This guidance document, created by the Boston Public Schools Office of Human Capital and Office of English Language Learners, is a resource to guide educators and administrators in navigating pathways to obtaining the SEI Endorsement.

Table of Contents

Why is the SEI (Sheltered English Immersion) Endorsement important, and who needs it?

How do I apply for my SEI endorsement?

What are the pathways to qualifying for the SEI endorsement?

What is the most common pathway for SEI Endorsement?

Who is defined as a core academic teacher of English Learners?

I’m new to the teaching field and would like to obtain my Preliminary ESL license. What are the steps I should take?

I currently hold an MA DESE Initial/ Professional License in another subject area. What are the steps I should take to obtain my ESL license?

I currently hold an out-of-state ESL License. What are the steps I should take to obtain my ESL license in Massachusetts?

Why is the ESL Internship important, what is the timeline, and who should it involve?

The ESL Internship is not fully outlined in MA DESE regulations. What are examples of internship activities in the role of an ESL teacher?

How can I stay up to date on the latest SEI endorsement information or find help?

In order to strengthen instruction and better support the academic achievement of English Learners (EL), the state Board of Elementary and Secondary Education adopted new regulations in June 2012.

These new regulations include requirements that all core academic teachers of ELLs and all principals, assistant principals, supervisors, or directors who supervise or evaluate one or more core academic teachers of ELLs must obtain an SEI Teacher or SEI Administrator Endorsement by July 1, 2016. The regulations are the centerpiece of the Department's Rethinking Equity and Teaching for English Language Learners (RETELL) /initiative to transform the teaching and learning of ELLs across the Commonwealth.

In addition, BPS is under the the Settlement Agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice that requires all teachers of core content who work with ELLs to hold the appropriate credential to service students.

In addition to completing an approved pathway to the SEI endorsement (see below), all educators must apply for the endorsement via the MA DESE ELAR (educator licensure and recruitment) system. Step-by-step instructions on how to apply for the SEI endorsement are provided by MA DESE.^[1]

1. RETELL SEI endorsement courses offered by DESE:

• A. Full Teacher Course
• B. Long Bridge Teacher Course -For teachers who have completed 2 of the 3 DESE Category trainings offered prior to 2012
• C. Short Bridge Teacher Course--For teachers who have completed all  3 DESE Category Trainings offered prior to 2012
• D. Administrator Course
• E. As an alternative to RETELL offered by DESE, a RETELL course completed as part of a DESE approved educator preparation program.

2. ESL licensure (see ESL Licensure Pathways & FAQ’s)
3. SEI MTEL test

While there are several pathways to the SEI Teacher Endorsement, most educators earn it by successfully completing a SEI Teacher Endorsement Course. The courses have three overarching goals:

Goal 1. To help teachers effectively carry out their responsibility for the teaching and learning of ELLs as well as to understand the social and cultural issues that contribute to and impact the schooling of ELLs.

Goal 2. To expand teachers' knowledge of how language functions within academic content teaching and learning, and how children and adolescents acquire English as a second language.

Goal 3. To provide teachers practical research-based protocols, methods, and strategies to integrate subject area content, language, and literacy development-per the expectations of the Massachusetts English Language Development World Class Instructional Design and Assessment (WIDA) standards-and thus to support ELL students' success with the 2011 Massachusetts Curriculum Frameworks for English Language Arts and Literacy and Mathematics and other Massachusetts content standards.

A core academic teacher is defined in regulations as early childhood and elementary teachers, teachers of students with moderate and severe disabilities, and teachers of the following academic subjects at all grade levels: English, reading or language arts, mathematics, science, civics and government, economics, history and geography. (603 CMR 7.02)

1. Create an ELAR account online
2. Apply and pay for your ESL License (grade level varies)
3. Upload or mail your bachelor’s degree transcripts to MA DESE, with additional requested documents if necessary
4. Pass the Communication and Literacy MTEL
5. Pass the English as a Second Language MTEL

1. Achieve a passing score on the English as a Second Language Subject Matter MTEL.
2. Participate in a 150 internship in the role of the license sought under the supervision of the building principal or headmaster.
3. Ensure the building principal or headmaster verifies the completion of the internship in writing to MA DESE.

1. Create an ELAR account
2. If you have taught three years or more under your out-of-state ESL license:

1. Apply and pay for your Temporary ESL License (grade level varies)
2. Upload out-of-state valid license to ELAR
3. Upload a letter to ELAR verifying three or more years of employment under your out-of-state valid license.

3. If you taught less than three years under your out-of-state ESL license:

1. Apply and pay for your Initial ESL License (grade level varies)
2. Upload out-of-state valid license to ELAR

4. Upload or mail your bachelor’s degree transcripts to the MA DESE.
5. Achieve a passing score on the Communication and Literacy Skills MTEL.
6. Achieve a passing score on the English as a Second Language Subject Matter MTEL.

The ESL internship should be completed during the months of September - December and provide educators/ administrators with meaningful activities related to the teaching of English Language Learners. In addition, the internship should involve the participation and support of a teacher colleague who holds the professional type of ESL license.

If you have previously participated in ESL Pathways through Boston Public Schools, the internship will provide you with an opportunity to translate what you have learned into practice.

1. Observe the classes of an ESL mentor teacher colleague.
2. Host the ESL teacher colleague in a reciprocal observation of the intern teaching ESL to his/her ELLs with a follow-up discussion and coaching.
3. Attend and participate in school-based Language Assessment Team (LAT) meetings.
4. Conduct informal assessments of the English language development of the intern’s ELLs.
5. Employ WIDA in lesson planning for ELLs.
6. Keep a log of ESL teaching and reflection.
7. Engage in outreach to the parents of ELLs and encourage their involvement in the education of their children.
8. Engage in activities related to the role of an ESL teacher which are developed collaboratively by the principal/headmaster, the participant, and the ESL licensed colleague if assisting with the internship.

📞 MA DESE Licensure Call Center (781) 338-6600

💻 Mass.Gov Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (MA DESE) Rethinking Equity and Teaching for English Language Learners (RETELL) website at http://www.doe.mass.edu/retell/ 

💻 In Fall 2016, the BPS Office of English Language Learners (OELL) will post RETELL updates on the OELL webpage: bostonpublicschools.org/ELL.

📧 For information on ESL Pathways, please email bpspathways@gmail.com.

📧 For information on SEI Pathways, please email bpsretell@bostonpublicschools.org.

Please also stay in touch with your school-based Language Assessment Team Facilitator (LATF), who will correspond directly with OELL liaisons.