Teacher Reform: Rethinking Teacher Accreditation, Credentialing, and Tenure Policies

1. 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

2. Ensuring Teacher Quality • California uses three systems to try to ensure teacher quality. • Accreditation • Credentialing • Probationary period

3. 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

4. Outline of Workshop • In each of these three areas: • Review existing policies • Identify shortcomings/areas of concern • Discuss recommendations for reform

5. Accreditation

6. Three Accreditation Systems • Types of accreditation • Regional accreditation (required) • State accreditation (required) • National accreditation (voluntary) • Systems operate independently from one another

7. 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

8. 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)

9. State Accreditation System (Continued) • Team conducts site visit every 5 to 7 years • Team examines program documents and interviews program participants

10. State Accreditation System (Continued) • Team makes a recommendation to CTC’s Committee on Accreditation • Institution can be: • Accredited • Accredited with stipulations • Denied accreditation

11. Most Recent Accreditation Cycle • From 1997-2002, accreditation teams visited 73 campuses.

12. Most Recent Accreditation Cycle (Continued) • How many were denied accreditation? • 0 • 3 • 7 • 12

13. Most Recent Accreditation Cycle (Continued) • How many received full accreditation? • 73 • 50 • 36 • 25

14. 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

15. Shortcomings of Existing State Accreditation System • Standards vague • Reviews subjective • Reviews occur too infrequently • System almost entirely input-oriented

16. Moving Toward Performance-Based Accreditation System • Institutions would report performance data each year • Intervention would be more targeted • Data would be made easily accessible

17. 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

18. New System Reviews Performance Every Year • Teacher preparation institutions would provide performance data every year • If met set performance thresholds, institution would retain accreditation

19. 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

20. 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

21. Credentialing

22. 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

23. 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

24. 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

25. 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

26. Layers of Duplication • Credential applications reviewed by: • Teacher preparation institution • CTC staff • County office of education

27. Recommend Major Credential Reform • Reduce the types of credential documents issued • Simplify credential requirements • Eliminate duplication

28. Simplify While Still Ensuring Quality • Authorize credentials in broad categories • Eliminate preliminary, professional, renewal documents • Eliminate most authorizations • Fund beginning teacher support

29. 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

30. 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

31. Tenure and Evaluation Policies

32. 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

33. 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

34. Length of States’ Probationary Period for K-12 Teachers

35. 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

36. 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

37. Number of Dismissal Cases • From 1996 to 2005, approximately how many teacher dismissal hearings were conducted in California? • 0 • 100 • 1,000 • 10,000

38. 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

39. 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

40. 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