Local Determination of Critical Staffing Shortage

Per RSA 189:39a “Notwithstanding a determination of critical staffing shortage made by the department of education, a superintendent, with the approval of the local school board, may determine that a critical staffing shortage exists in one or more specific teaching areas within the school district. The department of education shall be notified of any critical staffing shortages which have been determined in a school district within 30 days of such determination.”

How to document a local critical shortage:

What endorsements are available under Local Critical Shortage?

Any endorsement not already on the Critical Shortage list (excluding School Nurse, Assistant Principal, Principal, District Administrator, Assistant Superintendent and Superintendent - these endorsements are not available under Critical or Local Critical Shortage).

How does an employer declare a local critical shortage?

A school board may declare a local critical staffing shortage by having the local school board approve such a shortage in its official capacity for the specific endorsement deemed to be a local shortage. The Department of Education requires a letter signed by the Superintendent on official letterhead stating that the board has approved that role to be deemed a local critical shortage. It should be noted that once a local shortage is declared, the local district is still responsible for following the credentialing process for any candidate hired under the shortage. Above is the RSA granting the local district this flexibility.

Local Shortage documentation to submit:

Employer:

confirm the candidate has a conferred Bachelor’s degree and meets the requirements for Basic Academic Skills Assessment, in addition to the local critical shortage endorsement requirements (listed below under Other Helpful Links).

email to Credentialing.docs@doe.nh.gov:

Letter on SAU letterhead signed by the Superintendent indicating that the local critical shortage endorsement has been approved by the school board and the name of the individual you are looking to put in the position.

Candidate:

local critical shortage applications/fees cannot be submitted online
mail in application, fee, and supporting documentation (if not already in file)
Paper Application (soe-app.pdf)

Next Steps:

Bureau of Credentialing:

We will upload the notification of the local critical shortage approval to the applicant’s file in EIS and process the candidate application/fee/documentation when received.

Employer/Candidate:

Upon issuance of the Statement of Eligibility, the process begins for the Site-Based Licensing Plan.

Other Helpful Links

Local Critical Shortage Endorsement Requirements

Curriculum Administrator

• Passed at least 2 college-level courses meeting the competency requirements of Ed 506.05, OR
• Passed Praxis 5412 Educational Leadership: Administration and Supervision (score 146) or comparable test, AND
• Must have at least 5 years of experience as a classroom teacher

Master’s degree in Curriculum, Instruction and Assessment; Education; or a related area required by plan completion. Review full licensure requirements summary.

Special Education Administrator

• Passed at least 2 college-level courses meeting the competency requirements of Ed 506.07, OR
• Passed Praxis 5412 Educational Leadership: Administration and Supervision (score 146) or comparable test, AND
• Must have completed at least 5 years of successful full-time special educator or related experience (providing special education services to special education students)
• Special Education related roles include: special education teacher, speech-language pathologist or specialist, school psychologist, blind and vision impairment, deaf and hard of hearing, specific learning disabilities, intellectual and developmental disabilities, physical and health disabilities, and emotional and behavioral disabilities.

Master’s degree in a Special Education-related field by plan completion. Review full licensure requirements summary.

Library Media Coordinator

• Completed a minimum of 3 years’ experience as a Library Media Specialist as documented by positive recommendations or evaluations from the candidate’s supervisor(s) which demonstrate that the candidate has acquired the competencies of a Library Media Specialist
• Passed at least 2 college-level courses meeting the competency requirements of Ed 508.06, OR
• Passed Praxis 5412 Educational Leadership: Administration and Supervision (score 146) or comparable test

Master’s degree in Library Science, Library and Information studies, or a closely related field, such as Education, required by plan completion.

School Counseling Director

• hold valid School Counselor endorsement
• three years of experience as a School Counselor
• 15 credits of Educational Leadership coursework required for School Counseling Director endorsement

Digital Learning Specialist

• Passed at least 2 college-level courses in Information and Communication Technology

Comprehensive Business Education

• Passed at least 1 college-level courses in at least 2 of the program areas: Accounting Management and administration Business Communication Business Law Entrepreneurship Financial literacy Finance and economic systems International business Information systems and technology applications Marketing, OR
• Passed Praxis 5101 Business Education: Content Knowledge (score 154) or comparable test

Comprehensive Family & Consumer Science Education

• Passed at least 1 college-level course in at least 2 of the program areas: Human Growth and Development, or Early Childhood, or Parenting Family or Interpersonal Relationships Consumer and Resource Management Foods, Nutrition, or Wellness, OR
• Passed Praxis 5122 Family and Consumer Science (score 153) or comparable test

Computer Science

Computer Science includes algorithms, computing innovations/emerging technologies, programming, data/analysis (encoding, compression, encryption, computational tools), computing systems and networks (hardware/software, program execution, local/network/cloud computing and storage), and cybersecurity.
• Passed at least 2 college-level courses in computer science, OR
• Passed Praxis 5652 Computer Science (score 149) or comparable test

Dance

• Passed at least 2 college-level courses in dance

Earth and Space (7-12)

• Passed at least 2 college-level courses in earth and space science, OR
• Passed Praxis 5572 Earth and Space Sciences (score 154) or comparable test

Educational Interpreter/Transliterator

Hold a minimum of an Associate’s Degree, AND
Meet one of the following entry level requirements:
• Receive a passing score on the NH Vocational Rehabilitation Interpreter screening assessment, OR
• Receive a passing grade on the practical examination in signing for the EIPA Performance Test (EIPA-PT), OR
• Hold a current National Interpreter Certification from either the Registry of Interpreters of the Deaf (RID) or National Association of the Deaf (NAD) certification score of at least level III

Elementary Education K-6/K-8

• Passed at least 1 college-level content course each in Mathematics, English, Social Studies and Science

Life Science (7-12)

• Passed at least 2 college-level courses in life science, including a laboratory experience, OR
• Passed Praxis 5236: Biology (score 154) or comparable test

Physical Education

• Passed at least 2 college-level courses (full semester - comparable to a 3 credit course) in physical education, OR
• Passed Praxis 5095 Physical Education: Content and Design (score 169) or comparable test

Physics (7-12)

• Passed at least 2 college-level courses in physics, including a laboratory experience, OR
• Passed Praxis 5266 Physics (score 145) or comparable test

Social Studies (5-8)

Social Studies includes history, civics, government, economics, geography, anthropology, psychology, sociology.
• Passed at least 2 college-level courses in social studies, OR
• Passed Praxis 5089 Middle School Social Studies (score 153) or comparable test

Theatre

Theatre includes play analysis, production, playwriting, acting, directing, technical theatre and design (i.e. scenery/set construction, make-up, costumes, lighting and sound), theatre history/culture/social meanings.
• Passed at least 2 college-level courses in theatre, OR
• Passed Praxis 5641 Theater (score 155) or comparable test

World Languages Teacher

Arabic, Chinese, Chinese (Mandarin), German, Greek, Hebrew, Italian, Japanese, Latin, Polish, Russian, Swedish
• Passed at least 2 college-level courses in the corresponding endorsement area language, OR
• Passed the corresponding language Praxis 5601 Latin (score 156), 5665 Chinese (Mandarin): World Language (score 155), 5183 German: World Language (score 163), or comparable test

American Sign Language

• At least 2 years’ experience using ASL, AND
• One of the following:
• ASL proficiency as described by American Sign Language Teachers’ Association Area 1 (2014), “Signing” and “Attending,” as specified in Appendix II, OR
• ASL mastery equivalent to proficiency level 3 as described by Gallaudet University’s ASL Proficiency Interview Diagnostics

Credentialing Help Desk Requests

We’re here to assist!

Create an Account

Submit and track all of your Help Desk requests in one place.

Submit a Request

Create a request without creating a Help Desk account using your email address.

Explore the Knowledge Base