Important Proposed Changes to GA Teaching Certificates
The Georgia Professional Standards Commission (GaPSC) will consider changes to its certification rules at its next meeting. If those new rules are adopted and implemented, the GaPSC Tiered Certification System (GTCS) will replace the current teacher certification system beginning July of 2014.
Induction and Standard Certificates
Induction and Standard Professional certificates will be issued for the first time starting on July 1, 2014.
Employment will be required to obtain an Induction certificate. However, if the educator has taught for at least a year in Georgia, employment at time of certification won't be required. This certificate will be non-renewable, with a validity period of three (3) years. A passing score on the Georgia Educator Ethics Assessment will be required for this certificate as of January 1, 2015.
Standard Professional Certificates
Professional certificates will be either performance-based or standard, depending on the teacher's role. All clear renewable teaching certificates will be converted to Standard Professional certificates on July 1, 2014. The Standard Professional certificate will have a validity period of five (5) years. Educators must demonstrate proficient-level performance on TKES to maintain this certificate. It is important to note that, under this proposed rule, the Professional certificate will not be renewed if the educator has two (2) or more "unremediated" summative evaluation ratings of Needs Development, Ineffective or Unsatisfactory. This underscores the need for satisfactory evaluations. In the event that a holder of this certificate has two (2) or more of those ratings, evidence that shows the problem(s) described in the evaluations were satisfactorily addressed will need to be provided to keep the certificate.
Pre-service and Lead Professional Certificates
Pre-service and Lead Professional certificates will be issued for the first time starting on July 1, 2015.
Pre-service certificates will become mandatory for student-teachers in Georgia. This will bring teacher-candidates under the purview of the Georgia Code of Ethics for Educators. This certificate will have a validity period of five (5) years. A successful state or federal background check will be required to hold this certificate. The Pre-service certificate will not be renewed if the educator has two (2) or more "unremediated" summative evaluation ratings of Needs Development, Ineffective or Unsatisfactory. Furthermore, the Pre-service certificate will not be converted to a Standard Professional certificate unless and until the low summative evaluation ratings are remediated. This, again, underscores the need to maintain good annual evaluations. In the event a holder of this certificate has two (2) or more low ratings on summative evaluations, the GaPSC will look for evidence that the deficiencies have been satisfactorily addressed before issuing a Standard Professional certificate.
Lead Professional certificates will be performance-based and issued to "high performing" educators who are qualified to be teacher-leaders. For this certification, an educator must: (1) hold an advanced degree in teacher leadership and pass the Teacher Leader GACE; or (2) hold an advanced degree in certain other fields while holding an endorsement in Teacher Leadership, Coaching, or Teacher Support Specialist and pass the Teacher Leader GACE. They will have a validity period of five (5) years. Educators who hold this certificate will likely have to show proficient-level performance on the statewide evaluation system. At a later date, the GaPSC will determine what "Exemplary" evaluation requirements will be used after examining initial TKES data.
Advanced Professional Certificates
Another proposal the GaPSC will consider is the Advanced Professional certificate. This is another performance-based certification for "high-performing" teachers. It has some of the same requirements as the Standard Professional certificate. For this certification, one must have an advanced degree in certain education fields or hold National Board Certification. As with the Standard Professional, Lead Professional and Pre-service certificates, satisfactory performance on evaluations will be crucial. If performance is not sufficient to remain at the Advanced Professional Level, the certificate reverts to a Standard Professional certificate at renewal. As of this writing, an issue date for this certificate has yet to be determined.
GACE Passage Requirements
Two (2) GACE content assessment pass rates will become effective next year: Induction and Professional. Beginning July, 2015, examinees must pass all parts of the assessment at the Induction level or higher as part of the requirement to hold an Induction certificate and all parts at the Professional level as part of the requirement to hold a Professional level certificate, unless exempted by performance criteria as established by the GaPSC.
Aspiring educators should note that, as of September 1, 2015, a passing score on the edTPA (a performance assessment administered during the student-teaching component) will become a certification requirement for those with no teaching experience.
Other Items of Note
- The Teacher Keys Evaluation System (TKES) and Leadership Keys Evaluation System (LKES) will be implemented statewide beginning on July 1, 2014; and
- Out-of-state content assessments taken after July 1, 2014, will no longer be accepted.
If and when these rules are adopted, information will be posted on the GaPSC's website, www.gapsc.com, in the Policies & Guidelines section of the Home Page. Messages will also be sent to educators through their MyPSC accounts.
Act Now to Comment Before April 4th
It is important that educators and other interested or affected parties share any concerns about the proposed GTCS with the GaPSC. The Commission will be accepting comments from the public until April 4, 2014. If you're interested in submitting a written statement, you may do so by mailing it to the GaPSC at 200 Piedmont Ave., Suite1702, Atlanta, GA 30334-9032.
Comments must be delivered no later than April 4, 2014.
PAGE'S Comments to GaPSC on Tiered Certification
While we appreciate the GaPSC's efforts to create a certification system that will focus attention on performance and on providing differentiated support for early career teachers; as well as, provide opportunities for teachers to grow, yet remain in the classroom, we have a few concerns with the proposed changes.
First, we believe the success of such a tiered certification appears to hinge (at least for its upper levels) on a yet to be fully vetted teacher evaluation system (TKES) which itself rests on two unproven pillars: the validity and reliability of the testing regime and the success of a new form of comprehensive observation as a part of teacher evaluation. In addition, the overwhelming majority of teachers are in non-tested subjects and therefore will be evaluated based on SLOs which lack uniformity and are still being developed and thus not close to being vetted for validity.
Second, although the GaPSC has made it clear that tiered certification will not impact teacher pay since the Commission does not have decision making authority over pay, we remain concerned that this could be used as a stepping stone for the legislature to link it to teacher pay in the future.
Finally, the proposed changes could have some significant unintended barriers to recruitment especially for out of state teachers or new teachers hired after the administration of the summer GACE.
Thank you for this opportunity to submit comments on the proposed rule changes.
