Students with Disabilities Certification Pathway

Cupola atop a building on the Molloy University campus

New York State offers a number of pathways to teacher certification. One pathway is the: "Individual Evaluation for Additional Certificate Pathway". It is designed for teachers who hold a valid New York State Teaching Certificate, have a Master's Degree and wish to earn an additional certification, such as, Students with Disabilities Certification, without having to earn an additional degree. Candidates for NYS certification through this "Individual Pathway" must meet certain Content Core and Pedagogical Core requirements and must also meet any non-coursework requirements, such as the New York State Teacher Certification Examinations and fingerprint clearance, as specified.

Molloy College offers coursework to help fill the requirements in the Students with Disabilities "Individual Pathways" in:

- Students with Disabilities Childhood 1-6
- Students with Disabilities Adolescent 7-12  

Certification Requirements Pathway: Additional Classroom Teaching Certificate                   
NYS requires that you have 21 credits in certain areas, but depending upon the courses that you may have already taken either in your undergraduate or graduate studies, it can be and it is often less than 21 credits. Click here for the list of requirements from the New York State Office of Teaching Initiatives website on an approved pathway.

What courses does Molloy College offer to help meet the requirements?
Graduate courses are offered in the program by Molloy to assist teachers in meeting most of the Content and Pedagogical Core course requirements.

Please note that all of the courses are part of our graduate education master's degree program and the only difference in the coursework is that there are no requirements for field study or student teaching. NYS does not require teachers who are NYS certified to complete student teaching again when they are applying for additional certification. The program is only open to teachers who are already NYS certified and have a master's degree.

The following Molloy courses are offered to meet the requirements of the Individual Pathway in these areas:

Pedagogical Core (9 credits)

- College Coursework EXCLUSIVELY at Student Developmental Level - Childhood - Grades 1-6 - 6 S.H. is met with our two courses EDU 5277, Strategies, Methods, & Environments for Teaching Childhood Students with Disabilities and EDU 5279, Curriculum, Content, Practices, and Environmental Issues for Teaching Childhood Students with Disabilities
Or
- College Coursework EXCLUSIVELY at Student Developmental Level Adolescent - Grades 7-12 - 6 S.H. is met with our two courses EDU 5278,  Strategies, Methods, & Environments for Teaching Students with Disabilities and EDU 5280, Curriculum, Content, Practices, and Environmental Issues for Teaching Adolescent Students with Disabilities  

College Coursework - Teaching Literacy Skills Methods - 3 S.H. - it has been our experience that most teachers have this course in their background, especially if they graduated from either an undergraduate or graduate teacher preparation program in NYS within the last 15 years or so. If you should need this course, we would suggets that you take: EDU 5062, Language and Literacy: Principles and Practices for Childhood Classrooms (Grades 1-6)

Additional Pedagogy (12 credits)

- Foundations of Special Education - Students with Disabilities - EDU 5275, Characteristics of Students with Disabilities, Developmental Delays, or Autism Spectrum Disorder   
- Assessment, Diagnosis and Evaluation of Students with Disabilities - EDU 5276, Assessment, Diagnosis, and Evaluation of Students with Disabilities
- Managing the Environment for Students with Disabilities -  EDU 5277, Strategies, Methods, & Environments for Teaching Childhood Students with Disabilities or EDU 5278, Strategies, Methods, & Environments for Teaching Adolescent Students with Disabilities
- Curriculum and Instruction for Students with Disabilities  - EDU 5279, Curriculum, Content, Practices, and Environmental Issues for Teaching Childhood Students with Disabilities   or EDU 5280, Curriculum, Content, Practices, and Environmental Issues for Teaching Adolescent Students with Disabilities 

2022 Fall Schedule of Classes
Molloy's online admission/registration system is called Lion's Den. The Lion's Den web page for Professional Studies courses can be found at: https://lionsden.molloy.edu/ICS/Professional_Studies/
Please note: New students for the  Fall- when completing the online application/registration form please select "2022 Fall Institute" as the term in the drop down.

EDU 5275.02
10/26 -12/20/22
Asynchronous online
Cerruto

EDU 5276.02
9/7 - 12/20/22
Asynchronous online
Alesia

EDU 5277.02
10/26 -12/20/22
Asynchronous online
Kirsten Watts

EDU 5278.02
9/7 - 12/20/22
Synchronous online with Saturday Zoom meetings 9am - 11:15 am
Mason 

EDU 5279.03
9/7 -12/20/22
Asynchronous online
Chamblin

EDU5280.01
9/7 - 12/20/22
Asynchronous online
Small

 

How many courses do you need to become certified?
The number of courses that you may need can be confusing because you may have courses that you have previously taken that can count towards your certification. However, most teachers need 12 credits because they typically have taken 3 credits in Teaching Literacy Skills Methods and 6 credits that are taken in the Pedagogical Core can also be used towards the Additional Pedagogy requirement.  The only definitive answer about how many courses that you may need must come from NY State. We suggest looking at the courses that you have taken to see if any of those courses are similar to what is required by NYS. If any course that you've taken sounds similar, we would suggest holding off taking that course or courses until you receive the official notification from NYS.

To have a definitive answer as to how many courses you may need you must actually apply for certification by going to the following webpage: NYS Office of Teaching Initiatives  and file for STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES  certification for either Childhood 1-6 or Adolescent 7-12 Generalist  to find out which courses that you have taken before may qualify. Do this as soon as possible - even before you enroll in any courses! Click here to download the instructions for applying for certification. You can also visit your local BOCES Regional Certification  Offices (RCOs) to have your transcripts evaluated. You  should telephone in advance to determine availability. Please visit: http://www.highered.nysed.gov/tcert/certificate/regionalcenters.html for a list of local offices that can do transcript evaluations.

You will be informed of anything additional you need to take or any missing requirements.  Your credits don't "expire", so as long as you can produce an official college transcript for the courses and the courses match the NYS requirements, you will be able to get credit for them. There is a $100 fee to apply for Students with Disabilities for either Childhood 1-6 or Adolescent 7-12 Generalist certification, but once you've paid the fee you do not have to pay it again as long as you complete the process within two years and do not ask for more than two evaluations.

Practicum, Field study or Student Teaching
Under this pathway you are not required to do a practicum, field study or student teaching. NYS does not require teachers who are NYS certified to complete student teaching again when they are applying for additional certification.

Course Sequence
The following two courses: EDU 5275, Characteristics of Students with Disabilities, Developmental Delays, or Autism Spectrum Disorder  and  EDU 5276, Assessment, Diagnosis, and Evaluation of Students with Disabilities, must be taken first (the two courses can be taken in any order). You can take any of the other courses in the program after these two courses have been taken.

Course Scheduling

Courses for the fall have switched  to online formats due to the current meeting restrictions. The courses will be offered in one of two online formats: Asynchronous Online and Hybrid Online. Please see the descriptions of each below: 

Asynchronous Online Format
The online course run for about 5-6 weeks and are not taught in "real time", meaning students do not have to attend at a given time. You can log on at any time to take the course. However, there will be assignments that will be due at specific times.  Summer courses are only given in the fully online format. Fall and spring classes are given in both formats.

Hybrid Online Format
Courses given in the hybrid format will be taught using two online platforms: Zoom (which is a synchronous platform, meaning that it is taught "live"), as well as using Canvas (which is an asynchronous platform, meaning that you can go in at any time to access the course materials).  The course will consist of 15 hours of "live" in-class instruction using Zoom at specific days and times, 15 hours of online work using Canvas and additional assignments that will require teachers to use strategies and research concepts learned in class and online that would necessitate a minimum of an additional 15 hours to complete satisfactorily, for a total of 45 contact hours of instruction for each 3-credit course. The online portion of our courses is not taught in "real time", meaning students do not have to log in during the time of the classroom course. Therefore, you do not have to attend at a given time. You can log on at any time to take the course. However, there will be assignments that will be due at specific times. The fall schedule usually comes out in late April and the spring schedule usually comes out in November.  The summer schedule usually comes out in January with registration beginning in March.

 

Tuition

Each course in the program is offered at $945 per 3-credit graduate course. This is a discounted tuition rate. Tuition is normally about $3,800 per 3-credit graduate course. The tuition is off-set by a professional development scholarship that is given to those teachers who already possess a master's degree, possess a valid New York State Teaching Certificate and are not pursuing a master's degree with Molloy College. No other discounts are offered. Students and teachers who are pursuing a master's degree at Molloy College are not eligible to enroll in the Students with Disabilities Certification Pathway courses.

Transcript Evaluation
Most local BOCES can provide an evaluation of your official college transcripts. The list  of local BOCES can be found at: http://www.highered.nysed.gov/tcert/certificate/regionalcenters.html. Please note that you must first apply for certification online through the TEACH system before you can have your transcripts evaluated at a local BOCES office. It is your responsibility to make sure that all requirements for certification have been met.

Admission and Registration Procedure
The program does not have traditional deadline dates because courses are offered throughout the year and they do not follow a semester schedule. There are no defined overall start and end dates for the program. Therefore, you can apply to the program at any time. The registration process is rather simple because you are not applying for a Molloy degree. There is an online application that you need to complete, but that is for information purposes only. Everyone is accepted as long as you are a NY certified teacher. There is no application fee and GREs are not required. If you are enrolling in the program for the first time, there is a combined application/registration form that you will complete online.  Once you register for the first time you will be sent an email within one to two business days with your username to login your student account to access the system for future registrations and to access Canvas, our online learning platform.

You should register at least a week before the course start date at the latest in order to register for the first time. After that you can register up until the day before the class, but then you run the risk that a course could be full- our courses do close.

All registrations for courses are conducted online. Click here for the application/registration procedures. The online registration process differs if you are a continuing student or if you are a new student.

If you have any questions, contact Alina R. Haitz by email at:  ahaitz@molloy.edu or 516-323-3572.

Closed Courses
Once you have found the section of the course that you wish to take, just check the "Status" of the course to see that it is "open", if so, just click the box next to the course code to register and pay for the course. If the status is "closed" you will need to select another section. Please do not contact the instructor or administrator for permission to register for a closed section of a course. Permission will not be granted to enter a closed section of a course.

Absences/Makeups
Hybrid courses are offered in an accelerated, part classroom and part online format. The number of classroom sessions is generally between 3-5 sessions. Missing even one session in this format can be very detrimental. Therefore, it is imperative that teachers attend each classroom session.  If you know that you are not going to be able to attend one or more sessions prior to registering for a course, please select another section of the course. Please do not contact the faculty member teaching the course regarding a make-up for a known absence prior to the start date. Make-ups are not permitted.  

Virtual Information Session
August 9 th at 4 pm
Email Alina Haitz at ahaitz@molloy.edu to receive the Zoom link


Virtual Office Hours
Thursdays, 4 pm - 5 pm. 

Email Alina R. Haitz at ahaitz@molloy.edu to RSVP and receive the Zoom meeting information.

If Thursdays do not work for your schedule, please contact Alina R. Haitz to set up a call for an alternative time/day.

Further Information

If you should need any further information, please contact Alina R. Haitz at 516.323.3572 or by email at: ahaitz@molloy.edu.