Family & Community Adult Education Adult & Community Learning Services
ABE Teacher's License Update
Volume 2 Number 1 - January 2000

Developing an Adult Basic Education Licensure Process for Massachusetts

The ABE Teacher Certification Update is published by the ESE (Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education) in coordination with SABES (System of Adult Basic Education Support) in an effort to keep practitioners and interested parties apprised of the status of the ABE Certification. Our third issue is a summary of the issues raised during our recent "ABE Certification Roadshow" in which we solicited responses from the field to the Interim Report released in October. A complete Roadshow Report is posted on the ESE web site www.doe.mass.edu/acls and the SABES web site www.sabes.org.

Report on Feedback from "Certification Roadshows"
With the help of SABES regional staff, Mary Jayne Fay, ESE ABE Certification Specialist, and Carey Reid, SABES Staff Development Specialist, convened meetings with 121 practitioners across the Commonwealth.

Summary of major findings:
Grandfathering or crediting for prior knowledge and skills. While grandfathering per se has been prohibited by the 1993 Education Reform Act, practitioners felt there should be some method for acknowledging the many years of schooling, training, and experience of so many ABE educators. While some felt that a quick prior credit process could be developed, a roughly equal number felt that a deeper kind of scrutiny was required. A great deal of support emerged for a portfolio-based process, with a few attendees adding that the process should involve reflection on practice and even direct observation of classroom teaching.

Voluntary vs. mandatory.
The statute mandating the provision of an ABE certification also mandates that ABE certification be voluntary and that employers not construe the statute to mean that they must require certification of their ABE employees. Regardless, there is a strong concern that once on the books the new certification might become de facto mandatory. Many felt that ESE might word RFPs or configure funding in ways that would force program managers to hire ABE certified practitioners, and many cited the inclusion of the Certification Survey with the current RFP as a reason for this line of thinking. Still more felt that employers would begin to require certification as a matter of local policy, thereby creating a prejudice against uncertified practitioners. Additionally, many felt that while the ABE certification is not now required that it will become so in the future.

Costs in dollars and time.
Given the fact that most practitioners are underpaid and, for several reasons, have few spare hours to apply to certification requirements, how can they reasonably be expected to pursue certification? Many practitioners felt that ESE should monetarily support the efforts of current practitioners pursuing certification. Nearly everyone agreed that flexibility is the key regarding ways to fulfill competencies.

Benefits of securing certification.
Most practitioners who now hold a K-12 certification acknowledged the benefits of having an ABE certification toward which to direct their future learning. However, feelings among those without K-12 certification were decidedly mixed. While many felt that certification should be tied to higher pay scales, most of those individuals and many more as well held little hope that the costs and labor applied to securing an ABE certification would be financially rewarded. Several practitioners expressed the hope that ABE certification would be recognized by the teacher's union and that they would have access to the same benefits, including retirement options and pay scale.

Bachelor's requirement.
Over all, most of the attendees felt that a bachelor's degree, without equivalent, should be a basic requirement. Several suggested that some kind of provision be made for current practitioners, but not for individuals just entering the field. More than a few were openly worried the requirement would prevent worthy instructors who don't happen to have a bachelor's degree from pursuing certification, albeit voluntary.

Literacy test.
Most of the attendees felt that a literacy test should be a basic requirement for ABE certification. A significant number, however, felt that the current MECT (Massachusetts Educator Certification Test) might not be fair or appropriate, especially for practitioners whose first language is not English, and urged that it be looked at carefully. Several practitioners felt that a good portfolio assessment approach would cover "literacy" requirements, more fairly than a test would.

Form(s) of certification.
Taking the Roadshows as a whole, most of the attendees felt that there should be one certification for all practitioners regardless of role or specialization. The argument that held most sway was that practitioners are required to be flexible--to fulfill different roles, cover different kinds of classes, piece together part-time jobs, or react to funding swings--and did not want the certification process to impede their ability to be so. Across the Roadshows, many attendees felt that there should be some way of at least recognizing significant training in certain areas, if only in print.

The present and future influx of younger learners.
Many practitioners were concerned about the great numbers of high school dropouts now coming to ABE programs for GEDs. Another contingent pointed out developments surrounding MCAS testing requirements and predicted that, regardless of the Governor's most recent remarks, a future wave of MCAS non-passers would swamp ABE programs (starting in the year 2003, high school students who cannot pass the MCAS will not be allowed to graduate.) These concerns combined into a warning: The field was undergoing a serious challenge that the new certification might need to address.

Other concerns and points of interest:
There were at least two more noteworthy matters that consistently arose.
. The idea of piloting the new certification was an appealing idea to many attendees. Several wanted to be involved directly, and others were concerned that the plotters represent the range of practitioners.
. Most of the attendees seemed to like the competencies listed in the Interim Report, while they understood that refinement would be needed; however, a few attendees were either opposed to a competency-based model in general or felt that the draft competencies needed a thorough revision. They were invited to suggest changes.

Balloting:
Over the course of the Roadshows, several basic questions regarding the ABE certification took shape. We put together a ballot and sent it out to those persons who attended the Roadshows and persons who have attended focus groups, pilot courses, or presentations about certification. It appears that the balloting allowed the Roadshow attendees to think further about the issues because many changed their minds about how they voted at the Roadshow sessions. Overall, the balloting indicates a swing toward more flexibility with entry level requirements and toward forms of certification that reflect specializations. A summary of the voting is as follows. Exact figures are available in the larger report posted on our web sites.

Your feedback is critical!
It is not too late to have your comments heard. All work done to date are drafts. Please take the time to give us your reactions. They will help to shape the course of discussions within the ABE Certification Advisory Committee. Our hope is to open the lines of communication and to encourage feedback from the field. To those of you who have responded, we thank you. For those of you who have not, we encourage you to send your responses via letter, fax, or email to:

Mary Jayne Fay
ABE Certification Specialist
Adult and Community Learning Services
Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education
email: MJFAY@doe.mass.edu
FAX: 781-338-3394