The certificate start date is determined by the hire date as indicated on the SOE, when the intern becomes eligible for their certificate and when the certificate is recommended.
If the candidate completes all of their requirements before their hire date we do honor the hire date as listed on their SOE as the certificate start date.
Otherwise, certification support recommends the certificate when the candidate qualifies and that is the start date of the certificate.
- It would be improper to recommend a certificate and place a start date on it that was before the candidate was eligible.
Please keep in mind that time taught only starts once the certificate is issued. So if a candidate is hired to start teaching on 08/15 but they don't complete requirements to be eligible for their intern certificate until 09/30 their certificate start date would be within the processing window from 09/30. Advisors should always advise on time taught so there is no confusion on how long the intern will need to teach until to qualify for a standard.
For Example:
Intern completes requirements on 11/01 for an intern certificate. 11/1 is the day they are eligible for a certificate. That is the day certification support would recommend the cert start date for, even if the intern had an earlier hire date listed on their SOE.
A certificate cannot have a start date that is BEFORE the candidate qualifies for the certificate.
Additionally, the intern must be contacted by a field supervisor within 3 weeks of their cert recommendation, therefore we would never recommend backward in order to give ample time for the field supervisor to be assigned and initiate contact.