Recertification
Now that you’ve gotten a job in Arizona, you will need to begin to think of recertification!
Unfortunately, every school district has slightly different requirements, but most require a number of hours in professional development activities amassed over several (often 6) years.
Check with your school district for the requirements and what they will accept. Activities like AMEA conferences, workshops sponsored by many different organizations and universities/colleges, university coursework, etc. are some of the ways to collect hours.
AMEA offers recertification credit for the following, which are also recognized by the Arizona Department of Education:
- AMEA Annual In-Service Conference attendance
- Service as an elected officer on the AMEA Board
- Service as an elected officer of any of the AMEA constituent organization's boards (ABODA, ChoDA, AzSGM, or ACME)
The Glendale Union High School District personnel department has announced that it is going to accept all festival hours as well as conference attendance, and its own district festivals for recertification hours. They also accept hours for non-elected positions in AMEA (i.e. festival chairman, Ex Officio Board members, etc.)
We now have the "milestone" we needed as a reference to have other districts to use as a model for accepting these activities for credit.
The AMEA statement of Rationale For Credit for AMEA-Sponsored Performance Assessment Seminars is available for use within your own district: http://www.azmea.org/newteachers/recert-rationale.php.