I have a few questions I am hoping you can help answer. I recently became certified as a Education Specialist (mild/moderate) with a preliminary credential here in CA with an out of state transfer. When applying for jobs, I noticed that I do not meet a few requirements, namely NCLB compliance, added autism authorization, or ELL authorization. In addition, I haven't taken the CSET. I have friends who have found jobs here in CA without any of the requirements I have listed. My question to you is: do you recommend I continue to search for SPED positions, or should I go back to school and get all of those requirements met? I have the option of going back to a higher paying job in a related field, but honestly, I would prefer to make the career switch now and work on those requirements while I am a SPED teacher.
If California has issued you a preliminary credential, the chances are pretty good that your license and transcript(s) from out of state have been taken as evidence that you're NCLB-compliant and entitled to the ELL authorization, or at any rate that you're eligible to be hired now while you work on those requirements. I can't speak to the autism authorization. For your own peace of mind, however, you might want to make an appointment with the credential analysts at the local county office of education; take all your paperwork, crucially including whatever the state has mailed, emailed, or otherwise communicated to you, and ask the questions you're asking here.
Thank you. This is what I thought as well, especially since I was issued the preliminary credential. I'm just not sure how I would provide evidence that I am NCLB compliant. I'm not as worried about the added autism authorization.
Part of being NCLB in CA is that you have to have passed the CSET. I was not required to take an equivalent test in Arizona. I guess I can't say I'm NCLB compliant because of this.
To be precise, ONE route to establish NCLB compliance (that is, subject-matter competence) is via CSET. It's not the only way, however, any more than it is in Arizona. Look: Go take yourself and everything the state has sent you in the matter of your credential and chat up the credential analysts at the local COE. They know whereof they speak, and they can interpret both the information on your paperwork and the checkboxes on the applications. Get your questions answered so you have a solid basis for knowing what you have and haven't done and to what extent you're good to go right now. You seem to me to be at some risk of selling yourself short in the job market, and I'd really rather you didn't.
My district had an NCLB compliance form. When I asked HR if they could help me with proof of compliance, they filled out the form and sent it to me. Maybe your old district in Arizona can supply you with something similar?
Here's a link to the list on the California Dept. of Education (CDE) site: http://www.cde.ca.gov/re/sd/co/
