Friday, December 11, 2015

Letter sent from DESE to all educators identified last March as required to obtain the SEI endorsement and who have not yet obtained the endorsement or enrolled in an SEI course.

December 8, 2015

RE: RETELL – Requirement to Earn the SEI Endorsement

All core academic teachers (CATs)*1 who were assigned an ELL during their district’s cohort training window or administrators who supervise/evaluate core academic teachers who were assigned an ELL during their district’s cohort training window are required to earn the SEI Endorsement prior to August 31, 2016. Any teacher/administrator who is required to but does not earn the SEI Endorsement on or before August 31, 2016 will not be able to renew, advance, or extend their license(s) after August 31, 2016 until he/she obtains the SEI endorsement.

If you are not a CAT or an administrator who supervises/evaluates a CAT who was assigned an ELL during your district’s cohort training window, then you are not required to earn the SEI endorsement at this time and are not eligible to enroll in a state-offered, no-cost SEI endorsement course. In that case, you may disregard this notification.

Based on current estimates, there will be a greater demand for courses than the Department is likely able to accommodate in the spring. For reasons explained below, we urge you not to delay in registering for a course, or adding your name to a waitlist if there is not an opening in the course. The Department is making every effort to add as many spring 2016 courses as possible.

No restrictions will be placed on core academic licenses of those educators who place themselves on a waitlist for a course in the spring but cannot take or complete the course because seats were not made available or the course was cancelled by the Department. 

If you are required to earn the SEI endorsement and are eligible for a state-offered, no-cost course, then, to avoid a restriction being placed on your license(s), you must take one of the following two actions prior to January 15, 2016:

1. Enroll in an SEI endorsement course that has open seats, or 
2. Place yourself on the waitlist for an SEI endorsement course that you will attend and complete should seats become available. 

NOTE: If you enroll in a course with open seats but do not attend or pass with a 70% or higher, then you will not be afforded another no-cost opportunity and must obtain the endorsement through another pathway. See below for alternate pathways to earning the SEI endorsement.

You can register for an SEI Endorsement course or, if necessary, place yourself on a waitlist by going to http://www.cvent.com/d/6rqzt1/4W and following the registration instructions.

__________________________________________
 *1 The following teachers are "core academic teachers" for purposes of providing SEI instruction: teachers of students with moderate disabilities; teachers of students with severe disabilities; subject-area teachers in English, reading or language arts; mathematics, science; civics and government, economics, history, and geography; and early childhood and elementary teachers who teach such content.



You will need your MEPID and e-mail address to register for a course.

Should you encounter difficulty with registration, you may call the 24/7 help line for assistance at 1-888-789- 1109.

If you are unable to participate in an SEI Endorsement course due to serious illness or other serious circumstances that will prevent you from completing the course, then you may apply for a Hardship Extension. If you qualify for a Hardship Extension, you will be granted additional time to obtain the SEI Endorsement.

If you choose to apply for a Hardship Exception, you must submit supporting documentation. Examples of supporting documentation include: a letter from a physician, a death certificate, or military call up orders. Should you have questions about applying for a Hardship Exception please contact the Office of Educator Licensure at 781-338-6600.

You can find a link to the Hardship Exception form at the following link: http://www.doe.mass.edu/retell/HardshipException.pdf

The form and supporting documentation must be mailed to: Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education Attention: Request for SEI Hardship Exception Office of Educator Licensure 75 Pleasant Street Malden, MA 02148

If you are required to earn the SEI endorsement and you do not do so by August 31, 2016 or place yourself on a waitlist for a spring 2016 course under the circumstances outlined in this letter, you will not be able to renew, advance, or extend your core academic license(s) after August 31, 2016 unless you obtain the SEI endorsement by means other than a no-cost, state-offered course. You may apply for a Hardship Extension, which may or may not be granted. A Hardship Extension, if granted, does not guarantee future participation in a no-cost SEI Endorsement course.

Alternative Paths to the SEI Endorsement Include:

 • Completing and passing a for-cost course. You can find information about participating in a for-cost course at this link: http://www.doe.mass.edu/retell/For-Cost.html. Please contact the for-cost course providers directly for more information.

• Studying for and passing the SEI MTEL Subject Test. You can find study materials and information about the SEI MTEL at this link: http://www.mtel.nesinc.com/testinfo.asp?test=56.

• Possession of a valid ESL/ELL license.

• Possession of a bachelor's degree in a Department-approved major, or other Department-approved graduate level training. To request a transcript review, apply for the endorsement and select path 2, which is a transcript review based on a related degree or graduate level training. Instructions for applying for the SEI Endorsement can be found at this link: http://www.mass.gov/edu/docs/ese/educator-effectiveness/licensing/sei-endorsementhow-to-apply.pdfhttp://www.mass.gov/edu/docs/ese/educator-effectiveness/licensing/sei-endorsement-how-to-apply.pdf.

Should you have questions about applying for a transcript review please contact the Office of Educator Licensure at: 781-338-6600.

Thank you,

The Office of English Language Acquisition and Academic Achievement

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