Georgia Professional Standards Commission Meeting Report - November 2025

The Georgia Professional Standards Commission (GaPSC) met virtually Nov. 12 and 13.

Executive Secretary Update

GaPSC  Executive Secretary Jody Barrow provided updates on SR 237, which charges the GaPASC to develop recommendations to improve educator recruitment and retention. The Georgia Roundtable for Educator Recruitment and Retention has concluded its work, and Barrow said he will present a summary of recommendations to a joint meeting of the House and Senate Education Committees the following day. A final report will be issued by Dec. 1.

Barrow stated the GaPSC continues to share and present its guidance for the

Ethical Considerations in the Appropriate Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) for Educators at several conferences and other events. A feedback survey on the document remains open, and GaPSC will use the information gained from this survey to further refine the guidance. The Educator Preparation Division has established a task force to develop an endorsement focused on AI.

Finally, Barrow said that Stephanie Rogers has been appointed as a commissioner to the GaPSC.

Educator Preparation & Certification

The commission removed the Standard 5.5 area for improvement (AFI) for Clarke County School District. While progress was noted for Standards 5.1 and 5.3, these AFIs remain in place. The district was instructed to provide a new progress report on Nov. 12, 2026.

The commission removed the Standard 5.1 and 5.3 AFIs for Cobb County School District. Since these were the last remaining AFIs from the district's 2022 continuing approval review, the commission also reclassified Standard 5 from "Not Met" to "Met" and reclassified the district EPP approval status from "Continuing Approval with Conditions" to "Continuing Approval."

The commission granted Continuing Approval for the following educator preparation programs for Clayton County Public Schools:

• Computer Science Endorsement

• Georgia Teacher Academy for Preparation & Pedagogy

• Gifted Endorsement

• K-5 Mathematics Endorsement

• K-5 Science Endorsement

• One Year Elementary Certification-only (P-5) [Certification-only]

• Online Teaching Endorsement

• PBIS Endorsement

• Reading Endorsement

• STEM Education Endorsement

• Teacher Support and Coaching Endorsement

• Urban Education Endorsement

A progress report from the district addressing the AFIs cited during the fall 2025 continuing approval review is due Nov. 12, 2026.

The commission granted developmental approval to the following programs:

• Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College - Elementary Education (P-5) Baccalaureate degree

• First District RESA - Alternative Preparation for Educational Leadership Tier I (P-12) Certification-only and Alternative Preparation for Educational Leadership Tier II (P-12) Certification-only

• Middle Georgia RESA - Alternative Preparation for Speech-Language Associate Program (P-12) Certification-only

• Pioneer RESA - Alt Prep for Tier II Educational Leadership (P-12) Certification-only

Finally, the commission granted a request by Northeast Georgia RESA to defer its 2026 Continuing Approval Review to Spring 2027.

Find the full committee report here.

Ethics

The commission approved all recommendations for ethics cases on the agenda. No ethics cases were pulled for discussion.

Next Meeting The next committee meetings are virtual Dec. 10. The next commission meeting is virtual Nov. 11. The full calendar of 2025-2026 GaPSC meetings can be found HERE.