2020, 46 states have decided to close schools, affecting at least 54.8 million school students. Here are some free resources developed by experts and partners that can help parents care for their families during the coming weeks.   

INNERVIEW.org 
InnerView is a no-cost resource for high schools and high school students who invest time in community service. School leaders can manage school-wide or group programs, post volunteer opportunities and events (including current needs for virtual peer tutors) and access reports and insights for overall school impact. Students access InnerView via their phone or computer and the system automatically builds a digital Service Resume based on their inputs. The Service Resume can help the student stand out when applying for jobs, scholarships, and college. Students are also eligible to earn a National Community Service Award; the deadline to qualify is April 15, 2020. This handout has all of the details for students.  Interested in learning more? Email:help@InnerView.org. 

Tools for Schools & Educators During School Closures from edmentum 
To help districts and educators navigate school closures and e-learning days, edmentum has been rolling out a variety of live webinars and resources. Check out the latest offerings. If you can't attend the scheduled dates or times, register for the webinars of interest and you'll receive the on-demand recording following the event. 

 

 Other Resources  

 

Licensure

The mission of the Office of Educator Licensure is to assist all Mississippi public school educators and prospective educators to obtain and maintain standard certification and licensure and to implement licensure guidelines set by the Certification Commission and State Board of Education. Prospective educators in Mississippi can obtain certification information by clicking the following link to access MDE Licensure Department.

Resource:
Mississippi Department of Education

Memorandum - Division of Educator Licensure

Dear Education Stakeholder,

The Mississippi Educator Licensure Management System (ELMS) has been updated with new enhancements that include but are not limited to the following:

  • Auto-Issuance of Select Licensure Requests: Certain licensure application requests will not require processing by a member of the Educator Licensure Team (e.g. Supplemental endorsement added by Mississippi-approved licensure test, Year-One Emergency Certificate for teacher teaching out of field, Preservice License for select candidates, One-Year Reinstatement of Expired Educator/Administrator License(s), etc.)
  • Submission of all local school district request application packets via the Mississippi Local School District’s ELMS Account
  • Electronic submission/upload of certain supporting licensure documentation via the applicant’s ELMS account (excludes official transcripts and licensure test score reports – transcripts should continue to be submitted electronically directly from the respective institution and test score reports from testing company)  
  • View and print documents submitted by applicant via ELMS account
  • Access to correspondence(s) sent to the applicant from the Division of Educator Licensure 

Video recordings of the recent demonstrations conducted via webinar can be accessed by clicking here. The video recordings will also soon be made accessible in the “Help” section of your ELMS account.  Superintendents and officials of eligible nonpublic schools will receive a web link via email for accessing a data collection form.  Data collected will be used to setup district-level ELMS account access for up to two representatives which must include the Superintendent/Official of Nonpublic School.  All other ELMS users will enter their existing username and password.  In preparation for launch of the new features, ELMS will not be accessible to users beginning at 4:00 p.m. Friday, February 1, 2019 to 8:00 a.m. Monday, February 4, 2019.

Prospective and practicing educators can begin using the new features Monday, February 4, 2019.  Local District Request Applications for school year 2019-2020 should not be completed until March 1 and thereafter.  If a request is submitted prior to March 1, a temporary license will be issued for the current school year.  Please assist us with disseminating this information to teachers and other education stakeholders who might be interested in taking advantage of these exciting enhancements.  Should you have questions, please do not hesitate to contact a member of the Educator Licensure team at 601-359-3483.  As always, we thank you for providing us with the opportunity to serve you.

Kind regards,

Cory

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