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Teacher Certification

Michigan professional certificate requirements

1. Planned program

2. Teaching experience

3. New reading diagnostics/remediation requirement for teachers (Public Act 118)

Teaching experience requirement:

Planned program: The Western Michigan University candidate must earn eighteen semester hours after the issuance of the Provisional certificate in an approved planned program. A Western Michigan University graduate with an "approved" master's or higher degree (regardless of when earned) is not required to complete the eighteen semester hour program.

Various 18 semester hour planned program options are available for the candidate for Professional certification. All course work must be completed at a four-year teacher preparation institution after the issuance of the initial Michigan Provisional certificate. Unacceptable course work would be: courses completed by correspondence; at two-year institutions; or non-accredited institutions. A satisfactory grade of "C" or higher must be earned. Procedures for "planned program" approval:

• Master's degree programs: A candidate admitted to and pursuing an appropriate master's degree program may use the first 18 semester hours as their planned program. "Appropriate" master's degree programs are those in the field of education or in the subject areas taught in the elementary or secondary school. An "approved" master's degree or higher is an earned degree conferred by an approved United States teacher education institution accredited by a recognized regional or national accrediting agency.
  
  Master's degree programs are also available in other teaching subject areas, including: Art, Communication, Earth Science, English, Geography, History, Math Education, Music, Physics, Political Science, Science Education and School Psychology.  See the graduate catalog.
  
  
• Program: The candidate will plan the master's degree program with his/her assigned faculty advisor (not the Certification Officer). All course work accepted for the degree program at Western Michigan University must be elected within six years preceding the date on which the graduate degree is conferred.
  
  
• Subject endorsements: Elementary or Secondary: A candidate may earn an additional endorsement in a new major or minor appropriate to the grade level of the original certificate. The candidate must make arrangements through the Certification Office for referral to an academic advisor for a signed major or minor slip to be sent to the Teacher/Administrator Certification Office. State of Michigan subject area testing will apply to the addition of endorsement(s) to existing certificates after Sept. 1, 1993.
  
  
• Grade-Level endorsements: A candidate may complete a minimum of 18 semester hours at the following endorsement levels:
  
  
  • Early Childhood - to teach in a school program preceding or including kindergarten. Must be admitted to the Early Childhood master's degree program to enroll in appropriate course work. Contact person: Dr. Regena Nelson, (269) 387-3509.
    
    
  • General Elementary - to teach in grades kindergarten to and including five in all subject areas and in the major and minor areas of preparation in grade six. Contact person: Cindy DeRyke, (269)-387-3473.
    
    
  • Middle School - to teach in grades five to and including nine in the major and minor areas of preparation. Course work may be included in Teaching in the Middle School master's degree. Contact person: Cindy DeRyke, (269) 387-3473.
    
    
  • Secondary - to teach in grades nine to and including twelve in the major and minor areas of preparation. Contact person: Cindy DeRyke, (269) 387-3473.
    
    
  • State of Michigan subject area testing will apply to the addition of endorsement(s) to existing certificates after Sept. 1, 1993.
    
    
• Professional development option: A candidate may pursue an individual planned program in consultation with the Certification Officer. The candidate initiates the selection of course work and submits requests to the Certification Officer for approval in advance of registration. Courses selected should add to the candidate's knowledge of subject matter fields, teaching competency and total professional growth.
  
  
• Occupational approval: If the candidate holds an Interim Occupational certificate in conjunction with the Provisional certificate, he/she must complete either an appropriate master's degree program or nine semester hours of specific occupational education course work as part of the 18 credit-hour requirement in order to qualify for the Occupational Certificate.

Teaching Experience Requirement:

The candidate must have taught successfully for the equivalent of three years following the issuance of and within the grade-level and subject area validity of the Provisional certificate. The success of the teaching experience is determined by the State Board of Education upon recommendation of the University and of the local school district(s) in which the candidate taught.

Experience can be accumulated through part-time (including substitute teaching) under the following prorating formula: one half or more of a teaching day (2 and l/2 or more clock hours) is the equivalent of one day, and 150 accumulated days is the equivalent of one year. There is no requirement that such experience be under contract, in consecutive years, be completed in Michigan, nor be completed before expiration of the Provisional certificate. All experience remains cumulative toward the Professional certificate.

It is not lost when the initial Provisional Certificate expires. Like credit, it remains “in the bank” until whatever future time it may be added to time accumulated up to and during the first or second renewals of the Provisional Certificate, until the equivalent total of three years has been reached. Remember that one need not apply for either the first or second available renewal until whatever future time they are needed for an appropriate teaching assignment. Thus, over an unrestricted span of years, a total of 12 years under Provisional certification (six under the initial Provisional and three under each renewal) is available in which to accumulate the three year experience equivalent.

Reading Methods:

1. New Reading Methods Requirement for Teachers (Public Act 118) - Effective Jun. 29, 2009, any teacher who does not yet have a Professional certificate is required to complete a three credit hour course of study, with appropriate field experiences, in diagnosis, remediation of reading disabilities and differentiated instruction in order to qualify for a PROFESSIONAL certificate. ED/LS 5160 Professional Symposium in Reading has been approved to meet this requirement. Teachers who have a professional or continuing certificate are exempt from this requirement.

2. Teachers who completed their initial teacher education programs in Michigan before 1983, and those who completed their teacher education programs at out-of-Michigan institutions need to provide verification they have completed the reading methods requirement to be eligible for the Professional certificate.  Elementary teachers must have completed six credit hours of reading methods course work; secondary teachers must have completed three credit hours, appropriate to their certification grade levels.  A list of acceptable reading courses may be obtained from the Teacher Certification Office.  If this required course work was completed prior to receiving the Provisional certificate, i.e., in one’s initial certification program, it need not be repeated within the required credit for the Professional certificate.  Transcripts must be provided to verify completion of this requirement, if the requirement was completed outside WMU.

On Apr. 1, 1989, Act 339 of the Public Acts of 1988 was implemented. By signing and returning this application, you are agreeing to pay the required certification fee and requesting that the certificate be issued.

Western Michigan University will investigate your qualifications and, if satisfactory, will make a recommendation to the Michigan Department of Education; the Michigan Department of Education will then send you a statement of remittance (bill). The Professional Certificate will be issued after you have returned the statement of remittance and the certification fee to the MDE. This process takes
approximately 60-90 days. If it is determined that you do not meet the qualifications listed above, you will be informed of the deficiencies.

Advanced Certificate Renewal for the Professional and  Occupational:
Persons receiving a Professional Certificate are required to renew that certificate every five years, using the Application for Advanced Certificate Renewal. Options include completion of six credit hours of appropriate academic credit from an approved institution listed in the Directory of Michigan Institutions of Higher Education (academic credit earned from a state board-approved institution of higher education, i.e., public and private 2- and 4-year regionally accredited institutions) or the equivalent in professional development programs or activities that will award State Board-approved Continuing Education Units (SB-CEUs), or a combination of both credit hours and SB-CEUs. (3 SB-CEUs are equivalent to 1 credit hour). Credit earned through correspondence is not acceptable.