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LAO Teacher Reform: Rethinking Teacher Accreditation, Credentialing, and Tenure Policies Jennifer Kuhn Director, K-12 Education Legislative Analyst’s Office August 2007 www.lao.ca.gov
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LAO Ensuring Teacher Quality California uses three systems to try to ensure teacher quality. Accreditation Credentialing Probationary period
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LAO Ensuring Teacher Quality (Continued) Accreditation: Ensure teacher preparation institutions are of sufficient quality Credentialing: Ensure individual teacher candidates are of sufficient quality Probationary period: Ensure beginning teachers are of sufficient quality
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LAO Outline of Workshop In each of these three areas: Review existing policies Identify shortcomings/areas of concern Discuss recommendations for reform
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LAO Accreditation
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LAO Three Accreditation Systems Types of accreditation Regional accreditation (required) State accreditation (required) National accreditation (voluntary) Systems operate independently from one another
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LAO State Accreditation System Accreditation Standards Each teacher preparation institution must meet: 10 general preconditions Program-specific preconditions 8 common standards 19 program standards 116 program elements
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LAO State Accreditation System (Continued) Review of teacher preparation institution conducted by accreditation team Team ranges in size from 2 to 15 reviewers Team includes: Reviewers selected from pool of faculty members, K-12 teachers, and administrators Staff from Commission on Teacher Credentialing (CTC)
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LAO State Accreditation System (Continued) Team conducts site visit every 5 to 7 years Team examines program documents and interviews program participants
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LAO State Accreditation System (Continued) Team makes a recommendation to CTC’s Committee on Accreditation Institution can be: Accredited Accredited with stipulations Denied accreditation
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LAO Most Recent Accreditation Cycle From 1997-2002, accreditation teams visited 73 campuses.
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LAO Most Recent Accreditation Cycle (Continued) How many were denied accreditation? 0 3 7 12
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LAO Most Recent Accreditation Cycle (Continued) How many received full accreditation? 73 50 36 25
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LAO State-Accredited Institutions Today, 92 state-accredited teacher preparation institutions operate in California. 53 private colleges and universities 22 CSU campuses 8 UC campuses 9 local education agencies
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LAO Shortcomings of Existing State Accreditation System Standards vague Reviews subjective Reviews occur too infrequently System almost entirely input-oriented
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LAO Moving Toward Performance- Based Accreditation System Institutions would report performance data each year Intervention would be more targeted Data would be made easily accessible
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LAO New System Based on Program Performance Teacher preparation institutions would be assessed based on: Average scores on state-required teacher assessments Graduation rates Employment rates Three-year retention rates Employer satisfaction rates Student improvement
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LAO New System Reviews Performance Every Year Teacher preparation institutions would provide performance data every year If met set performance thresholds, institution would retain accreditation
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LAO New System Targets Assistance If teacher preparation institution fails to meet one or more performance thresholds, state would provide targeted assistance If program does not improve within reasonable period of time, its accreditation would be revoked
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LAO New System Maximizes Value of Performance Information Aggregated performance data would be posted on the Web Site also would display growth measures and similar-school rankings
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LAO Credentialing
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LAO Basic Types of Credentials The CTC currently issues more than 40 different types of teacher licenses 20 types of teaching credentials 8 types of teaching certificates 4 types of teaching short-term permits 8 types of emergency permits 1 credential waiver The CTC has more than 90 different types of outdated licensing documents
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LAO Most Common Types of Credentials Multiple Subject Credential Single Subject Credential Education Specialist Credential Within each of these categories, CTC issues: Preliminary credentials Professional credentials Renewal credentials
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LAO Types of Credential Authorizations Single Subject Credential 21 basic authorizations 26 subject matter authorizations 63 supplementary authorizations Education Specialist Credential 6 basic authorizations Career Technical Credential 173 basic authorizations
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LAO Layers of Requirements Teachers need to meet: Initial requirements to obtain preliminary credential Subsequent requirements to obtain professional clear credential Supplemental requirements to obtain an authorization Fill out paperwork to receive renewal credential
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LAO Layers of Duplication Credential applications reviewed by: Teacher preparation institution CTC staff County office of education
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LAO Recommend Major Credential Reform Reduce the types of credential documents issued Simplify credential requirements Eliminate duplication
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LAO Simplify While Still Ensuring Quality Authorize credentials in broad categories Eliminate preliminary, professional, renewal documents Eliminate most authorizations Fund beginning teacher support
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LAO Eliminate Duplication State Option: For in-state applications, require universities and CTC to process applications within 30 days of end of term For out-of-state applications, require CTC to process applications within 30 days Eliminate most temporary county certificates
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LAO Eliminate Duplication (Continued) Local Option: Require universities to process applications within 30 days of end of term and forward basic data to state Require county offices of education to process out-of-state credentials within 30 days and forward basic data to state
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LAO Tenure and Evaluation Policies
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LAO Brief History of California’s Tenure Policies From 1927 to 1982: California had a three-year probationary period Probationary employees had certain legal rights to challenge dismissal decisions
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LAO Brief History of California’s Tenure Policies (Continued) Since 1982: California has had a two-year probationary period Probationary employees have reduced legal rights to challenge dismissal decisions
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LAO Length of States’ Probationary Period for K-12 Teachers
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LAO California’s Evaluation Policies Probationary teachers must be evaluated at least once a year Permanent/tenured teachers must evaluated at least once every two years Tenured teachers who receive an unsatisfactory evaluation must be assessed annually until they receive a satisfactory evaluation or are dismissed
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LAO California’s Dismissal Policies Statute permits a tenured teacher to be dismissed as a result of unsatisfactory performance Dismissal process consists of ten-some stages
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LAO Number of Dismissal Cases From 1996 to 2005, approximately how many teacher dismissal hearings were conducted in California? 0 100 1,000 10,000
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LAO Concerns with Existing System Two-year probationary period can be too short Evaluation process largely disconnected from job retention, promotion, and compensation Dismissal process can be time-intensive and expensive
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LAO Reform Options— Probationary Period Consider three or four-year probationary period, with permission to grant permanent status any time after 6 months Allows districts to reward especially promising new teachers Allows districts time to transfer teachers to new sites Allows districts time to assist struggling teachers
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LAO Reform Options— Evaluation Process Strengthen evaluation process Clarify performance standards/expectations Link evaluation to job retention and promotion Train school leaders to conduct rigorous teacher evaluations Significantly improve teacher information system
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