What is SEI Endorsement?
English Language Learners (ELLs) are an important focus of the Massachusetts Board of Elementary and Secondary Education’s (BESE) Proficiency Gap Task Force. Closing the proficiency gap depends on teachers having the skills and knowledge necessary to instruct ELLs. Sheltered English Immersion (SEI) is an approach to teaching academic content in English to ELLs. Generally, but not always, ELLs are in the same classrooms as native English-speaking students. To better serve these students, core academic teachers, vocational teachers and those administrators who supervise and evaluate core academic teachers are required to obtain an SEI teacher or SEI administrator endorsement.

Who Must Hold Endorsement?
As of July 1, 2014, educators applying for their first Initial license (specifically core academic teachers of ELLs and principals/assistant principals and supervisors/directors who supervise or evaluate such teachers) must obtain the SEI endorsement. See applicable licenses below:

♦ Core Academic Teachers (early childhood, elementary, teachers of students with moderate and severe disabilities, English, reading, language arts, mathematics, science, civics and government, economics, history, and geography).
♦ Academic Administrators (principal/assistant principal or supervisor/director only).
♦ Vocational Educators beginning July 1, 2021, educators applying for their first Professional Vocational license or certain Initial Vocational Administrator licenses (specifically Vocational Principal/Assistant Principal and Vocational Supervisor/Director) must obtain the SEI endorsement.

As of July 1, 2016, school districts must ensure that ELLs are assigned to core academic teachers who have obtained the SEI Endorsement or are required to obtain the Endorsement within a year of the assignment.

Starting July 1, 2021, school districts must ensure that ELLs in Chapter 74 Vocational programs are assigned to teachers who have obtained the SEI Endorsement. If an ELL is assigned to a teacher without the endorsement, the teacher is required to obtain the endorsement within a year of assignment.

You may qualify for the SEI Teacher endorsement through one of the following pathways:
♦ Enroll in and successfully complete a for-cost course sponsored by an DESE-approved vendor; or
♦ Complete a Massachusetts-approved educator preparation program for the applicable license; or       
♦ Take and pass the SEI MTEL; or
♦ Hold an ESL/ELL license in Massachusetts; or
♦ Possess a Bachelor’s degree in an DESE-approved major or DESE-approved graduate-level training. *If you believe that you may qualify for the Endorsement by virtue of having the appropriate degree or graduate-level training, you may submit materials to the Office of Educator Licensure for review.

EDLIFE Registration Policies

Registration
A maximum class size is set for each course and registrations are accepted on a first-come, first-served basis. If the number of registrations for a course exceeds the maximum seats available, EDLIFE will inform you of available options.

If course enrollment is too low to be able to conduct a quality learning experience, options will be made available that may include taking the course in another location or semester.

Attendance and Coursework
Attendance at all face-to-face sessions and completion of online coursework is mandatory for awarding PDPs, and fulfilling SEI Endorsement Course requirements. If you know you cannot attend one of the sessions for this course, please consider taking it the next time it is offered.

All coursework is due by the date specified in the syllabus and/or online course calendar.

Please note that teachers will need to implement strategies covered in the course in a classroom setting in order to successfully complete their assignments for the SEI endorsement course. Administrators taking the SEI endorsement course for administrators will need to conduct observations/walk-throughs in classrooms where these strategies are being implemented. These strategies should be implemented with English learners.

Payment Method
Mastercard or VISA via EDLIFE’s payment system. Credit card payments are processed through a secure online merchant service.

Withdrawal, Transfer, & Refund Policy
If you withdraw from a course 10 business days (two weeks) prior to the course online start date, you can request a refund minus a $25 service charge. Refunds cannot be issued for a withdrawal after that date or once a course has started.

To withdraw and request a refund, send an email to edlifeconsultingservices@gmail.com and include the following:
♦ Your name, mailing address, telephone number, and date
♦ Course title and number
♦ Instructor
♦ Starting date of course
♦ Reason for withdrawal from course

Transferring to another course is possible if requested 10 business days prior to the start of the original course; you may not transfer out of a course scheduled to start within 10 business days. Transfer is also dependent on space available.

To request a transfer, send an email to edlifeconsultingservices@gmail.com with the following information:
♦ Your name, mailing address, telephone number, and date
♦ Course title and number of current course AND course you are requesting transfer to
♦ Starting date of current course AND course you are requesting transfer to
♦ Reason for course transfer

EDLIFE reserves the right to cancel a course due to low enrollment. If a course is cancelled, EDLIFE will allow the option to transfer to another course or receive a full refund.

Contacting EDLIFE
For any questions about course participation or assignments, contact your instructor directly. For questions about registration and billing, contact the EDLIFE office.

Choose a Session
(12 mandatory live virtual meetings and capstone presentation)

You must apply for the endorsement via the Educator Licensure And Renewal (ELAR) system.
Log into your ELAR account and apply for the endorsement following the same steps used to apply for your license.
ELAR: How Apply for the SEI Endorsement

Individual Pricing
8-person minimum/25-person maximum per session
♦ SEI Endorsement with 67.5 PDPs only
♦ $300 per person (Teacher)
♦ $250 per person (Administrator)

District Enrollment
For school districts interested in enrolling multiple teachers, we are happy to offer special district pricing.
(Contact EDLIFE for invoicing process.)
♦ 10-person minimum/30-person maximum per session
♦ SEI Endorsement with PDPs only: $275 per person