Teacher Certification Function

Certifications

Teacher certifications are complex for any school to track.  A teacher may be certified based on the State, subject, or grade level taught. The certification may or may not have an expiration date, and some specific classes may require higher certifications that other classes.  Certification records include any process the teacher must go through in order to teach classes. Examples are college degrees, teaching exams,  back-ground checks or any other security processes that have an expiration date.  It is generally the case that any public funds will not be issued to schools if schools do not ensure teachers are properly certified and those certifications are maintained.

Authorizations

Certifications may be combined to create authorizations and in some cases, one certification may provide multiple authorizations.  An authorization is permission to teach a subject or class for a specific grade span.  An authorization record is linked to multiple certifications as needed, such as the teacher credential, the Security back-ground check, or the required on-going professional training, so that all the factors that go into 'green-lighting' the teacher to teach that subject are understood.

Note: Authorization records are linked to grade spans, not grade levels, so it is important to define grade spans in ways that reflect jurisdictional requirements for teacher certification. Does grade span mean that a teacher can be authorized to teach 6th-8th grade Math, but not Elementary School level Math? Grade span would be something like being authorized to teach 6th-8th grade Math opposed to being authorized to teach 8th grade level Math? 

PEMS tracks teacher authorizations, and provides alerting to expiring credentials which may put the authorization in jeopardy. In this way, the administrator is aware of any concerns with teacher authorizations which can affect legal reporting, accreditation, and funding sources.

This is straightforward and makes sense.