The Commission on Professional Standards in Education adopted Regulation 011-24 and it became effective December 20, 2024. The regulation updates the Interim Route to Certification (IRC) pathway for licensed educators who wish to add a special education endorsement to their license.

Existing educators with a valid standard or professional teaching license in Early Childhood, Elementary, Middle School, Secondary, Special Education, and Special teaching licenses may apply for a Special Education endorsement in Adaptive Physical Education*, Autism, Early Childhood Developmentally Delayed, Generalist, Hearing Impairments, Intellectual Disabilities or Visual Impairments.

• IRC initial application instructions

*See application instructions for an additional requirement for Adaptive Physical Education.

Once the IRC endorsement is added to a license the educator can be placed in the corresponding special education assignment while they are completing the coursework requirements for that endorsement area. The license will be valid for three years.

To convert the IRC endorsement to a standard or professional endorsement, the educator must:

• Complete at least two years of teaching in the IRC endorsed assignment,
• Obtain two annual effective or highly effective evaluations,
• Complete all coursework for the IRC endorsement area, and
• Apply for the conversion of the endorsement.
• IRC conversion instructions