2021 New Mexico Statutes
Chapter 22 - Public Schools
Article 10A - School Personnel
Section 22-10A-8 - Alternative level one license. (Effective July 1, 2022.)

A. Except as provided in Subsection B of this section, the department shall issue an alternative level one license to a person who is at least eighteen years of age and who:

(1) has completed a baccalaureate degree at an accredited institution of higher education and has received a passing score on a state-approved subject-area examination in the subject area of instruction for which the person is applying for a license; or

(2) has completed a master's degree at an accredited institution of higher education, including completion of a minimum of twelve graduate credit hours in the subject area of instruction for which the person is applying for a license; or

(3) has completed a doctoral or law degree at an accredited institution of higher education; and

(4) has passed the New Mexico teacher assessments examination, including for elementary licensure beginning January 1, 2013, a rigorous assessment of the candidate's knowledge of the science of teaching reading; and

(5) within two years of beginning teaching, completes a minimum of twelve semester hours of instruction in teaching principles in a program approved by the department; or

(6) demonstrates to the department, in conjunction with the school district or state agency, that the person has met the department-approved competencies for level one teachers that correspond to the grade level that will be taught.

B. A person seeking an alternative level one special education license to teach students with disabilities shall be at least eighteen years of age and meet the educational and assessment requirements of Paragraphs (1) through (4) of Subsection A of this section, as applicable. In addition, the person shall serve a fifteen-week apprenticeship under a level two or three-A special education teacher while taking related and interwoven coursework at a post-secondary educational institution that is designed to connect pedagogical theory with teaching practice, including:

(1) lesson planning;

(2) classroom and behavior management for students with special needs;

(3) learning theory;

(4) foundations of special education; and

(5) culturally and linguistically relevant teaching techniques.

C. A degree or examination referred to in Subsection A of this section shall correspond to the subject area of instruction and the particular grade level that will enable the applicant to teach in a competent manner as determined by the department.

D. An alternative level one or alternative level one special education teacher shall participate in the same mentorship, evaluation and other professional development requirements as other level one teachers.

E. A school district or state agency shall not discriminate against a teacher on the basis that the teacher holds an alternative level one license.

F. The department shall provide by rule for training and other requirements to support the use of unlicensed content area experts as resources in classrooms, team teaching, on-line instruction, curriculum development and other purposes.

History: 1978 Comp., § 22-10A-8, enacted by Laws 2003, ch. 153, § 39; 2007, ch. 264, § 1; 2011, ch. 36, § 1; 2011, ch. 95, § 2; 2021, ch. 129, § 1.

The 2021 amendment, effective July 1, 2022, changed the requirements for an alternative level one teaching license for special education teachers; in Subsection A, in the introductory clause, after the subsection designation, added "Except as provided in Subsection B of this section"; added new Subsection B and redesignated former Subsections B through E as Subsections C through F, respectively; and in Subsection D, after "An alternative level one", added "or alternative level one special education".