SOUTH BEND, Ind.
(AP) - Indiana educators struggling over an impending change in requirements
for high school teachers of dual-credit classes may be getting an extension.
The Higher Learning
Commission, which accredits colleges and universities in Indiana, is
offering a reprieve from its September 2017 timeline. Instead, a panel will
review applications and consider extensions lasting as long as September
2022, according to commission spokesman John Hausaman.
Teachers of high
school classes for which students can receive college credit are included
under the commission’s new academic requirements for college instructors.
They would have to get a master’s degree in the subject they specialize in,
or a master’s degree in another subject and at least 18 graduate credit
hours in their teaching subject.
Colleges and
universities with dual-credit programs or the state’s Commission for Higher
Education would have until September to apply for an extension. The state
commission plans to apply for a five-year extension on behalf of
institutions, spokeswoman Stephanie Wilson said.
Hausaman said the
Higher Learning Commission opted to allow for requests for extension based
on feedback. Indiana educators had voiced concerns about the new
requirements.
John Newby,
assistant vice president of K-12 Initiatives with Ivy Tech Community
College, said “we can certainly feel better about things” with the potential
extension.
“It gives us a
little breathing room,” he told the South Bend Tribune.
David Maugel,
principal of NorthWood High School in Nappanee, said an extra five years
gives teachers more time for coursework. But he told The Elkhart Truth it
doesn’t give them money needed to pay for classes.
“Without financial
support for tuition and salary increases, it will be difficult to get
teachers motivated to complete the course work,” Maugel said.
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