Accelerated Certification of Teachers: The Good, The Bad,

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Accelerated Certification of Teachers The Good,
The Bad, The UglyWhat we thought we knew, what
we learned, and what really works.

• Pennsylvania Department of Education ACT
  Program
• NCAC
• February 9, 2006
• San Diego, CA

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The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania

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The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania

• 1.8 million children in our public schools
• 501 districts, 3000 schools
• 255,000 children currently diagnosed with special
  learning needs
• Largest RURAL population in the country
• Home to the FIFTH largest school district in the
  country (Philadelphia)
• 95 colleges and universities offer Teacher
  Preparation programs in the Commonwealth

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TQE Grant gtgtgt ACT Grant Program in Pennsylvania

• The Accelerated Certification for Teachers
  Program is a well-designed program that addresses
  the professional preparation needs of a growing
  population of individuals who already have at
  least a bachelor's degree, considerable subject
  knowledge, and want to become teachers.

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Goals of ACT Program

• Provide accelerated certification programs for
  highly qualified professionals seeking a career
  in the Pennsylvania education system.
• Rise to the challenges of NCLB and IDEIA.
• Assist high-need school districts in providing
  Highly Qualified educators.

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More specifically, the purpose of the ACT Grant
program is

• To convert teachers currently working via an
  Emergency 01 Permit to high quality, Highly
  Qualified Instructional I subject area
  certificate holders
• To recruit minority candidates to serve as role
  models in high need content areas and districts
• To implement technology via Distance Education
  models

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The Accelerated Certification for Teachers
Program is designed to provide certification to
highly qualified candidates to meet the needs of
primarily five sponsoring school districts, in 5
high need content areas

• Allentown
• Harrisburg
• Philadelphia
• Reading
• York City

• Math
• The Sciences
• ESL
• Spanish
• Special Education

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Justification of ACT Program

• For the 04-05 school year, PDE granted in
  excess of 2,600 Emergency (Type 01) Permits
  within the 5 participating school districts.
• Type 01 Permit Long Term Vacancy and does NOT
  qualify for HQ status

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Who can participate in the ACT Program?

• A qualified candidate for participation in the
  ACT Grant is one who
• is currently teaching on an Emergency 01 permit
  OR has procured a teaching position or temporary
  certification in appropriate academic content in
  one of the following school districts
• Harrisburg Philadelphia
• Reading York City
• Allentown
• AND
• possesses a Bachelors degree in the content area
  in which the candidate is seeking certification.

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Participating Colleges Universities

• Currently, there are 4 participating institutions
  of higher education who have partnered with both
  PDE and local school districts to provide
  accelerated teaching certification to interested
  candidates
• Cheyney University
• Chestnut Hill College
• Eastern University
• Holy Family University
• The grants were awarded for three years
• September 2003-September 2006

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How Does it Work?

• The various institutions of higher education, the
  school districts, and PDE worked together to
  develop a series of courses which would be
  required for each certification and moved to
  deliver the courses using flexible and innovative
  practices.
• Some programs are delivered on-site in the
  various school districts using qualified
  community resources (such as retirees) as
  instructors.
• Grant funds are used to cover the cost of
  tuition for all qualified participants.

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How Does it Work?

• Candidates enroll in the accelerated program and
  complete a series of courses that range from
  12-24 months, depending upon certification.
• Most coursework is completed while the candidate
  is working full time in a high need school
  district.

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Consideration

• In order to ensure that Special Education
  program candidates are HQ, many of these
  participants are pursuing DUAL certification by
  either enrolling in additional courses to receive
  EL ED certification, or are attempting to pass
  the content area Praxis in the field of their
  content knowledge expertise.

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Program Status

• Number of Active Program Participants 109
• Number of Minority Candidates 28 (27)
• Number of Certified Program Completers 93
• Percentage of Program Completers still in
  District 90

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Program Status

• Program Completers Certified by Subject as of
  02/01/06
• Special Education 66
• Spanish/ ESL 14
• Math 8
• Science / Biology / Chemistry 5

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Program Status

• LEAs Employing ACT Grant HQ Program
  Completers
• Philadelphia 58
• Harrisburg 13
• Allentown 8
• Reading 6
• York City 8

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Benefits for participating IHEs include

• better rapport with the involved school
  districts,
• closer cooperation among the participating
  colleges,
• utilization of locally available resources and
  faculty,
• and better knowledge of what partnering school
  districts need.

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Benefits to the candidates include

• flexible course schedules,
• ability to be certified in a 12-18 month
  timeframe,
• reimbursement for PASSED Praxis tests,
• tuition remission,
• and enhanced mentoring by the institutions of
  higher education and the school districts.

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Benefits to the participating LEAs include

• HQ status of employees on Emergency 01 Permits,
• certification of candidates usually within 12
  months,
• inclusion of school district input into the
  curriculum,
• tuition remission,
• and school district personnel teaching some of
  the college courses.

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Lessons Learned

• The Good
• The Bad
• The Ugly.

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YEAR 1Question How hard can this be?

• Answer Ignorance is bliss.

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First, the GOOD

• Commitment to alternative certification models.
• Participants valued tuition reimbursement, the
  customized and accelerated coursework, and the
  convenience of the times and locations of the
  courses.
• Conversion of uncertified teachers into high
  quality, Highly Qualified educators.

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Now the BAD

• Enrollment process with IHEs is complicated and
  involves last minute paperwork.
• For the Reading, York, and Harrisburg candidates,
  courses offered via Eastern University were
  located at some distance, complicating
  communication.
• Lack of core competencies and structured course
  rotations.

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And the UGLY

• Thinning the Herd
• Participating Districts Lancaster
• Program Participants
• Partnering IHEs Gwynedd-Mercy, University of
  Pittsburgh

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More UGLY

• Learning the difference between a warm body
• and a good candidate.

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Solutions, or How we cleaned up our ACT

• Lesson 1 On the IHE level, grant administration
  proved too much work for one person.
• Hiring a student advisor
• 1.) enables candidates to have a single point of
  contact
• 2.) allows directors to focus on curriculum
• 3.) greatly improves communications between IHE,
  LEA, and SEA

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Cleaning up our ACT, cont.

• Lesson 2 Creating a common set of course
  competencies and rotations
• Consistent programming
• 1.) improves communication among candidates,
  IHEs, and LEAs
• 2.) ensures high quality program graduates
• 3.) provides a standardized model for program
  implementation statewide

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Recommended Course Content Math, Science,
Spanish FINAL
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MATH/ SCIENCE Curriculum Instruction,
Assessment Pedagogy MOD/ SAT / 3 CR
Long-range and short-range planning of
instruction, done independently and in
collaboration with other educators, based
upon          mathematics subject matter,
         students and the community,         
Pennsylvania Academic Standards, content analysis
with specific objectives,          instructional
methods, including materials and
activities,          results of student
assessments   II.A. Selecting, adapting and
implementing a variety of instructional
strategies ranging from computational exercises
to complex problem solving to essay-style
homework, class assignments, projects, and
utilizing traditional tools as well as modern
technologies   II.B. Selecting, analyzing, and
modifying instructional materials to meet the
needs of diverse learners   II.C. Assessing and
evaluating students conceptual understanding of
content through a variety of contextual settings,
providing formative feedback to align
instructional strategies assist to individual
student needs
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Cleaning up our ACT, cont.

• Lesson 3 Failing Grade Addendum
• The use of a Failing Grade Addendum
• 1.) clarifies the financial responsibilities of
  the candidate
• 2.) enables the USDOE to seek tuition repayment
  from participants who drop/fail out

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          ACCELERATED CERTIFICATION OF TEACHERS
(ACT)   ADDENDUM TO THE SCHOLARSHIP TERMS
CONDITIONS     As a participant in the ACT grant
program, I will be responsible for repayment of
any tuition funds given to me by the ACT grant
if I do not pass a course due to a failing grade
(C, D, or F).  If I receive two failing grades,
then I will be responsible to repay the tuition
for both courses, as well as be dismissed from
the program entirely.     _______________________
_________ Name of Scholarship Recipient (PRINT
PLEASE)       ________________________________ __
________________________ Scholarship Recipients
Signature Date       __________________________
________ __________________________ Authorized
Institutional Official Signature Date       ____
______________________________ ___________________
_______ Name of Official (PLEASE PRINT) Title
ACT GRANT
 
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Cleaning up our ACT, cont.

• Lesson 4 Recruitment is Integral to
  Programmatic Success
• Partner with The New Teacher Project
• rigorous interview process ensures candidate
  dedication
• assists candidates in selecting a compatible IHE
• aids districts in identifying high quality
  employees

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YEAR 2

• Hitting Our Stride

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First, the GOOD

• At 3 of the 4 participating universities, there
  are more students interested in ACT slots than
  are available for them, indicating that the
  program is meeting a need for HQ teachers. The
  need continues to be most substantial in
  Harrisburg and Philadelphia. Further, very few
  participants dropped out of the program for
  reasons other than failure to pass the Praxis
  exams.

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First, the GOOD

• 90 participants (38 of those ever enrolled) had
  completed the program by the end of Year Two, and
  most of those had received certification. If we
  do not count dropouts- most of whom were dropped
  because of the Praxis- more than half of the Year
  One and Year Two participants had completed the
  program by the end of Year Two.

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First, the GOOD

• Relationships between the IHEs and LEAs,
  particularly the school district of Philadelphia,
  continue to be positive, as reported in the Year
  Two Evaluation Report.
• Each of the universities have plans to provide
  ACT courses in a Distance Education format for
  Year Three.

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First, the GOOD

• A new course competency and sequence was hammered
  out by the IHEs with guidance from PDE. One
  significant difference between the ACT course
  sequence and the traditional teacher prep
  sequence is an emphasis on classroom survival
  skills, such as Classroom Behavior Management.

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First, the GOOD

• Student teaching has also been divided into TWO 3
  credit courses, with the first occurring during
  the candidates first semester of teaching, as
  opposed to being the capstone experience. This
  ungraded course assists candidates in immediate
  and constructive feedback.

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First, the GOOD

• In most cases, ACT candidates were pleased with
  the quality of their coursework and the amount of
  attention they received from faculty and staff.
  Students at universities that had consistent
  student advisors- Chestnut Hill and Eastern- were
  most pleased with the amount of support they
  received in negotiating administrative
  challenges.

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Now, the Bad

• Each of the universities has begun to offer
  distance learning courses however, with the
  exception of Chestnut Hill, which offered hybrid
  courses from the beginning quite successfully,
  the universities have struggled with a lack of
  infrastructure and knowledge about how best to
  offer online and distance learning programs.

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And yes, the Ugly

• The requirements that a Special Education teacher
  must meet in order to be HQ increased during Year
  Two. All of Eastern Universitys ACT Special
  Education graduates leave dually certified (with
  ELEM ED) and they can complete this course
  sequence in 16 months. At the other universities,
  dual certification can take considerably longer.
  Struggling to provide HQ candidates in our area
  of greatest need is proving a considerable
  challenge.

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YEAR 3GOALS

• 1.) Continue to produce high quality, HQ teachers
• 2.) Provide a model to IHEs for replication
  statewide to assist LEAs in meeting NCLB
  requirements
• 3.) Implement distance education coursework at
  all participating IHEs

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YEAR 3PROVEN RESULTS

• Eastern University will continue to partner with
  the Harrisburg and Philadelphia School Districts
  to provide accelerated certification to desirable
  candidates.
• TNTP will continue to work with Eastern
  University in recruiting qualified candidates for
  the accelerated certification program.

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YEAR 3PROVEN RESULTS

• The ACT Grant Partnership presented program at US
  DOE TQE Conference, December, 2005.
• A series of presentations with IHEs and LEAs will
  be scheduled throughout the Commonwealth in 2006
  in an attempt to generate interest and assist in
  the implementation of the accelerated models at
  interested districts and colleges universities.
  

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Accelerated Certification of Teachers The Good,
The Bad, The UglyWhat we thought we knew, what
we learned, and what really works.

• Pennsylvania Department of Education ACT
  Program
• NCAC
• February 9, 2006
• San Diego, CA

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Presentation prepared by thePennsylvania
Department of EducationBureau of Teacher
Certification and Preparation

• For more information on the ACT Grant, contact
• Catherine Cormany
• Higher Education Associate II
• Pennsylvania Department of Education
• Bureau of Teacher Certification Preparation
• 333 Market Street
• Harrisburg, Pennsylvania 17126-0333
• [phone]
• ccormany_at_state.pa.us