The GACE® and Special Education Requirements

The purpose of this document is to provide GENERAL guidelines regarding Georgia licensure testing requirements with regard to Special Education Certification and Requirements for Highly Qualified educators.

BEST SOURCE OF INFORMATION:

It is very important to defer to the employing school system where applicable to determine appropriate individual certification requirements for a particular employment position.

The website of the Georgia Professional Standards Commission is an important source of information for questions regarding special education certification, including the HiQ Handbook*, and is available at http://www.gapsc.com/nclb/home.html. For certification questions beyond what is provided on the GaPSC website, please contact the GaPSC Certification Help Desk at 404-232-2500 (7:30am-5:00pm, M-F, excluding Holidays).

For GACE test administration, test preparation, and related GACE issues, please go to the GACE website at http://www.gace.nesinc.com/ For testing administration questions beyond what is provided on the GACE website, please contact the Evaluation Systems group of Pearson at 1-800-523-7064 (9am-5pm, M-F, excluding Holidays). If the GaPSC can be of service regarding educator testing, please email annemarie.fenton@gapsc.com or call 404-232-2654.

DEFINITIONS:

Special Education General Curriculum (Consultative): Educators certified in Special Education General Curriculum are in-field to provide educational services for students with disabilities whose Individualized Education Program (IEP) indicates instruction using the general education curriculum and participation in the general statewide assessment in grades P-12. Refer to PSC Certification Rule 505-2-.107.

Special Education Adapted Curriculum (Consultative): Educators certified in Special Education Adapted Curriculum (P-12) are in-field to provide educational services for all students in grades P-12 with disabilities whose Individualized Education Program (IEP) indicates instruction in an adapted curriculum leading to participation in the Georgia alternate assessment. Refer to PSC Certification Rule 505-2-.104.

Consultative Special Education Teacher: An educator who holds either a Special Education General Curriculum (Consultative) or Special Education Adapted Curriculum (Consultative) is "highly qualified" as a special education teacher in Georgia providing consultative special education services along with a "highly qualified" classroom content teacher who is instructing students in core academic content. The term incorporates references such as inclusion, collaborative or co-teacher.

Teacher of Record: A teacher of record in Special Education must hold certification in the Special Education General Curriculum and/or Special Education Adapted Curriculum and one or more of the core academic subject areas listed below in which he/she is responsible for instructing students.

Core Academic Subjects in Georgia:

Please note that a teacher's content level expertise in the core academic content area(s) must be at or above the level of instruction prescribed by the student's IEP.

Depending on the grade level, the core academic subjects in Georgia include English, reading, language arts, mathematics, broad-field science, social studies, history, political science, geography, economics, behavioral sciences, foreign languages, visual arts, music, band, and chorus. All teachers teaching a core academic subject must be "highly qualified" to teach the subject.

GACE ASSESSMENTS RELATED TO SPECIAL EDUCATION:

The following descriptors are presented as general guidelines only and assume the educator has met any additional certification requirements. Please consult with the employing school district and/or GaPSC Certification Division for individual certification requirements.

Both tests in the GACE assessments must be passed to meet the assessment requirement.

GACE 003 and 004 - Early Childhood Special Education General Curriculum (P-5)

• By passing the GACE 003 and 004, the educator can teach every core academic subject, as the teacher of record, in the regular P-5 classroom and/or teach special education students who are in the general curriculum through fifth grade.
• Only educators who complete an approved program in Early Childhood Special Education General Curriculum can and must take the GACE 003 and 004 for initial certification.
• To teach the special education adapted curriculum, the above educator will have to pass GACE 083 and 084 (Special Education Adapted Curriculum).

GACE 081 and 082 - Special Education General Curriculum (P-12)

• By passing GACE 081 and 082 (Special Education General Curriculum), the educator can serve as a consultative special education teacher for special education general curriculum in grades P-12, not as the teacher of record.
• In addition to passing GACE 081 and 082, the educator will have to pass GACE 087 and 088 (Special Education Academic Content Concentrations) to serve as the teacher of record in all five concentration areas (Language Arts; Reading; Mathematics; Social Science; Science) for special education students in grades P-8. The educator will have to pass the appropriate 6-12 GACE content assessment(s) to teach, as the teacher of record in core academic subject areas, special education students in grades 9-12.
• To teach the special education adapted curriculum, the above educator will have to pass GACE 083 and 084 (Special Education Adapted Curriculum).

GACE 083 and 084 - Special Education Adapted Curriculum (P-12)

• By passing GACE 083 and 084 (Special Education Adapted Curriculum), the educator can serve as a consultative special education teacher for students in the adaptive curriculum in grades P-12, not as the teacher of record.
• In addition to passing GACE 083 and 084, the educator will have to pass the GACE 087 and 088 (Special Education Academic Content Concentrations) to teach, as the teacher of record, special education adapted curriculum students in grades P-8 in the five concentration areas (Language Arts; Reading; Mathematics; Social Science; Science).

GACE 085 and 086 - Special Education Deaf Education (P-12)

• By passing GACE 085 and 086 (Special Education Deaf Education), the educator can serve as a consultative special education deaf education teacher in grades P-12.
• In addition to passing GACE 085 and 086, the educator will have to pass the GACE 087 and 088 (Special Academic Content Concentrations) to teach, as the teacher of record in core academic subject areas, special education deaf education students in grades P-8.
• In addition to passing GACE 085 and 086, the educator will have to pass the appropriate 6-12 GACE content assessment(s) to teach, as the teacher of record in core academic subject areas, special education deaf students in grades 9-12.

GACE 087 and 088 - Special Education Academic Content Concentrations

• The GACE 087 and 088 (Special Education Academic Content Concentrations) is designed to measure minimal content knowledge in the five concentration areas (Language Arts; Reading; Mathematics; Social Science; Science). By passing the GACE 087 and 088, along with the appropriate special education GACE assessment for the general curriculum or adapted curriculum, the educator can serve as the teacher of record in the five concentration areas appropriate to the area of certification.
• As stated earlier, both tests in the GACE assessment must be passed in order to meet the assessment requirement.
• Another option for educators to add academic content concentrations in order to serve as the teacher of record in a given content area is by passing the appropriate middle or secondary content area GACE assessments. Also, those individuals that hold a clear, renewable special education certificate can pass the GACE 001 and 002 (Elementary Education) to add the academic concentrations and the Elementary Education (P-5) field.
• As stated earlier, please note that a teacher's content level expertise in the core academic content area(s) must be at or above the level of instruction prescribed by the student's IEP.

*Please refer to the No Child Left Behind, Title II, Part A Handbook: A Guide for Advancing Teacher Quality in Georgia Schools for complete information on paths to becoming highly qualified in Georgia.

*For Gifted Certification, refer to Certification Rules 505-2-.117 and 505-2-.26.