Licensure of school nurses continues to be an area of confusion, not only for the nurses, but for administrators as well. MSNO has continued to be one of the primary resources for clarifying questions surrounding the Department of Education requirements and the application process for licensure. The following information will hopefully be informational in clarifying school nurse licensure requirements.

All school nurses working in the public schools of Massachusetts are required to be licensed with the Department of Education as are all administrators, teachers and other support personnel. If not licensed, they must do so as soon as possible after being hired. Some nurses may meet the qualifications for an exemption for this licensure due to their date of hire prior to the legislation for education reform.

As of September 1, 1998, all support personnel, including school nurses, who apply for initial licensure, will be required to meet the qualifying score on Department of Education communication and literacy skills test. School nurses are not subject to a test of subject matter knowledge for this certificate. This is the same requirement for all other support personnel, such as a school psychologist, school guidance counselor, school social worker, library media specialist, speech and language therapists, etc.

For more information about certification and Board of Education decisions, contact: www.doe.mass.edu.

The telephone number for the Department of Education is: 1-781-338-3000. The Office for Licensure's telephone number is: 1-781-338-6600.

On Tuesday April 26. 2005, the Massachusetts Board of Education approved changes to the Regulations for Educator Licensure and Preparation Program Approval 603 CMR 7.00. These regulations included changes in the requirements for the four disciplines included under Professional Support Personnel: School Guidance Counselor, School Nurse, School Psychologist and School Social Workers/School Adjustment Counselor.

In an effort to regulate the professional licenses issued by the Department of Education (DOE), the Board has provided options for individuals in these disciplines to meet the requirements for the Professional License (formerly called the Standard Certificate).

For school nurses, in addition to possession of the Initial License and completion of three years of employment, the school nurse must complete one of the following requirements before she/he may apply for the Professional Licensure:

1. Achievement and maintenance of certification or licensure by a nationally recognized professional nursing association as a school nurse, community health nurse or a pediatric/family/school nurse practitioner.

2. A Master's Degree program that may include credit earned in a Master's Degree program for the Initial License in community health, health education, nursing or public health.

In effect, a school nurse who is applying for the Professional License may take the NBCSN examination (or other national certification, as noted above) or present evidence of a Master's Degree in the stated specialty areas. Members of the MSNO Board were alarmed at the changes in the requirements and forwarded public testimony protesting the addition of a Master's Degree as an alternative to the national examination. These options are not equal in establishing a basis for the Professional Licensure and are mutually exclusive. However, according to the DOE Licensure Department, many school nurses lhave protested the requirement for the written certification examionation and the DOE wanted to provide an alternative to that test.

How will this Work?

If a school nurse enters the field of school nursing with a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) Degree and a Master's Degree in one of the stated specialties for the Professional License, she will only need to take the Communication and Literacy test to meet the requirements for the Initial License. After three years of employment, she may apply for the Professional License.

If a nurse enters the field of school nursing with a BSN only, she will take the Communication and Literacy test and app;y for the Initial License. After three years of employment, she/her may take the national examination or enter a Master's Degree program to furfill the optional requirement for the Professional License.

For further information on these new regulations, go to:

www.doe.mass.edu/lawsregs/603cmr7.html?section11

Under Section, click on 7.11 and scroll down to School Nurse.

The following information is designed to minimize and clarify the necessary steps to navigate the Department of Education (DOE) website. For the purposes of identification, the DOE refers to all professional public school personnel are referred to as “educators.” Also, school nurses are required to take the Communication and Literacy Test only. There is no subject matter test for “School Nurse”.

Nurses who are applying for Initial Licensure must take and pass the Communication and Literacy Skills (CLS) test for employment as a School Nurse in the Commonwealth. In preparation for this test, if you have been away from academics for some time, it is advisable to “brush up” on your grammar and reading comprehension skills. Some nurses have elected to seek tutoring from a teacher at their respective schools, others have taken a course that is offered by some of the state colleges and still others have used a publication entitled, Mtt-Massachusetts Teacher Test: Communication and Literacy Skills Test written by Jensen-Wilson, Ann-Paperback Research and Education Association, 2000, ISBN # 0878912851. The book is available at Amazon.com, Wal-Mart and Barnes & Noble. Upon receipt of your application, you will be notified by the testing service about the location where you will take the CLS test.

Effective October 1, 2001, all schools nurses who apply to the DOE for the first level of certification, henceforth known as Licensure, are required to meet the new regulations to work in the public schools of the Commonwealth. These regulations may be viewed and downloaded by accessing the DOE website at: www.doe.mass.edu. In the upper right hand corner of the Home Page, go to Select Program Area. Scroll down the list and click on Educator Licensure. Then click on Licensure Regulations for Pre-K through 12. You may click on any of the headings in this section to find:

• Application for a new license – either Initial License or Professional License
  
• Application for renewal of your Standard Certificate (now called Professional License)
  
• Information on the requirements for renewal of your Standard Certificate by visiting Appendices A-D
  
• To view all of the Licensure Regulations, i.e., School Nurse requirements, click on Important Details located in the last section under New Licenses.
  
• There are code numbers for all educators; the Code Number for School Nurse is 1910.
  
  

Once you have determined what you are looking for from these categories, you may establish or access your own file (if you already have a license or an application in process) by providing information in the log in section. When you have established your own User ID and Password, you may go into the system to:

a. Determine the status of your application
b. Review your personal record on file at the DOE
c. Add or delete information that is being viewed

The Department of Education has been experiencing major difficulties in processing applications for the Initial License. If you have not received your Initial License within 6 months of application, it is advisable to write directly to:

Massachusetts Department of Education
Office of Educator Licensure
350 Main Street
P.O. Box 9140
Malden, MA 02148

If you do not receive a satisfactory response to your inquiry, please contact either: Kathy O’Neill: oneill@msno.org or Robbie Cobbett: cobbett@msno.org.

Educators, including school nurses, who receive an Initial License, do not have to accumulate Professional Development Points (PDP’s). You start to collect PDP’s once you have acquired your Professional License.

If a school nurse currently holds a Standard Certificate, which will expire in 2003, it is wise to start the renewal process at least six months prior to your expiration date. This process may be accomplished on line:

• access the DOE website, click on Educator Licensure, then click on Renew License You will then be asked to Log In. Once you have accessed your profile, you will need to complete the renewal application including all of the information on the acquisition of your PDP’s.
  
• download the application at www.doe.mass.edu/recert. The Code Number for School Nurse is 1910. These codes may be found at the DOE website under Laws and Regulations Pre-K - 12. You will require Adobe Acrobat Reader to bring up the application in printable format. Then click on “Recertification Application”. To access information click on “Recertification FAQ”.
  
  

If you are unable to access an application electronically, write to the Department of Education directly and request a form.

As the DOE states on its website, the regulations and requirements are complicated because they attempt to meet the needs of a group of educators who have tremendously varied backgrounds. Again, if you are having difficulty with the electronic application, write to the DOE and/or email: oneill@msno.org or Robbie Cobbett: cobbett@msno.org.

The Department of Education has been busy updating the re-certification regulations for all educators who hold a standard certificate, which is renewable every 5 years. The changes are confusing, since the various changes depend on when you became certified. These changes became effective December 1, 1999.

The Department of Education has determined that there are three time frames which address these amendments to regulations. The following information summarizes these changes. The documentation which covers the entire amendments to these regulation changes for re-certification should be read on the DOE web site www.doe.mass.edu .

The three time frames and the changes which cover the amendments for DOE re-certification regulations are:

1. 603 CMR 44.05 - Provisions applicable to standard certificates issued between October 1, 1994 and June 17, 1999. (Currently, the greatest number of school nurses fall into this category.) There is no change from what has been published and in place:
   1. 120 PDP's, with at least 60 in the area of content and professional skills of the educator's certificate. The remaining may be in the areas of other educational issues/topics.
   2. 4 PDP's earned in a particular topic to count toward re-certification.
   3. No Individual Professional Development Plan is required until after recertification.
   4. After recertification, new rules for a Individual Professional Development Plan and 10 PDP's in a topic apply.
   
   
2. 603 CMR 44.06
   1. 120 PDP's needed.
   2. Educators must receive initial approval of their professional development plan, under 603 CMR 44.04, by June 30, 2000.
      1. At least 80% of PDP's must be in content areas of the primary certificate, following the standards of 603 CMR 44.04 (1)(b).
      2. After approval of the Individual Professional Development Plan, ten (10) PDP's are required.
   3. Educators must obtain final endorsement of their plans from their supervisors, as per 603 CMR 44.04(3).
   4. Plans must include an additional 30 PDP's in content/skills of any additional certificate.
   
   
3. 603 CMR 44.07 - Provisions applicable to standard certificates issued after December 1, 1999.
   1. One hundred fifty (150) PDP's, with 120 of these in the content area of the primary certificate.
   2. Supervisor approval of the professional development plan 603 CMR 44.04 (1) (b) within three months of issuance of the certificate or by June 30, 2000 (whichever is later).
   3. A minimum of 10 PDP's earned in a topic to count toward re-certification.
   4. An additional 30 PDP's must be in the content area of any additional certificate to be renewed.

In addition to the above, DOE will be constructing a registry of PDP providers. Also, if the educator files and maintains an individual professional development plan on line, they will receive a 50% reduction in all re-certification application fees.

All school nurse certifications have been issued after October 1, 1994, both Provisional with Advanced Standing and Standard.

Those who hold certificates in areas other than school nurse may fall into other categories for renewal of these certificates. Please refer to the entire document for the specifics you must follow.

Certification by the Department of Education does not warrant the letters, "CSN" after a school nurse's signature. "CSN" is a title given to those nurses who have taken and passed the national certification examination for school nurses. "CSN" has nothing to do with the Massachusetts Department of Education.

As we move into the process of re-certification, it has become clear that we, as nurses, need to clarify the meaning of PDP, CEU and contact hour-before we send in our applications for re-certification.

For many years, nurses have been required to earn professional development/continuing education (CE) hours in order to meet the legal requirements for license renewal every two (2) years. This CE must meet the criteria in Board regulations. (See BORN web site at Massachusetts BORN).

Those organizations and institutions which have provided these professional development programs have, unfortunately, documented the professional hours of contact hours interchangeably with/as CEU's. This is not uncommon in other states, as well.

1. The Board of Registration in Nursing defines the documentation of professional development/continuing education as:
   

   One contact hour = 50 consecutive minutes.

   One college semester credit (of an acceptable course) = 15 contact hours

   The BORN requires 15 contact hours every two (2) years for license renewal.

   
   

   It can generally be assumed that if a nurse has attended a conference or workshop where the credit has been as CEU's for several hours of professional development, the professional development should be considered to be the equal number of contact hours.

   
   

   The exception to this is if the professional development specifically states that it is being presented as college credit. As a rule, there is an additional fee for this credit. This credit then would be 1 college credit = 15 contact hours.

   
   
2. The Massachusetts Department of Education defines professional development credits as:
   

   1 PDP = 1 clock hour

   1 Semester hour = 15 PDP's

   1 CEU = 10 PDP's (The CEU definition can be found on the DOE web site at www.doe.mass.edu.)

   Advanced Academic Study or DOE activities = 1.5 PDP's/clock hour

   
   

   When submitting/converting your nursing professional development for DOE, remember that you will need to convert your contact hours (or the interchangeable CEU's) to PDP's.

   1.2 contact hours = 1 PDP

   Under most circumstances, this will not be a problem, since most school nurses have professional development credit in nursing, participate as a presenter, participate in school study groups, educational projects, mentoring, school improvement activities, etc. Nursing can account for the minimum of 60 PDP's or all 120 PDP's (or 90/150 for those certified after 12-1-99). Please refer to the DOE web site for more specifics www.doe.mass .

If there are school nurses who were eligible for the "grandfathering" for Standard Certification (Deadline was 10-1-99), and you have still not received your DOE certification, please contact Robbie Cobbett or Kathy O'Neill, MSNO Certification Committee Liaisons.

Complete information is listed on the DOE website: www.doe.mass.edu/recert/qa.html

Nurses who are self-directed in their professional goals and who identify areas of their practice for which professional development will enhance specific competencies are more likely to seek workshops/seminars/conferences/courses which will maintain and advance their clinical skills in these specified areas. (They are not seeking professional development for the sole purpose of meeting their license obligations.)

The Massachusetts Board of Education amended the regulations for educator recertification for Standard Certificates, effective December 1, 1999, to reflect a similar outlook for professional development. The amendments are meant to "help to strengthen the on-going professional development of Massachusetts educators and align individual professional development plans more effectively with the school and district improvement goals."

Check your own licensure dates and plan your re-certification accordingly.

The changes in the regulations are presently applicable to:

• All who received standard certification or renewal after 12-1-99 need 150 PDP's/Plan and 10 hours in a topic.
  
• All who received standard certification or renewal between 6-18-99 through 12-1-99 need 120 PDP's / Plan and 10 hours in a topic.
  
• All who received standard certification 10-1-94 through 6-17-99 need no required plan, but "recommended" and 4 hours in a topic. Once you do recertify, though, you will then be required to heed the new requirements, at least for the next five years.

Change and revision are frequent partners with the DOE and Legislature, so apparently nothing can be viewed as "long term."

(Please refer to information on this MSNO website regarding: the certification dates/recertification and the basic requirements.)

The Plan and Plan Approval

1. Individual professional development plans must be reviewed and approved by a supervisor for initial approval and are then reviewed every two (2) years. Refer to the DOE website www.doe.mass.edu/recert/tour2000 to give you the specifics to clarify just what you are required to do for your certification. Although professional support personnel (i.e. speech and language, school nurses, social workers, school adjustment counselors, school psychologists, etc) are not addressed specifically in the planning of the professional development by DOE, we do have to follow the same format as all educators.
   
   
2. When preparing your plan, consider:
   Your goals for professional development should be based on:
   • Your individual school's goals.
   • Your district's goals.
   • The Massachusetts Comprehensive Health Curriculum Framework-October 1999 PreK-12 Standards: www.doe.mass.edu
   • The Curriculum Framework "Strands"-these follow the above framework summary.
   
   
3. Present your plan in a general, rather than highly specific, manner.

What are the number of PDP's needed?

The total number of PDP's under the new regulations is 150, with 80% required to be in the content area of the primary certificate. The remainder can be considered "elective." Each additional area of certification must include an additional 30 PDP's in the content and skill of each additional certificate to be renewed.

In the past, 4 PDP's in a topic were necessary; now it is a minimum of 10. The ten need to be topic-related and must have some form of post assessment (a test) or an end of course product to be eligible to be considered.

So, in order to have the equivalent of a minimum of 10:

• You may attend a professional development program from one provider who presents at least 10 hours of professional development and has a test or a requirement for an end of course product, tool, policy, etc. The provider will then award the appropriate number of PDP's.
  
• You may also attend several different workshops, etc. on a topic for which a "Certificate of Attendance" is awarded. You may compile the information from these various providers and produce a product on your own which will be of professional benefit to your practice. This is then presented to the administrator/supervisor who oversees the plan with the nurse.

DOE has clarified its stance on PDP's for attending professional conferences, registered with the Massachusetts DOE. The end result is as stated above: if the time is 10 hours or more with an examination or a documented written end product, PDP's can be awarded from the conference. If less then 10 hours, a Certificate of Attendance will be awarded, with the expectation that the individual will follow up with a written product, tool, etc. See the DOE website www.doe.mass.edu/recert/tour2000/default.html.

• School nurses can and should take the initiative to present their own workshops within their school districts which can be targeted to meet the needs of all of the school nurses in the district, be cost effective and provide PDP's for the nurses and the presenter.
  
  
• Take the initiative to tap into the Enhanced School Health Grants to request that professional development be presented with a focus to meet the areas of professional need while providing the PDP's/Certificates of Attendance.
  
  
• Collaborate! -- Collaborate! -- Collaborate!
  
  
• Go the DOE websites to see the options that are there for mentoring, presenting, developing school based activities, participating in Advanced Academic Study studies, etc.

Although the presentation by DOE appears cumbersome, think in your usual practical manner. Planning is integral to our practice.

Each district has individualized goals, so we must work towards our own individualized process-it will work. It's just another process. Nurses are great at "the process." And the end result will be positive.

The sources for PDP's are: www.doe.mass.edu/recert/qa.html, and they are numerous.

"Educators may receive PDP's after the successful completion of a professional development program (minimum of 10 hours on a topic) with an observable demonstration of learning that could include a written product or other documentable product." Recertification Guidelines January 2000

"Providers may only award PDP's after an educator has demonstrated proficiency in a relevant subject area or has demonstrated proficiency in a professional skill. All end-of-course assessments must assess at least 10 hours of professional development on a given topic."Guidelines for Professional Development Providers February 2000

Therefore:

PDP's for Massachusetts educators will be awarded by a provider when a minimum of 10 hours per topic has been completed along with an end of course product or test.

Otherwise, a "Certificate of Attendance" will be issued to the educator. The educator may receive PDP's from their district by combining these professional development hours with follow-up activities in their district for a total of 10 or more hours.

Contact hours: The "Certificate of Attendance" may also be applicable for contact hours for licensed professional support personnel, i.e. nurses, social workers, psychologists and adjustment counselors, as long as the program meets the requirements of the individual licensing boards. The licensed professional should be familiar with the professional development criteria of their individual licensing boards in order to determine the eligibility for contact hours.