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Rule: Written into the rule for Reading Endorsement eligibility is a requirement for 40 hours of documented live sessions. (See Rule NMAC 6.64.3.8 below.)
Course Requirements and Calculations: There are 16 live three-hour facilitated sessions built into the LETRS course. To meet the reading endorsement eligibility requirements, participants need to attend a minimum of 14 of the 16 facilitated sessions.
The Fine Print: Time in each session is logged through Zoom attendance reports as well as the LETRS entry and exit forms that participants complete in each session.
All attendance is tied to the email address that the participant used to register for LETRS. If a participant logs into a facilitated session with a different email address, the attendance will not be recorded correctly.
Participants who notice discrepancies between their records and what is reported on the NMPED's Eligibility Tracker should complete either a Discrepancy Reporting Form or a Records Review Request for Reading Endorsement Eligibility Form if applicable.
Rule: Written into the rule for Reading Endorsement eligibility is a requirement for a score of at least 80% on all unit assessments and volume posttests. (See Rule NMAC 6.64.3.8 below.)
Course Requirements and Calculations: For each unit assessment, participants have two attempts to score at least 80%. For each volume posttest, participants have only one attempt to score at least 80%. In some instances, participants may be allowed to retake a volume posttest. This decision is at the discretion of the NMPED. Participants who are requesting this exception should complete the LETRS Posttest Retake Request Form. Each participant is only allowed one volume posttest retake for either Volume 1 or Volume 2--not both.
The Fine Print: The LETRS platform contains scores for the following: Session Knowledge Checks, Unit Assessments, Unit Average, and Posttests. Be sure you are keeping track of your unit assessment scores--not your unit average scores. The score listed on your Certificate of Mastery or your Certificate of Completion is the unit average score--not the unit assessment score.
Rule: Written into the rule for Reading Endorsement eligibility is a requirement for 40 hours of online coursework. (See Rule NMAC 6.64.3.8 below.)
Course Requirements and Calculations: The LETRS platform automatically logs a participant's time spent in the LETRS course. This time must be at least 32 hours in order for a participant to qualify for a reading endorsement.
Participants are expected to complete Bridge to Practice activities and read their LETRS manuals to complete the additional eight hours of online coursework.
The Fine Print: When you have finished a unit assessment, you will receive a Certificate of Completion or a Certificate of Mastery for that unit. On the certificate, there will be an amount of time that you have spent in completing the unit. This is not the amount of time you actually spent on coursework. It is the amount of time Lexia estimates a participant will spend completing the unit. You need to monitor and track your actual time spent completing coursework by viewing Time Spent completing each unit on your LETRS Transcript.
The LETRS Phase ends.
NMPED automatically reviews the records of all participants in the Phase after it ends to determine who has met the Reading Endorsement eligibility requirements.
NMPED sends Eligibility for Reading Endorsement Memos via email to all qualifying participants within three months after the end of the Phase.
Eligible participants who want to apply for a Reading Endorsement write Statements of Impact.
Eligible participants apply for Reading Endorsements through the NMPED Professional Licensure Portal. They will need both their Memo and their Statement of Impact to apply.
After an entire LETRS Phase has completed the two-year LETRS course, NMPED staff will automatically review each participant's record in the Phase to check for Reading Endorsement eligibility. Participants do not need to request this review. A LETRS Phase ends when the Phase's LETRS licenses expire. Each Phase's end date is listed on the FAQs and Quick Links page.
After a LETRS Phase ends, participants in that Phase should allow up to three months to receive their Eligibility for Reading Endorsement Memos if they meet the eligibility requirements.
After participants have attended the Unit 8 Part 2 session, they should check the NMPED's Eligibility Tracker to make sure that they have:
Attended 14 of the 16 facilitated sessions AND
Scored 80% or higher on all end of unit and volume posttest assessments AND
Logged at least 32 hours completing coursework in the LETRS platform
Failure to meet one or more of the requirements will disqualify a participant from Reading Endorsement eligibility. If a participant is in an ongoing or recently completed Phase and notices a discrepancy between their records and what is reported on the NMPED's Eligibility Tracker, the participant should complete a Discrepancy Reporting Form. If the Phase ended more than three months ago and the participant now meets the eligibility requirements, the participant should complete a Records Review Request for Reading Endorsement Eligibility Form.
In addition to completing the LETRS coursework to meet the professional development requirements for Reading Endorsement eligibility, a participant must also submit a Statement of Impact that includes the instructional changes the educator made based on the educator's learning within the professional development. (See Rule NMAC 6.64.3.8 below for more information.)
After receiving an Eligibility for Reading Endorsement Memo, a participant will need to apply for the reading endorsement to be added to her/his/their license.
To learn more about adding an endorsement to your license, please read this information from the NMPED Licensure Bureau: Adding an Endorsement to a License.
Then, visit the NMPED Professional Licensure Portal to apply for an endorsement. You will need your Eligibility for Reading Endorsement Memo and your Statement of Impact in order to apply.
All questions regarding adding an endorsement should be directed to the Licensure Bureau.
NMAC 6.64.3.8
Teachers seeking to add an endorsement in the teaching of reading to an existing New Mexico teaching license of any level shall meet one of the following requirements:
pass the content knowledge test(s) of the New Mexico teacher assessments as provided in 6.60.5.8 NMAC, or predecessor New Mexico teacher licensure examination or accepted comparable licensure test(s) from another state in reading; or
successfully complete an undergraduate academic major comprising 24 to 36 semester hours, or coursework equivalent to an undergraduate major or a graduate degree in the teaching of reading; or
obtain certification in reading for the appropriate grade level of New Mexico licensure from the national board for professional teaching standards; or
successfully complete a minimum of 80 hours of professional development and submit a statement of impact that includes the instructional changes the teacher made based on the teacher’s learning within the professional development. The professional development shall include 40 hours of documented live sessions – virtually or in person – with a certified facilitator and a minimum of 40 hours of online coursework, which shall include assessments of knowledge and understanding, for which a score of at least eighty percent is required. The professional development shall be provided by an organization accredited by the international dyslexia association, and which aligns with the science of reading and a structured literacy approach that:
(a) promotes explicit, systematic, and cumulative instruction as the primary approach;
(b) promotes an understanding of how language, reading, and writing relate to one another;
(c) promotes strategies for differentiated instruction for students with reading difficulties and disabilities and English language learners;
(d) focuses on all five components of literacy instruction – phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension; and
(e) allows participants to implement the strategies into a classroom environment with the opportunity for feedback throughout the professional development experience.
Source: https://www.srca.nm.gov/parts/title06/06.064.0003.html
Title: Primary and Secondary Education
Chapter: Educational Standards--General Requirements
Part 17: Structured Literacy Instruction, Interventions, and Professional Development
22-13-32 NMSA 1978
A. Within the course of the 2019-2020 and 2020-2021 school years and in each subsequent school year, all first grade students shall be screened for dyslexia.
B. A student whose dyslexia screening demonstrates characteristics of dyslexia and who is having difficulty learning to read, write, spell, understand spoken language or express thoughts clearly shall receive appropriate classroom interventions or be referred to a student assistance team.
C. In accordance with department response to intervention procedures, guidelines and policies, each school district or charter school shall provide timely, appropriate, systematic, scientific, evidence-based interventions prescribed by the student assistance team, with progress monitoring to determine the student's response or lack of response.
D. A parent of a student referred to a student assistance team shall be informed of the parent's right to request an initial special education evaluation at any time during the school district's or charter school's implementation of the interventions prescribed by the student assistance team. If the school district or charter school agrees that the student may have a disability, the student assistance team shall refer the child for an evaluation. The student shall be evaluated within sixty days of receiving the parental consent for an initial evaluation. If the school district or charter school refuses the parent's request for an initial evaluation, the school district or charter school shall provide written notice of the refusal to the parent, including notice of the parent's right to challenge the school district's or charter school's decision as provided in state and federal law and rules.
E. Within the course of the 2019-2020 and 2020-2021 school years, every school district and charter school shall develop and implement a literacy professional development plan that includes a detailed framework for structured literacy training by a licensed and accredited or credentialed teacher preparation provider for all elementary school teachers and for training in evidence-based reading intervention for reading interventionists and special education teachers working with students demonstrating characteristics of dyslexia or diagnosed with dyslexia. The plan shall continue to be implemented each school year and may be updated as necessary. The department shall provide lists of recommended teacher professional development materials and opportunities for teachers and school administrators regarding evidence-based reading instruction for students at risk for reading failure and displaying the characteristics of dyslexia.
F. School districts and charter schools shall train school administrators and teachers who teach reading to implement appropriate evidence-based reading interventions. School districts and charter schools shall train special education teachers to provide structured literacy training for students who are identified with dyslexia as a specific learning disability and who are eligible for special education services.
G. The department shall provide technical assistance for special education diagnosticians and other special education professionals regarding the formal special education evaluation of students suspected of having a specific learning disability, such as dyslexia.
H. The department shall adopt rules, standards and guidelines necessary to implement this section.
History: Laws 2010, ch. 59, § 2; 2019, ch. 256, § 2.
ANNOTATIONS
The 2019 amendment, required early screening and intervention for students displaying characteristics of dyslexia, and required school districts to develop and implement a literacy professional development plan to assist elementary school teachers and teachers working with students demonstrating characteristics of dyslexia or diagnosed with dyslexia; deleted "research-based" and added "evidence-based" throughout; added a new Subsection A and redesignated former Subsections A through G as Subsections B through H, respectively; in Subsection B, after "student", deleted "who, despite effective classroom instruction in general education as provided by department standards" and added "whose dyslexia screening", and after "clearly shall", added "receive appropriate classroom interventions or"; in Subsection C, after "lack of response", deleted "for a student in the secondary tier of response to intervention who meets the criteria in Subsection A of this section prior to referring the student for a special education evaluation"; in Subsection E, added "Within the course of the 2019-2020 and 2020-2021 school years, every school district and charter school shall develop and implement a literacy professional development plan that includes a detailed framework for structured literacy training by a licensed and accredited or credentialed teacher preparation provider for all elementary school teachers and for training in evidence-based reading intervention for reading interventionists and special education teachers working with students demonstrating characteristics of dyslexia or diagnosed with dyslexia. The plan shall continue to be implemented each school year and may be updated as necessary"; and in Subsection F, after "reading interventions", deleted "prior to referring the student for a special education evaluation", and after "provide", deleted "appropriate specialized reading instruction" and added "structured literacy training".
Contingent effective dates. — Laws 2019, ch. 256, § 3 provided that the provisions of Laws 2019, ch. 256 shall become effective upon Senate Bill 536, House Bill 548 or similar legislation of the first session of the fifty-fourth legislature becoming law that contains an appropriation for early screening and intervention for students displaying characteristics of dyslexia. Laws 2019, ch. 278 (Senate Bill 536), effective June 14, 2019, was signed by the governor. Laws 2019, ch. 278, § 26(A)(2) provided, "(2) three hundred fifty-seven thousand dollars ($357,000) for a short dyslexia screening for first grade students and for a dyslexia professional development plan that provides dyslexia training for teachers".
Source: https://nmonesource.com/nmos/nmsa/en/item/4368/index.do#!b/22-13-32
Each school year, the NMPED issues a memo regarding requirements and updates for implementation of NMAC 6.30.17. Please read this school year's memo here:
Visit the NMPED's Structured Literacy site for more information about Structured Literacy, Dyslexia, and the Science of Reading.