The California CTC Approves Regulations to Establish a PK-3 Early Childhood Specialist Instruction Credential
Update
On August 25th and 26th, the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing (CTC) convened. At this two-day meeting, the Commission officially adopted the proposed regulations to establish the PK-3 Early Childhood Specialist Instruction Credential. CTC staff member, Erin Skubal, Director of the Certification Division, presented Agenda Item 5A, which details the proposed regulations and the structure for the credential, which include the credential requirements, preparation program models that may lead to a credential, program equivalency requirements, and authorization.
Public Comment
Early Edge California provided public comment which underscored our support for the PK-3 Early Childhood Specialist Instruction Credential and thanked Commission staff for their hard work. We also shared that we are glad that recognition of previous experience in Early Learning has been factored into the credential through the waiving of a portion of clinical practice hours should a candidate have satisfactory experience. We also asked for an increased focus on competencies that prepare educators to support DLLs and recommended that additional language be added about supporting the child’s home language in the section that defines “satisfactory experience.”
The general themes of the public comment on the proposed regulations included in Item 5A focused on support of the credential, but fine-tuning certain elements of the regulations, such as adjusting the clinical hour requirements and competency-based equivalency to increase equitable access for existing providers and educators in the Early Learning field to be able to achieve this credential, if interested. Other comments underscored the need to increase the focus on Dual Language Learners (DLLs) and ensure specific competencies are focused on in child development.
Next Steps
Commission staff are in the process of submitting these regulations to the state’s Office of Administrative Law for approval, which can take between 6 months to one year after submission to be approved. Once the regulations are approved, the credential will be available for issuance to individuals who meet the requirements.
The next Commission meeting will be held in October, where Commissioners will consider the adoption of proposed preparation program preconditions, program standards, and teacher performance expectations (TPEs) for the PK-3 Early Childhood Specialist Instruction Credential. Should the program standards be approved, the CTC should be able to start accepting proposals from institutions of higher education to provide PK-3 credential preparation programs in January 2023.
To learn more about the PK-3 Early Childhood Specialist Instruction Credential, visit the CTC website and sign up for their PSD eNews updates.