R400.8210 Lead teacher; qualifications; responsibilities

Rule 210 (1)

1. Lead teachers are required only for groups of children who are preschool-age and younger.

Technical Assistance

A program administrator can also be a lead teacher if he/she can fulfill the requirements of both positions.

Rule 210 (2)

2. Lead teachers are responsible for both of the following:

1. Overseeing the planning, implementation, and evaluation of the classroom program and child assessment.
2. Overseeing child care staff members for a specific group of children and overall care and supervision of children.

Rule 210 (3)

3. At least 1 lead teacher shall be assigned to each group of children in a self- contained or well-defined space and be present and provide care in the assigned group in the following manner:

1. Full time for programs operating less than 6 continuous hours.
2. Not less than 6 hours per day for programs operating 6 or more continuous hours.

Rationale

Child care that promotes healthy child development is based on the developmental needs of the children. Lead teachers have greater knowledge of and ability to respond appropriately to the needs of children for which they are responsible. The more the lead teacher is on-site on a consistent basis, the better understanding she/he has about individual children's needs, individual strengths and weaknesses of the staff and an overall view of the functioning of the group or classroom.

Rule 210 (4)

4. A substitute for a lead teacher shall be appointed for a lead teacher who has left employment or has a temporary absence that exceeds 30 consecutive workdays until return or replacement. A substitute lead teacher has 90 days from appointment to meet the qualifications of a lead teacher.

Rule 210 (5) & (6)

5. Lead teachers shall have both of the following qualifications:

1. Be not less than 19 years of age.
2. Have a high school diploma or GED.

The center must have documentation of the lead teacher’s age and education on file.

The following would be acceptable verification of age:

• A copy of a driver’s license.
• A copy of the lead teacher’s birth certificate.

The following would verify compliance with subrule (b) of this rule:

• A copy of a high school diploma, GED or equivalent.

6. A lead teacher shall meet 1 of the following to qualify:

1. All of the following:
   1. A minimum of 1 year of experience.
   2. 3 hours of MiRegistry approved training in each of the following areas:
      1. Program management.
      2. Observation, documentation, and assessment.
      3. Teaching and learning.
   3. 6 hours of MiRegistry approved training in any of the following areas:
      1. Interactions and guidance.
      2. Challenging behaviors.
      3. Trauma informed practices.
   4. Works in a center that participates in great start to quality.
2. All of the following:
   1. A minimum of 6 months of experience.
   2. 6 semester hours, 9 CEUs, or a combination to equal 90 clock hours of coursework in child care administration, early childhood education, child development, or a child-related field. Up to 30 hours of MiRegistry-approved training may be used to meet these requirements.
   3. Works in a center that participates in great start to quality.
3. All of the following:
   1. A valid child development associate credential, Montessori credential, infant family associate credential, or associate degree or higher in any field of study.
   2. 3 hours of MiRegistry approved training in each of the following areas:
      1. Program management.
      2. Observation, documentation, and assessment.
      3. Teaching and learning.
   3. 6 hours of MiRegistry approved training in any of the following areas:
      1. Interactions and guidance.
      2. Challenging behaviors.
      3. Trauma informed practices.

Rationale

Research shows that when early childhood professionals are well prepared, children are likely to experience warm, safe and stimulating environments that lead to healthy development and constructive learning. College-level coursework has been shown to have a measurable, positive effect on quality
child care.

R 400.8210 (5) & (6)

*A lead teacher for infants and toddlers must complete the 45 hours of Mi-registry approved track in addition to the required hours listed in this chart to be in compliance with subrules (6) and (10) of this rule.

If utilizing Option A or C

A combination of training hours may be used to equal the 6 hrs of training in interactions and guidance, challenging behaviors and trauma informed practices. A total of 15 training hours are needed and verification of training hours must be logged in MiRegistry.

If utilizing Option B

The trainings may be in a single topic or any combination that meets the total requirement with a minimum of 90 clock hours.

Best Practice

To verify that the person works in a center that participates in Great Start to Quality, check for “Reflecting on Quality” and “application submitted” status on the Great Start to Quality website.

Rule 210 (7)

7. Small capacity centers are exempt from subrule (6) of this rule.

Rule 210 (8)

8. A lead teacher in a small capacity center shall meet 1 of the following to qualify:

1. All of the following:
   1. A minimum of 3 months of experience.
   2. 3 hours of MiRegistry approved training in each of the following areas:
      1. Program Management.
      2. Observation, Documentation, and Assessment.
      3. Teaching and learning.
   3. 6 hours of MiRegistry approved training in any of the following areas:
      1. Interactions and guidance.
      2. Challenging behaviors.
      3. Trauma informed practices
   4. Works in a center that participates in great start to quality.
2. Both of the following:
   1. 3 semester hours, 4.5 CEUs, or a combination to equal 45 clock hours of coursework in child care administration, early childhood education, child development, or a child-related field or an associate degree or higher in any field of study. Up to 30 hours of MiRegistry-approved training may be used to meet these requirements.
   2. Works for a center that participates in Great Start to Quality.

Technical Assistance

R 400.8210 (8

*A lead teacher for infants and toddlers must complete the 45 hours of Mi-registry approved track in addition to the required hours listed in this chart to be in compliance with subrules (8) and (10) of this rule.

Examples of experience include but are not limited to:

• Being a licensed or registered family or group child care home, now or in the past.
• Working as a child care staff member in a licensed or registered child care facility.
• Doing an Internship, field placement, or student teaching working directly with children.
  • Children must be the same ages and developmental abilities as those the center is licensed to serve.
• Working or volunteering directly with children of the ages and developmental abilities of children for which the center is licensed. Volunteering must be supervised.

Unapproved experience includes but are not limited to:

• Babysitting.
• Being a nanny.
• Being a foster parent.
• Raising one’s own children or
• Raising a relative’s children.

The course content description must address the following to be approved:

• program management,
• observation, documentation and assessment,
• teaching and learning,
• interactions and guidance,
• challenging behaviors and
• trauma informed practices.

You can convert term/quarter hours into semester hours by multiplying the term or quarter hours by 0.66.

Note: Self-paced courses cannot be approved, even from accredited universities. Self-paced courses have no guidelines.

Example: Penn Foster and Wisconsin Stout are listed as accredited universities. They have courses program staff can take but they don’t have semester hours or quarter hours. That is because the person works on them at their own pace; they can’t be compared to classes taken during a semester or quarter.

Accreditation: The US Department of Education website Database of Accredited Postsecondary Institutions and Programs provides a listing of schools that are accredited. A center can find out if a credits will apply by getting a written statement from a college or university. The statement must say that they will accept transfer credits from the unaccredited college, university, online course, or correspondence course. Official transcripts from other countries may be accepted. The center must get written verification from a university or a private agency that determines equivalency to American credits.

The following organizations evaluate international transcripts:

• World Education Services, WES
• Educational Credential Evaluators, ECE

Official transcripts from the following colleges are acceptable:

• Bob Jones University.
• Tennessee Temple College.
• Maranatha Bible College.
• Hyles-Anderson College.

Hours of Experience: Approved hours of experience must be verifiable.

Hours of Experience Equivalents:

• 480 hours of experience = 3 months of full-time work experience.
• 960 hours of experience = 6 months of full-time work experience.
• 1920 hours of experience = 12 months of full-time work experience.

Official transcripts that show one of the following has been earned will be accepted as meeting the rule without a course-by-course review:

• The title or course description must reflect that the course meets the requirement of being in:
  • child care administration,
  • early childhood education,
  • child development,
  • youth development or
  • a child-related field.

“Child-related field” means one of the following:

• For an early childhood education program director, administrator, program staff member, lead teacher, academic courses in:
  • elementary education,
  • child guidance,
  • child counseling,
  • child psychology,
  • family studies,
  • environmental or outdoor education,
  • social work, or
  • special education.

  Exception: Per court order, the following five churches are specifically exempt from the lead teacher qualification rule 400.8122(6) “by reason of the First Amendment of the United States Constitution”:

  • Bethany Bible Church (Belleville, MI).
  • Dixie Baptist Church (Springfield, MI).
  • Faithway Baptist Church (Ypsilanti, MI).
  • Lewis Avenue Baptist Church (Temperance, MI).
  • Sturgis Church of the Nazarene (Sturgis, MI) United States Constitution”

Official transcripts, copies of transcripts and those stamped "Issued to Student" are acceptable. Those downloaded from a school's website are not acceptable.

Rule 210 (9)

9. A lead teacher who was qualified on the lead teacher’s date of hire remains qualified as of the effective date of this rule as long as the lead teacher remains continuously employed as a lead teacher at the center or at another licensed center without a break in service of more than 180 days. Any variances approved as of the effective date of this rule remain effective and timeframes required in the variance must be met. Any variance requirements not completed by 4 years after the effective date of this rule must voided.

Rule 210 (10)

10. Lead teachers for infants and toddlers shall have 3 semester hours, 4.5 CEUs, or 45 hours of MiRegistry-approved track of infant and toddler development and care practices within 6 months of hire.

Rationale

The brain development of infants is particularly sensitive to the quality and consistency of interpersonal relationships. Much of the stimulation for brain development comes from the responsive interactions of child care staff members and children during daily routines. An appropriately trained child care staff member will allow infants and toddlers to pursue their interests and encourage them to develop new skills.

Rule 210 (11)

11. Verification of the qualifications of each lead teacher must be maintained on file at the center or at the central office 2 years after the effective date of this rule, after which qualifications must be reflected as verified in MiRegistry.