Reading Requirements and Course Work

When did this change occur?

As of January 1, 1999, MSDE implemented the requirement for additional reading course work. This will affect all certificate holders who hold or renew a certificate with an issuance date of January 1, 1999 and after.

How long do I have to meet these new requirements?

Teachers needing more then 6 semester hours of reading course work must submit a minimum of 6 semester hours within the first issued or renewed certificate AFTER January 1, 1999 and the remaining 6 semester hours during the second renewal period.Teachers needing 6 semester hours or less will have one renewal period (first issued or renewed certificate after 1/1/99).

Who is exempt?

Specialist and administrative areas of certification are not affected by the reading regulation. However, if you hold certification in either a specialist or administrative area AND a teacher area, you must meet the reading requirements OR forfeit the teacher area from your certificate.

Counselors, Reading Teacher/Specialists, Educational Media Specialists, Pupil Personnel Workers, Psychometrist, School Psychologists, Occupational and Physical Therapists, Speech Pathologists, Audiologists, and all Non-Instructional Administrators are exempt unless they hold and wish to continue to hold a teaching area on their certificate.

What course work is acceptable?

All reading course work completed as a part of your bachelor's degree program, on the graduate level, or through approved MSDE CPD course work will be considered. A listing of acceptable course work can be found on MSDE's web-site. www.marylandpublicschools.org/MSDE/divisions/certification/certification_branch/

Who needs 12 semester hours?

All Early Childhood, Elementary/Middle, and Generic Special Education Pre-K to grade 6 teachers. The course work content must include:

• Processes & Acquisition of Reading - Explains the process of language development, including the impact of phonemic awareness, and how the brain responds to reading acquisition.
• Instruction of Reading - Shows teachers how to use a balanced program of phonics, semantics, and syntactic in teaching reading.
• Materials for Teaching Reading - Exposes teachers to a variety of texts to be used in their classes and explains 4.
• Assessment for Reading Instruction - Shows teachers how to use state, local, and classroom reading assessment data to make ongoing instructional modification.

Current certificate holders with certification in Early Childhood, Elementary/Middle, Generic Special Education K-6 may test out of the reading requirement (12 semester hours) by meeting the qualifying score of 173 on Praxis II Reading Across the Curriculum: Elementary, test code 0201.

Who needs 6 semester hours?

This is a requirement for all teachers of Secondary Areas, N-12/K-12 Areas, and Generic Special Education 7-12. The course work content must include:

• Methods of Teaching Reading in the Secondary Content Area Part I - Outlines the essentials of the reading process. Introduces the teacher to the purposes of reading; methods of assessing student reading; cognitive strategies in reading; methods of incorporating reading through student centered instruction; motivations for reading.
• Methods of Teaching Reading in the Secondary Content Area, Part II - Expands on Part I, enabling teachers to apply theories, strategies, and practices in daily classroom instruction.