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Ensuring that an appropriately prepared and endorsed teacher is assigned to teach in Michigan’s classrooms is critical to student achievement. The State Board of Education (SBE) has approved standards for preparing teachers in each endorsement area.
The Language Arts (BX) endorsement is a group endorsement, covering English language and literature study, journalism, speech, reading and some communication arts concepts appropriate to grades K-8. The English (BA) endorsed teacher does not have the same breadth of preparation.
The term “English Language Arts (ELA)” in the Michigan K-12 Standards for English Language Arts and Michigan Merit Curriculum (MMC) causes some confusion as to which endorsement a teacher should hold for a given assignment, especially when a school has opted to name all its English or Language Arts courses as ELA. When determining the appropriate endorsement needed for a course, reviewing the title alone is not sufficient. Administrators and teachers should also apply and align all the considerations outlined in the Proper Placement Considerations guide before assigning teachers or developing courses.
Most 9-12 ELA courses are truly English courses, with a focus on English language and literature study (e.g. English 11, Literature; see the Quick Reference: Courses That Can Be Taught for additional BA course titles). For that reason, the State Board of Education eliminated the secondary level Language Arts endorsement in 2000.
A true corrective reading and/or comprehension course must be taught by a Reading Specialist (BR), Reading (BT), or Language Arts (BX) endorsed teacher. This includes courses where the teacher uses a boxed, scripted program (e.g., Read180, Corrective Reading) for which the teacher assesses and places students in the program based upon their assessment scores, and then gives the students workbooks and other materials from the program to teach prescribed decoding and comprehension skills. While it is packaged and scripted, teachers provide more than facilitation by evaluating and grouping students based upon that evaluation. Therefore, the teacher should hold the appropriate endorsement. An English (BA) endorsement is not the appropriate endorsement for this type of course.
Districts, in an effort to build and reinforce the reading skills of their students and to increase student achievement, have also begun developing courses to teach reading skills in the content areas. These courses utilize teachers certified in the content areas and but not certified in reading. It is necessary to evaluate these courses and refer to the Proper Placement Considerations document to ensure the class is taught by an appropriately prepared teacher.
Typically the biggest area of concern is when the course is called “Reading”. A course called “Reading” would indicate that reading is being taught in isolation. However, if the course truly involves content, the title of the course should reflect the content. For example, “Scientific Reading”, “Reading in Literature” or “Extended Readings in Social Studies” would be appropriate titles for these elective courses taught by a science, English or social studies teacher, respectively. The course description should emphasize the study of the core course content alongside the reading strategies and interventions.
A speech course is designed to help students gain self-confidence in public speaking and master the skills necessary to prepare and present interesting and well organized speeches to an audience. The course will aid in conversation, small group interaction, identification of speaking purposes, supporting ideas, and listening skills. Some of the projects students can expect to produce are informational speeches, persuasive speeches, sales presentations, marketing campaigns, impromptu activities and more. This course should be taught by a Speech (BD), Language Arts (BX), or Communication Arts (AX) endorsed teacher. The English (BA) endorsed teacher does not have sufficient depth of preparation to teach it.
Please note that the Communication Arts (AX) endorsement was discontinued in 2017. This endorsement will not be removed from teaching certificates. School districts are free to assign any teacher to courses specific to this endorsement who provides evidence of professional development and holds a certificate for the grade level at which these courses are offered.
