Recertification Information for Ed Techs working under a Professional certificate, Conditional Certificate or Ed Tech Authorization.
Initial certification in Maine is done by the Maine Department of Education. You are issued the highest level certificate that you qualify for. You receive an evaluation letter directly from the state.
If you hold a Professional Teaching certificate:
You will need to earn 90 contact hours or 6 credits of PRE-APPROVED work related to your endorsement area or an area in which you are seeking an endorsement during your 5-year renewal cycle.
To do this you must submit and have approved by the LCC committee a purple Professional Renewal Plan.
All activities listed under Parts I and II are automatically pre-approved and do not require submission of a pink Pre-Approval form. You must submit a pink Pre-Approval form for activities noted under Part III Special Projects on Appendix A of the Falmouth PLCSS plan.
To be granted contact hours or credits you must submit a blue Professional Development Activity Report upon completion of the activity along with documentation of completion in the form of transcripts or certificates of attendance provided by the instructor/facilitator.
If you hold a Conditional certificate:
Maine now issues a 3 year conditional certification to some individuals. That certificate is non-renewable. You will renew directly with the Department of Education Certification Office. You received an "Evaluation Letter" from the DOE that details exactly what needs to be completed to attain professional certification. You email the DOE in Augusta if you are ready to have this issued, but you should only do so if you need it. https://www.maine.gov/doe/cert/renewal/
Also note that there is an "or" in the minimum requirements in the letter. You only need to complete one of those requirements.
If there are required courses listed, be CERTAIN to get the course pre-approved. Email the title and course description and number to cert.doe@maine.gov. Do NOT rely on any other advice from any other individual about whether a course will count or not. The DOE has the final say.
You do not need to have any contact hours or credits nor do you need the signature of the LCC chair. You submit materials online through the MEIS portal for DOE review.
If you hold an Ed Tech Authorization:
You will need to have documentation for 45 contact hours or 3 credits every 5 years.
Documentation is in the form of transcripts or certificates of attendance.
You do not need PRE-APPROVAL for activities from the LCC.
To be granted contact hours or credits you must submit a blue Professional Development Activity Report upon completion of the activity along with documentation of completion in the form of transcripts or certificates of attendance provided by the instructor/facilitator.
You can send the LCC chair your documentation as you complete the work or you may keep your own file and present it at the time of your renewal. The LCC chair will electronically sign your renewal in the Department of Education online system and will notify you when that has been completed.
If you have questions, please contact an LCC building representative or the LCC chair.
OTHER SOURCES OF PD CREDIT:
We know that people are always on the lookout for good courses, workshops etc. This site has some good resources that might work for you and the Maine Certification Office has approved this as a source of continuing education credits for ed techs (answer below).
http://www.quantumunitsed.com/
For your records, this was the answer from Augusta when I asked whether these could be taken for continuing ed credit:
These are ok to take. Good site, I’ve (Maine DOE rep) added it to my list for people to check out. Let me know if you have any other questions. We accept all variations of credit given.
1 credit= 15 hours = 1.5 CEU’s
Updated 10/7/19 https://www.presencelearning.com/resources/sped-ahead-special-education-resources-webinars/ Webinars on this site are acceptable for PD credit.