State moves closer to finalizing new teacher licensing rules

Minnesota’s new teacher licensing board can require inexperienced teachers to participate in mentoring programs and can specify the type of training educators receive so they can better understand students of different cultures.

Those are two of the more controversial decisions contained in an 80-page ruling by state Administrative Law Judge Barbara J. Case that was released Thursday. The Minnesota Office of Administrative Hearings oversees how state agencies implement laws passed by the Legislature.

The ruling Thursday was the latest step in the state’s efforts to create a new system for licensing educators. The licensing board will review Case’s entire ruling at a special meeting Aug. 22.

Case ruled that the Professional Educator Licensing and Standards Board, or PELSB, was correctly interpreting the new teacher licensing law approved in 2017 when it proposed requiring educators with the lowest level of license to participate in a mentoring program.

Read more: https://www.twincities.com/2018/08/16/state-moves-closer-to-finalizing-new-teacher-licensing-rules/