The Collaborative for Educational Services (CES) in Northampton, MA has announced the launch this fall of the Massachusetts Licensure Academy. The Academy’s mission, in partnership with and funded by the MA Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (ESE), will be to support Massachusetts teachers currently working under a waiver, as well as licensed teachers seeking an additional license, toward licensure as Teachers of Moderate Disabilities. CES will be coordinating and delivering the Academy to educators statewide.
Designed for working professionals, the Academy offers coursework in a hybrid online format (a mix of online and face-to-face instruction), with some face to face sessions taking place in Marlboro and Northampton. The Academy has been developed to increase the number of licensed teachers serving students with diagnosed disabilities, and will provide up to 120 participants annually with two no-cost courses that support their progress toward an Initial License or an additional license in Moderate Disabilities. The courses offered this fall, Learning Disabilities Instructional Techniques and Understanding Disabilities and Differences, will build participants’ competencies as special education teachers; and classes are set to begin in early October.
Participation in the Massachusetts Licensure Academy is open to full time teachers in any MA public or private school. Participants may take a single course, or both courses, with priority given to Massachusetts educators working on a waiver. Registrants working on a waiver are required to submit proof of eligibility before their registration is confirmed.
The Collaborative for Educational Services has extensive experience providing high quality, research-based education in educator preparation and professional development programs, and has been an ESE-approved provider of Post-Baccalaureate Initial Licensure programs statewide since the program was founded in 2003.
Said Licensure Program Director, Dr. Cecelia Buckley, “CES is strongly committed to the preparation of both special education teachers and general education teachers as well as high quality online learning for educators. We are excited about the support this program will provide to teachers of special education students across the state, and are particularly pleased to offer the significant expertise of course instructors Dr. Laurel Peltier and Sharon Jones; as well as our Collaborative Center for Assistive Technology and Training (CCATT) personnel, who will provide instruction on appropriate use of augmentative and alternative communication and other assistive technologies.”
For more information about the program and registration, please visit www.collaborative.org/services/professional-development/massachusetts-licensure-academy
