Interns lose status as authorized English learner instructors
By Tom Chorneau
Friday, March 08, 2013
Despite pleas from an overflow crowd largely supporting existing state policies governing the role of interns in the classroom, the state credentialing commission moved Thursday to end a practice that gave some student teachers an authorization to oversee English learner instruction before completing the specialized training.
Although the Commission on Teacher Credentialing will need to take formal action amending state regulations sometime in the future, the panel endorsed staff recommendations that include convening a big tent stakeholder discussion aimed at creating policies for allowing the productive role of interns in public schools while still maintaining the credibility of the certification process.
“Our policy should be very clear – as a state agency we should no longer issue a document that is not true and gives an authorization that has not been earned and misrepresents a person’s training,” said Beverly Young, an assistant vice chancellor for the California State University System and a member of the commission.
The CTC faced the potential of litigation over its current policies that have allowed participants in alternative
