OSPA-TSPC-ODE 4TH ANNUAL WORKSHOP TSPC FOR BEGINNERS Vickie Chamberlain, Executive Director October 21, 2013

Introductions Licensure Staff Present Julie McCann Data Classification: 1 -- Published

About the Commission Commissioners appointed by Governor Statutes guide licensure and fees 16 total employees (down from 26) Issue over 20,000 licenses annually Completed 227 investigations - 2012; 249 in 2011 Reviewed 26 programs in 2012; (accreditation reviews) Data Classification: 1 -- Published

About the Commission 17 commissioners; Meet 4 times a year 8 teachers; 4 administrators; 2 higher education; 3 public members Meet 4 times a year Establish rules for licensure: Issuance Renewal Revocation Data Classification: 1 -- Published

TSPC Primary Functions The Commission: Sets the standards and rules for public school educator licensure assignment; Sets the standards and performs accreditation visits for Oregon educator licensure programs; and Takes disciplinary action against an educator’s license. Data Classification: 1 -- Published

TSPC Primary Functions Ensure public school education is delivered by qualified, competent, professional educators; Ensure evidence of effective preparation to high standards by colleges and universities; Ensure students are protected from educators who engage in misconduct. Data Classification: 1 -- Published

TSPC Mission To establish, uphold and enforce professional standards of excellence and communicate those standards to the public and educators for the benefit of Oregon’s students Data Classification: 1 -- Published

TSPC Goals Establish high standards for educator preparation excellence and regularly review approved programs for delivery of adopted licensure standards. Provide leadership for professional licensure standards including standards for: cultural inclusion; educator dispositions; subject-matter competency. Data Classification: 1 -- Published

TSPC Goals (cont) Provide timely high quality services to licensees, higher education, and the public. Maintain and develop clear, concise and easy to understand administrative rules. Establish high standards for educator professional conduct and regularly communicate those standards to the field. Data Classification: 1 -- Published

History: Oldest Educator Licensure Board in Nation First created in 1965 Commissioners must be “practicing” to be eligible for appointment and confirmation One of 13 similar Professional Educator Standards Boards in the nation Over 120,000 educators in database with several hundred thousand more on microfilm; Only three Executive Directors in life of agency Data Classification: 1 -- Published

Data Classification: 1 -- Published LICENSURE PROCESS Who Must Be Licensed Teachers (anyone delivering direct instruction); Administrators (supervise/evaluate other licensed staff or administers discipline to students) School Counselors School Psychologists School Social Workers Charter School teachers who do not hold a TSPC license Data Classification: 1 -- Published

Data Classification: 1 -- Published LICENSURE PROCESS Renewal notices sent 90 days in advance (electronically); Receive application – fee – application materials; Applications processed based on date received; Reviewed for completeness (one incomplete letter sent); Data Classification: 1 -- Published

LICENSURE PROCESS Issue license if all materials present and educators eligible Electronic letter sent to educator Electronic license issued (available for viewing on the web) Data Classification: 1 -- Published

LICENSURE FEATURES License expires on date listed on license unless: License is renewable (same license to same license) Application (C-1) and fees received PRIOR to expiration date on the license 120 day grace period awarded Check “description” for details on TSPC Licensure Guide: Data Classification: 1 -- Published

LICENSURE FEATURES Grace Period things to know License is active (fully legal license by statute) DOES NOT automatically attach to a license If license expires, that time is not recoverable; grace period starts when application received Illegal to work on an expired license Data Classification: 1 -- Published

LICENSURE FEATURES General licensure things to know An educator cannot work without the fully issued license (even if they hold another state’s active license) It is the educator’s responsibility to ensure that their application is complete It is the district’s responsibility to ensure that all licensed staff hold current and proper license Most mistakes made in the administrator area (working without license; improperly assigned) Data Classification: 1 -- Published

Common Application Errors Application is not signed or dated Fee is not included Character Questions Not answered Yes answers not explained PEER form not received PEER form not sealed PEER form not dated or signed Data Classification: 1 -- Published

Most Frequent Problems Educators not completing renewal requirements Mandatory coursework not completed (or started) Educators teach for months on expired licenses Districts ask for licenses for which educators are not qualified Data Classification: 1 -- Published

Things that Slow Down Processing Unnecessary expedited service requests (slowed down licensure for six weeks this summer) Incomplete applications (including failure to complete coursework Staff illness; resignations (long training cycle) Repeat email/phone calls Failure to read information sent by Commission with prior license accessible through the Web Data Classification: 1 -- Published

TSPC LICENSURE STAFFING Currently have (to process 20,000 annual applications): Three Public Service Representatives (was six) One has been on staff for one week In process of hiring two more Allow 4-6 months of training Three evaluators (was five) Two current public service representatives promoted One evaluator moving to executive administration Will have total of four evaluators One evaluator resigned in July Data Classification: 1 -- Published

TSPC LICENSURE STAFFING Public Service Representative Duties Cover agency main phone line Cover walk-in traffic Respond to email Send out renewals to district contacts monthly Respond to district contacts Assist with “front-end” intake Opening Mail Scanning Covering data input and daily deposits if staff out ill Data Classification: 1 -- Published

TSPC LICENSURE STAFFING Evaluator Duties Review applications for completeness Send out incomplete letters Send out renewals to district contacts monthly Respond to district contacts Issue licenses Cover front desk if necessary Assist with email when possible Serve as reference for Public Service Representatives Data Classification: 1 -- Published

TSPC PROFESSIONAL PRACTICES Legislature requires Commission to investigate ALL complaints filed with the agency Commission action can include: Dismiss the complaint All materials in the investigation MUST be sealed and treated as confidential. Following dismissal, the Commission must treat that issue as though it “didn’t happen” Data Classification: 1 -- Published

TSPC PROFESSIONAL PRACTICES Commission action can include: Charge the Educator: Educator has a right to request an outside hearing to challenge the Commission’s charges: If Commission charges upheld (or if educator agrees with the charges): Informal Letter of Reproval Reprimand Suspension Revocation Probation Data Classification: 1 -- Published

TSPC PROFESSIONAL PRACTICES Commission reads each investigation report (over 200 a year) Commission reviews each final order (90-100 per year) Average case load for investigators is about 75 Over $250,000 a year is spent on attorney fees and contested hearings. ($500,000 a biennial budget cycle) Data Classification: 1 -- Published

TSPC PROFESSIONAL PRACTICES STAFFING Staff include: (Executive Director) 1 Director (assigns cases, clears fingerprints) 2 investigative assistants 3 investigators (one just resigned) 1 legal liaison Must investigate ALL complaints filed with the agency, by statute Includes wide range of issues Data Classification: 1 -- Published

Licensure Stats Approximately 62,557 licensed educators in Oregon holding about 66,679 licenses, registrations or certificates 59,800 teachers 4,500 administrators 2,200 counselors and psychologists 90 school nurses Data Classification: 1 -- Published

TSPC Licenses Issued Annually Data Classification: 1 -- Published

Licensure Information Licensed Teachers, Administrators Employed and Students Attending Oregon Public Schools 04-05 05-06 06-07 07-08 08-09* (*ESD) 09-10 10-11 11-12 Teachers w/ ESD 27,228 28,051 29,020 29,795 (30,027) 30,157 28,638 28,157 26,873 Administrators 2,215 2,332 2,227 2,268 2,137 2,035 1,995 Total 29,443 30,383 31,247 32,295 32,294 30,673 30,192 28,868 Students 552,339 559,254 562,828 566,067 564,064 561,696 561,328 560,946 Today we have 59,594 active licensed teachers. 26,873 (11-12 employed licensed educators)= 45% of total licensed teachers Today we have 4,539 active licensed administrators. 1,995 = 44% of total licensed administrators Data Classification: 1 -- Published

History of Applications Received by TSPC Application History History of Applications Received by TSPC 2005-2006 24,879 2006-2007 23,488 2007-2008 24,794 2008-2009 26,408 2009-2010 27,756 2010-2011 25,691 2011-2012 22,631 2012-2013 22,722 Data Classification: 1 -- Published

Data Classification: 1 -- Published New cases = complaints received from school districts; patrons; internal referrals from background checks and other issues; Pending Hearing = include number of educators that have been investigated, charged with misconduct by the commission, and have requested a hearing. Resolved cases = Data Classification: 1 -- Published

Data Classification: 1 -- Published We have reduced through terminations, layoffs and vacancies. In the 11-13 GRB; we had 22 permanently funded positions and 3 approved limited duration positions. Currently we have 17 working FTE in the office. We have submitted a budget reduction package that removes one management position and two Office Specialist I positions. We also took the permanent funding from another management position and used it to mostly fund the two limited duration investigators that have been part of TSPC’s budget since 2007-2009 (past three budget cycles) Due to the reduced number of applications and requests for licensure, the licensure staff has been able to reduce the backlog to three to four weeks processing time. At one time we had six people answering phone calls and email; now we have two. So response time to phone calls and email remains the agency’s biggest customer service challenge. Data Classification: 1 -- Published

Licensure Stats Winter 2013 Example of Daily Licensure Statistics Tracked (February 2013) Applications Received:  73 New emails in: 57 Email Responses:  21 Communications Pending: 753 Licenses Issued:  84 Oregon State Police Fingerprint Return Date:  02/13/2013 (24 hrs) Open Accounts:  1597 (Applications waiting for processing) Pending Accounts:  792 (Includes incomplete applications)   Data Classification: 1 -- Published

Licensure Stats Winter 2013 Licensure Statistic Tracking (cont.) February 2013 Phone calls answered = 91 Walk-ins = 10   Number of Incomplete Notices sent = 10 Entering (mail) Wednesday 02/13/2013 (into data system) Scanning Monday 02/11/2013 (documents received) License processing date: 01/29/13 (3.5 weeks) Data Classification: 1 -- Published

Example of Daily Licensure Statistics Tracked (October 2013) Licensure Stats Fall 2013 Example of Daily Licensure Statistics Tracked (October 2013) Applications Received:  90 New emails in: 117 Email Responses:  39 Communications Pending: 2213 Licenses Issued:  30 Oregon State Police Fingerprint Return Date:  10/17/2013 (24 hrs) Open Accounts:  7819 (Applications waiting for processing) Pending Accounts:  350 (Includes incomplete applications)   Data Classification: 1 -- Published

Data Classification: 1 -- Published Licensure Stats Fall 2013 Licensure Statistic Tracking (cont.) October 2013 Phone calls answered = 50 Walk-ins = 19 Number of Incomplete Notices sent = 3  Entering (mail) Wednesday 10/16/2013 (into data system – same day) Scanning Monday 10/13/2013 (documents received – 2 days))  License processing date: 07/02/13 (13 weeks) Data Classification: 1 -- Published

Data Classification: 1 -- Published District Contacts Maria Odle Heidi Reinhardt Linda Conrad Amanda Hill Stephanie Long Tiffany Buttris Data Classification: 1 -- Published