Impact of COVID-19 and Executive Orders on Educator Data

Michigan Administrative Rules for Educator Certification Waivers

Provided that all waivers granted throughout the 2019-20 school year continue in effect through September 30, 2020 unless otherwise rescinded. This guidance document details this impact on the educator certification waivers. 

Emergency Provisions for Apprenticeship and Internship Requirements

Guidance was provided allowing for flexibility in counting time and placement towards student teaching during the 2019-20 school year. 

Temporary Certification Guidance

Notification of Waivers Associated with Teacher Certifications and Permits

E.O. 2020-35 authorized the issuance of a temporary one-year certificate for candidates who completed a Michigan educator preparation program and were unable to take the required Michigan Test(s) for Teacher Certification (MTTC) due to COVID-19-related test center closures.

A one-year certificate is not available within the Michigan Online Educator Certification System (MOECS) for candidates who completed an approved Michigan preparation program. Existing processes were repurposed to meet this order. The temporary teacher certificate (TTC) and school counselor employment authorizations (SCEA), which are typically only available to out-of-state candidates, were issued to in-state candidates. Candidates were given specific directions on how to apply, including selecting COVID-19 as the state where they completed their preparation program. The following are the adjustments to the data/data system for consideration when examining certification data:

• “2020-35 COVID” was added to MOECS as a state option.
• Applications for in state TTCs and SCEAs were “soft deleted” in MOECS to allow for application for the appropriate standard certificate through the regular path. This data did not actually disappear from the data system, but do not appear to the candidates.
• The in-state college/university can be found in the out-of-state field on the T2EAs. This field is free text. Candidates were asked to copy their provider’s name exactly from a provided list, but variations may be seen in the data. When candidates apply for, and receive, the standard teaching certificate, the recommending institution will be reflected in the in-state field.

These candidates may be considered program completers or not. They have met all institutional and state requirements for certification except for the MTTC and, potentially, the CPR/First Aid requirement. Like out-of-state candidates on a T2EA, the determination for if these teachers are counted for initial certification depends on the research question. In terms of employment and contracts, individuals holding these certificates are considered certified.

This was available from April 21, 2020 to September 30, 2020. Upon completion of the MTTC and recommendation from the educator preparation institution, these candidates will be issued a standard teaching certificate using the typical application process.

Notification of Waivers Associated with Teacher Certifications and Permits

E.O. 2020-35 temporarily expanded the eligibility for temporary one-year certification to candidates who completed an out-of-state program or hold a valid out-of-state certificate (typically only for those with a certificate).

The following are the adjustments to the data/data system for consideration when examining certification data:

• In MOECS, changed the error message on the out-of-state school psychologist application to allow applicants to continue with the application without holding a valid out-of-state certificate.

These candidates can be considered program completers or not, depending on the situation. They have met all institutional and state requirements for certification except for the MTTC. The candidate program would still be evaluated by the Office of Educator Excellence (OEE) to determine if it would lead to licensure in the state of origin, similar to if they directly qualified for a standard teaching certificate with an out of state program and now valid certificate. Upon completion of the MTTC and recommendation from the educator preparation institution, these candidates will be issued a standard teaching certificate using the typical application process. This flexibility expired September 30, 2020.

Temporary Certification Guidance

Notification of Waivers Associated with Teacher Certifications and Permits

Candidates who have satisfied the requirements for certification, except for completion of a CPR/First Aid course, apply for the standard teaching certificate and mark “Yes” to the CPR/First Aid question, even if they did not complete the requirement. OEE Evaluators issued certificates without the CPR/First Aid documentation. This waiver expired September 30, 2020.

Interim Certification Guidance

The Michigan Department of Education (MDE) did not exercise the ability to issue an interim teaching certificate. Instead the department recommended that they teach under permit and the permit will count toward the teaching under the interim teaching certificate. This is for the 2019-2020 school year only.

Notification of Waivers Associated with Teacher Certifications and Permits

Per the governor’s executive order the Standard and Professional TTCs issued January 1, 2019 through June 30, 2020 have been modified.

The following are the adjustments to the data/data system for consideration when examining certification data:

• A reference to the Governor’s Executive Order was added to the certificate template as authority for issuance.
• TTCs and SCEAs issued January 1, 2019 through June 30, 2020 had their expiration dates changed within the data to expire June 30, 2021.

Waiver of Required District Professional Learning Hours

Waiver of School Counselor Professional Learning

Waiver of Required District Professional Learning Hours

The department reduced the number of hours required for educators (teachers, administrators, school psychologists) who had credentials expire on June 30, 2020 to 120. To accomplish this, 30 hours was added to their MOECS account, leaving 120 hours to be completed by the educator.

For school counselors (school counselor license and teaching certificate with NT endorsement), 50 hours were added to accounts who had credentials expire on June 30, 2020, leaving 100 hours to be completed by the educator.

Educators who hold both a school counselor license and teaching certificate received 50 hours.

The following are the adjustments to the data/data system for consideration when examining certification data:

• The addition of two State Continuing Education Clock Hours (SCECH) programs for “Professional Learning Due to Executive Order 2020-35”. The hours were added to educator accounts whose certificates had an expiration date of June 30, 2020 and had not yet renewed.
• Hours are added to the educator record not the certificate type.
  • Educators holding the school counselor license or a teaching certificate with NT endorsement received 50 hours as follows: 25 college preparation and selection hours, 20 career hours and 5 military options hours.
  • Educators holding all non-counselor certificates received 30 general hours.

Notification of Waivers Associated with Teacher Certifications and Permits

Educators teaching under a daily substitute permit were able to exceed the 90 consecutive calendar day limitation in the same classroom or assignment during the 2019-20 school year. All daily permit extensions were valid through August 31, 2020.

• Local education agencies (LEAs), both traditional and charter did not need to apply for additional extensions for the 2019-20 school year.
• Expiration dates of already issued extended daily substitute permits and emergency extension to the daily substitute permits were changed to August 31, 2020.

This may result a decrease in the number of full year permits obtained for the 2019-20 school year.

Impact of COVID-19 School Closure on Educator Evaluation

Evaluation requirements for the 2019-20 school year were waived except for individuals who had an individualized development plan (IDP). Individuals who had an IDP include those who are in probationary status or a teacher (tenured or not) who have received ineffective or minimally effective labels.

The following are the adjustments to the data/data system for consideration when examining certification data:

• LEAs entered the evaluations into the Registry of Educational Personnel (REP) for those that were evaluated. Those that were not evaluated were left blank.
• For assignments codes which typically require an evaluation, the blanks were systematically converted to say “No Eval Emergency Order”.

Evaluation – Permit renewal

Waiver of Permit Renewal Requirements

UPDATED Career and Technical Education Requirements FAQ During COVID-19

The requirement for observation and/or evaluation for permit and annual career authorization renewals was suspended for the 2019-20 school year.

• Language was added to the questions and assurances statements for the full year basic, full year shortage, expert, and administrator permits referring to the observation leading to a comprehensive evaluation of effective or highly effective. The added language indicates an evaluation was not required for the 2019-20 school year due to COVID-19 school closures.

Evaluation – Certificate renewal and progression

Teacher Certification Renewal and Progression Without Educator Evaluation

The lack of evaluation in 2019-20 will not impact an individual’s ability to progress to the professional teaching certificate or progress to/renew the advanced professional teaching certificate.

The following are the adjustments to the data/data system for consideration when examining certification data:

• Typically, MOECS looks for three effective or highly effective evaluations for certain certificate renewal/progression. Programming was modified to allow for renewal/progression if the 2019-20 evaluation is “No Eval Emergency Order” as reported in REP if all other requirements are met.