SPRING 2015 UPDATE CERTIFICATION April 16, 2015 J
UPDATES
New Certificate Educational Specialist School Speech and Language Pathologist PK-12 Licensed clinical pathologists may apply New programs are forming in PA
House Bill 1816 Intended to prevent school employees with a history of sexual misconduct from moving from one school to another
Act 168 of 2014: Background Checks Applies to certified and non-certified educators and prospective employees who would have direct contact with children Effective 12/22/2014 the school entity or independent contractor may not hire any applicant until the school entity has complied with the employment history review process delineated in Act 168
Act 168 of 2014: Background Checks The applicant must complete Section 1 of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Sexual Misconduct/Abuse Disclosure Release form for all employers in the following categories: o The applicant s current employer o All former employers that were school entities o All former employers where the applicant was employed in a position where he or she had direct contact with children Procedures & Forms - Basic Education Circular: Act 168 of 2014 (24 P.S. 1-111)
Act 153 of 2014 Background Check Effective 12/31/2014: School employees and contractors subject to the provisions of Section 111 of the School Code must obtain new background check clearances (FBI, state police, and DHS Child Abuse) every 36 months If former clearances are older than 36 months or if employee never had a background check, it is due by 12/31/2015
ACT/SAT for IHEs Basic Skills Assessment Certification candidates may use one of the following options to demonstrate mastery of basic skills as required by regulation: Pre-service Academic Performance Assessment (PAPA) administered by Pearson A combined SAT score of no less than 1550 with individual section (Critical Reading, Writing, Mathematics) scores of 500+ ACT composite score of 23 with English/writing score of 22+; Math score of 21+ ETS CORE assessment
Safety/Driver Ed 7-12 Test Update Instructional Safety/Driver Ed 7-12 PDE will administer the content test on the 1 st Tuesday and 3 rd Thursday of each month in Harrisburg at 1:00 PM Pre-registration is required Information is on the website
Use of Praxis Tests for Highly Qualified Purposes For educators to demonstrate content mastery (demonstrate HQT only) in: Grades K-6 and Pre K-3, PDE will retain use of Fundamental Subjects Praxis test (5511) Grades 6-9, PDE will retain use of Middle Level Praxis tests (5047; 5169; 5440; 5089) Note: Certificates may not be issued in these areas
Induction Plan Requirements Long-term subs who work 45 days or more should have induction Those with fewer days are optional
PIL Induction Required for Principals Principals, Assistant Principals and Vice- Principals serving on a PA issued Administrative certificate for the first time in a public or charter school on or after 1/1/2008 must comply with Act 45 requirements regardless of prior non-pa service
Induction & Service Requirements for Charter School Principals The PIL law requires charter school principals to be certified Their service is mandatory They must convert their Administrative I certificates to Level II within five years of employment They must complete the PIL Induction and Act 45 requirements
Guest Teacher Permits Day-to-day substitute permits may be requested by the guest teacher sponsor for third party providers This does NOT apply to long term substitutes
Evaluations for Certification Do long-term substitutes need to be evaluated using the PDE 82-1, 82-3 forms? Consult with your solicitor How a district confirms satisfactory service for long-term substitutes is a local decision PDE encourages use of an evaluation tool in order to support verification of satisfactory service for Level II conversion
Evaluations for Certification Is the PDE 427 form still required to be filled out for Level II conversions? - Yes, it is still required to be used as the culminating evaluation tool for Level II - To obtain the PDE 427 or PDE 82 forms go to Fees and Forms For more information regarding educator effectiveness go to Educator Effectiveness Project
Non-Teaching Professional Employees May be evaluated using 82-3 Includes Educational Spec SLP Reading Specialist Instructional certificate holders not the teacher of record
ESL Clarification Candidates who completed the old (ended 12/31/2012) ESL program must apply by June 30, 2015 to be recommended without additional requirements ESL certificate holders do NOT need to complete a new program or reapply
CERTIFICATION STAFFING AND POLICY GUIDELINES (CSPG) CHANGES
CSPGs Recent Revisions/Additions #50 Mathematics Staffing information on teaching STEM courses and content clarified #56 Physics Staffing information on teaching STEM courses and content clarified #60 Visually Impaired Clarification to scope of certificate, special considerations and restrictions #62 Hearing Impaired Clarification to scope of certificate, special considerations and restrictions #63 Special Education Speech and Language Impaired Clarifications and language simplified
CSPGs Recent Revisions/Additions #65 Technology Education Staffing information for teaching STEM courses and content clarified #86 Educational Specialist Certificate for School Speech and Language Pathologist Defines the requirements and responsibilities for the new certificate #101 Utilization of Paraprofessional Staff Content clarified #202 Orientation and Mobility Specialist Created to identify specific credentials for non-teaching/non-educational assignments in this area #301 Highly Qualified Determination Meeting NCLB requirements in Pennsylvania
New CSPG 202 Orientation & Mobility Specialist PK-12 Credentials O & M Specialist Credential ACVREP) OR The National Orientation and Mobility Certification (NOMC) Duties Non-teaching, non-educational Provide training in O & M techniques, materials, devices Travel skills indoor & outdoor
Principal as Supervisor CSPG #95 Includes: An educator holding a valid PA certificate as a PK-12 Principal may serve as the Supervisor of a single instructional or single pupil service area
Calculating Validity Administrative I Principal K-12 Certificates Service counts against Level I validity for: Principal Vice Principal Assistant Principal
Calculating Validity Administrative I Principal K-12 Certificates Service does NOT count against Level I validity for: Single-Area Supervisor Curriculum & Instruction Supervisor Pupil Personnel Services Supervisor Dean of Students (administrative level)
Exceptions 22 Pa. Code 49.85(d) To provide LEAs additional flexibility for staffing related to the implementation of the current Early Childhood, Elementary/Middle, and Special Education PK-8 and 7-12 certificates The Secretary of Education has the authority to approve individual LEA requests for assigning staff to positions outside of the age and grade level of these certificate areas
Exception Application Process LEAs may request an exception to the Bureau Formal request must include a detailed explanation of why the exception is necessary PDE intends to send an official response to the requested exception within 30 days of receipt of the request letter Any exception granted will be valid only for the specific request and only for the duration of time specified in the approval letter
PROFESSIONAL EDUCATION AND TEACHER QUALITY UPDATES
House Bill 1816 An assessment of Basic Skills must be taken and passed prior to formal entry into an undergraduate teacher preparation program Post-baccalaureate candidates and advanced degree holders are exempt from the basic skills requirement
House Bill 1816 Chapter 354 defines formal admission into an undergraduate teacher preparation at the completion of 48 credits Post-baccalaureate candidates must complete an entire post-baccalaureate program A Post-baccalaureate candidate must hold a bachelor s degree and is returning for teacher certification
New Endorsements: Endorsements Online Instruction Program July 2014 STEM (Science Technology Engineering & Mathematics) Sept. 2014
Endorsements PDE is working with Pennsylvania Association for Gifted Education (PAGE) to create a new Gifted Endorsement Initial workgroup met Dec. 2, 2014 Final document is being edited and sent through the approval process
New: Add-Ons By Testing To maintain high standards for content and pedagogy while providing school districts with more flexibility for assignment, teachers with any valid instructional certificate may add the Grades PreK-4 and/or Grades 4-8 certificate by passing the required certification assessment Effective June 1, 2014
Add-Ons by Testing and GPA Qualifying Score Candidates cannot use the GPA qualifying score chart to reach a passing score for an add-on test because an add-on does not require a preparation program and no overall GPA is earned Therefore, the GPA qualifying score policy is not applicable for Instructional testing addons
Educator Equity State Plan By June 1, 2015 PDE is required to submit to US Department of Education a state plan that: ensures all students have access to excellent teachers and principals requires stakeholder engagement in plan development uses data to identify equity gaps through root cause analysis
Educator Equity State Plan Continued Identifies strategies for eliminating identified equity gaps Incorporates ongoing technical assistance, monitoring and feedback to determine progress and public reporting on progress achieved annually Professional organizations will be asked to designate a representative to serve on Pennsylvania s stakeholder group so information can be distributed out to association members
TEACHER INFORMATION MANAGEMENT SYSTEM (TIMS)
TIMS Enhancements December 2014 Export feature allows LEAs to retrieve data from TIMS Grades 4-8 Emergency Permits show the concentration area E-mails sent to LEAs when they have work experience affirmations waiting on their dashboard LEAs able to see passing tests on file for educators affiliated with them Updated forms (PDE 338 P, V, A and Voluntary Deletion) Created new Pending Criminal Charges alert due to HB 1816
Using TIMS to Check Pending Criminal Charges Option 1: TIMS Public Website: www.teachercertification.pa.gov
Using TIMS to Check Pending Criminal Charges You must search by PPID in order to view this information
Using TIMS to Check Pending Criminal Charges Option 2: TIMS Internal Site (for those who are provisioned) Log into your TIMS dashboard Select Search then Professional from the drop down Enter PPID and click Search Click View Complete Profile The wording is the same as on the public site but the layout is different If the educator is affiliated with your institution more information is available than on the public site
Certifying Officer: Resource Summary Frequently Asked Questions TIMS Public website http://vclass.cciu.org webinar site for recordings Certification and Staffing Policy Guidelines (CSPGs) Help Desk Support create a help desk ticket Chat with Certification Staff chat live on Tuesday and Thursday from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Obtaining Assistance: Help Desk Tickets are now processed daily You may submit a Help Desk ticket for assistance 24 hours a day: Click on the Help & Support Link Scroll down and click on Help Desk Support Select Recommending / Affirming Certification Application from the Type dropdown menu. Supply detailed information including your application ID number so that we may answer your question.
Obtaining Assistance: Call Center The Call Center is open Monday, Wednesday and Friday 8:00 AM to 4:30 PM. Live Chat is open Tuesday and Thursday 8 AM to 4 PM. Dial (717) 728-3224 (717 PA-TEACH) Listen to the menu and select the topic desired LEA or IHE Personnel may use the new Preferential Handling Code (details on next slide)
Call Center Preferential Handling After the initial greeting, you will hear Please listen carefully to the following options. When message starts press 7 (you don t have to listen to the whole message) After pressing 7, you will hear Your call will be given priority Then you will hear Please listen carefully to the following options again, followed by the options Choose the option most closely related to your question Your call will move to the front of the line Please do not give out these instructions to educators
Questions? For more information on Certification please visit PDE s website at www.education.state.pa.us The mission of the department is to academically prepare children and adults to succeed as productive citizens. The department seeks to ensure that the technical support, resources and opportunities are in place for all students, whether children or adults, to receive a high quality education.