SUPPLEMENTAL NOTICE OF PROPOSED CHANGES TO

TEACHER COMPETENCY AND CONTENT AREA EXAMS

IN THE REGULATIONS OF

THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION AND EARLY DEVELOPMENT

This supplemental notice is being issued due to a time change for oral public comment. You may submit oral comments to the State Board of Education and Early Development at a hearing to be held by the board on December 7, 2017, by audio-conference. The hearing will be held from 2:10 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. but may be extended to accommodate those present before 1:55 p.m. who have not had an opportunity to comment before 3:00 p.m.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION: Provides additional options for teachers to satisfy teacher certification requirements by: 1) adding the GRE to the list of approved competency exams, and 2) adding additional exams to the approved content exams for teacher certification.

The Department of Education and Early Development proposes to adopt regulation changes in Title 4 of the Alaska Administrative Code dealing with teacher competency exams, including the following:

4 AAC 12.310 (d) and (e), with proposed changes, would amend the list of approved competency exams to include the graduate record examination general test (GRE).

4 AAC 12.407 (a) (1), with proposed changes, would amend the list of approved content area exams to include tests in the following areas: early childhood education; English to speakers of other languages; special education; and reading.

4 AAC 12.407 (c), with the proposed changes, would amend the list of approved content area exams to include tests in the following areas: agriculture; algebra; computer science; journalism; music; physical education; psychology; social studies; and sociology.

You may submit oral comments to the State Board of Education and Early Development at a hearing to be held by the board on December 7, 2017, by audio-conference. The hearing will be held from 2:10 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. but may be extended to accommodate those present before 1:55 p.m. who have not had an opportunity to comment before 3:00 p.m.

You may submit oral comments at this hearing, during this time only, via the Legislative Information Office streaming by calling 1-844-586-9085 if you are outside of Juneau or Anchorage. For participation from Juneau, call 586-9085. For participation from Anchorage, call 563-9085.

You also may submit oral comment by visiting your local Legislative Information Office (LIO). The following LIO’s will participate: Anchorage, 716 W 4th Ave., Suite 100; Bethel, 301 Willow St.; Fairbanks, 1292 Sadler Way, Suite 308; Juneau, Room 111 Terry Miller Bldg.; Kenai, 145 Main St. Loop, Suite 217; Ketchikan, 1900 First Ave., Suite 310; Kodiak, 305 center Ave., Suite 1; Mat-Su, 600 E Railroad Ave.; Nome 103 Front St.; Seward, 302 Railway Suite 107; and Sitka, 201 Katlian St., Suite 103.

This meeting will be streamed through the Legislative Information Office over http://www.alaskalegislature.tv/ beginning at 2:00 p.m. December 7, 2017 (audio only). You may submit written questions relevant to the proposed action to Marcy Herman at marcy.herman@alaska.gov or the Department of Education and Early Development, Attn: Marcy Herman, 801 West 10th Street, Suite 200, PO Box 110500, Juneau, Alaska 99811-0500. If a question is relevant to the proposed change in the regulations and the question is received by November 3, 2017, which is ten days before the end of the public comment period, the department will make a good-faith effort to answer the question before the end of the public comment period. The Department of Education and Early Development will aggregate its response to substantially similar questions and make the questions and responses available on the Alaska Online Public Notice System and on the website of the Department of Education and Early Development at https://education.alaska.gov/regs/comment.cfm. 

If you are a person with a disability who needs a special accommodation in order to participate in this process, please contact Marcy Herman at 907-465-2803 or marcy.herman@alaska.gov not later than December 1, 2017, to ensure that any necessary accommodation can be provided.

Copies of the proposed regulation changes are available on the Alaska Online Public Notice System, on the website of the Department of Education and Early Development at https://education.alaska.gov/regs/comment.cfm, and by contacting Marcy Herman at marcy.herman@alaska.gov or 907-465-2803.

After the public comment period ends, the Department of Education and Early Development will either adopt the proposed regulation changes or other provisions dealing with the same subject, without further notice, or decide to take no action. The language of the final regulation may be different from that of the proposed regulation. You should comment during the time allowed if your interests could be affected.

Statutory authority: AS 14.07.060; AS 14.20.010; AS 14.20.020; AS 14.20.022, AS 14.20.030, AS 14.50.080

Statutes being implemented, interpreted, or made specific: AS 14.20.020

Fiscal information: The proposed regulation changes are not expected to require an increased appropriation.