SPRING UPDATES
SPRING 2013 UPDATE
CERTIFICATION
J
SPRING UPDATES
Certification Policy Goal
Achieve a system of teacher preparation,
certification and ongoing professional
development that is aligned and driven by
impact/results rather than a series of inputs
Impact/results• Demonstration of knowledge and skills
• Research-based professional practice
• Student achievement
SPRING UPDATES
CREDENTIAL CHANGES
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Discontinued Certificates:
The ability to issue N-3, K-6, Special
Education N-12 and Middle Level 7-9
certificates will expire on August 31, 2013
• Applications submitted in TIMS by
11:59 p.m. on August 31, 2013 will be
evaluated
• No restrictions on existing certificate
holders
• Level II certificates will be issued
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Discontinued Certificates:
Reminder:
(regarding the N-3, K-6, Special Education N-12
and Middle Level 7-9 certificates expiring on August 31, 2013)
• Certificates issued will remain valid for
the certification area and grade span for
which they were issued
• Intern certificates will remain valid until
the expiration date
– Conversion to Instructional I required by
8/31/2013, or must meet new certificate
requirements
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New Certificates
• Grades Pre K-4 (Subject Code 2825):
– Program focus on child development, impact of
family needs, diverse populations
– May teach early childhood/elementary content Pre K
through 4th grade
• Grades 4-8th (Subject Code 3100):
– Program includes prep in self contained multiple content
areas and one or two content concentrations
– May be used to teach self contained multiple content
areas in 4th grade through 6th grade
– May be used in areas of the educators’ content
concentrations in departmentalized classrooms 4th
through 8th grade
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Display on Certificates
New “Grades PK-4”
New “Grades 4-8 with Mathematics Concentration”
New “Special Education 7-12”
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New Certificates (cont.)
• Special Education Pre K-8 (Subject Code 9226):
– Combined Special Education certification with
Pre K-4, 4-8 or Reading Specialist to prep
candidate to be highly qualified in subject
areas
• Special Education 7-12 (Subject Code 9227)
– Combined Special Education certification with a
secondary 7-12 subject area or Reading
Specialist
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Adding On a Subject Area
• A candidate may “add-on” an instructional
certification area only if he/she already
holds an instructional certificate
• The following areas require program
completion and MAY NOT be added by
testing alone:
– Elementary K-6, Early Childhood N-3, Grades
Pre K-4, Grades 4-8, Reading Specialist,
Cooperative Education, Health & Physical
Education, and all Special Education areas
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Add-On Information
Go to www.education.state.pa.us
In the upper left corner, under “PDE Search”
Type in “add-on” and select “Go”
The link to the web page will appear in the “PDE Search
Results” section in the center of the page
• Other links are available to access this page, however this
process is the fastest
•
•
•
•
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Certification Tests
• As of April 2, 2012, the tests that are now
required for the new certificates are as
follows:
– Pennsylvania Educator Certification Tests
(Administered by Pearson)
•
•
•
•
PAPA (Pre-service Academic Performance Assessment)
Pre K-4
Special Education Pre K-8
Special Education 7-12
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Certification Tests
– Grades 4-8 (Administered by ETS)
• Generalist Content
• Concentration Specialist Test
– Educational Leadership (Administered by ETS)
• School Leaders Licensure Assessment
• School Superintendent Assessment
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Testing Update
• The Educational Specialist credentials
require the completion of the
• PAPA: Reading, Writing, Mathematics
(www.pa.nesinc.com)
• Appropriate content area test (refer to
Testing Requirements on PDE’s website)
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Certification Requirement
• The Educational Specialist–PAPA required:
• Unless the candidate holds:
• Another Pennsylvania certificate; OR
• A baccalaureate degree; AND
• A current and valid Pennsylvania
license as a counselor, dental
hygienist, psychologist, registered
nurse or social worker
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Retain Use of Praxis Tests for
Highly Qualified Purposes
• For educators to demonstrate content
mastery in:
– Grades K-6 and Pre K-3, PDE will retain
use of Praxis 0511 and the previous
Pre K-3 content tests
– Grades 7-9, PDE will retain use of the 79 Praxis tests
SPRING UPDATES
Retain Use of Praxis Tests for
Highly Qualified Purposes
• After August 2013, these Praxis tests will
be applicable only for educators to
become highly qualified
• K-6, Pre K-3 or any of the 7-9 middle
level content areas cannot be added on to
an existing certificate
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Endorsements
• Program Endorsement Certificate
– Documents knowledge in new and emerging areas
where formal certification does not exist
– Maximum of 12 credits
– Added to existing Level I or Level II Certificates
– Not required to perform service in these areas
• Endorsements created in 2010
–
–
• In
–
–
Autism Spectrum Disorders
Instructional Coach
process of developing the guidelines for:
Mathematics Coach
Cyber and International Student Teaching
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CERTIFICATION STAFFING
AND POLICY GUIDELINES
(CSPG) CHANGES
SPRING UPDATES
CSPG #7 Level II Updates
• Clarification of required six credits
– Initiate the practice of looking for credits
associated with the area(s) of certification
and/or designed to improve professional
practice
– Administrative, Guidance or Counseling
coursework would not qualify, for example
– Would include Standards Aligned System
(SAS) and Inclusion
SPRING UPDATES
CSPG #7 Level II Updates (Cont.)
• Service time calculation for part-time
– Effective 2/1/2013, ½ year of service will
be charged after 70 days of teaching
(change from 45 days)
– PDE will accept only 45 days to count for ½
year of service for applicants already in the
process of applying for Level II for the
remainder of the 2012-13 academic year
SPRING UPDATES
CSPG #7 Level II Updates (Cont.)
• Rationale: service-time calculation
for part-time
– Determination of six years will be more
accurately assessed and tracked
– Addresses induction problems
– May extend the time an educator
spends on Level I certificate, but has no
adverse impact
SPRING UPDATES
CSPG #7 Level II Updates (Cont.)
Service Time Clarifications
• Satisfactory and unsatisfactory service
is counted toward the six years of
service
• Non-optional service
– Added Scotland School and Scranton State
School for the Deaf to non-optional service
time
• Calculation of Instructional I and Ed
Specialist I based on semesters
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CSPG #7 *Updates (Cont.)
Additional Clarifications
• Induction program is required for Ed
Specialists
• Alien Provisional terminology ended,
non-U.S. Citizen created
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CSPG #18 Revisions
• Expanded National Association of
State Directors of Teacher Education
and Certification (NASDTEC)
Interstate Agreement to include:
– Education Specialists
– Administrators
SPRING UPDATES
CSPG #18 Certification Changes
• Added the statutory language for
out-of-state Instructional candidates
who have:
– Active valid certificate from another
state
– Two years of satisfactory experience
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PROCEDURAL NOTES
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Checking Certification and Application Status
Public Website: www.TeacherCertification.PA.gov
Or on the PDE Website under:
Teachers and Teacher Certifications
Certification Status Search (under Quick
Links)
• Search by Name, Employer, PPID using
% to replace uncertain or variable
spellings
• Active application status added to the
PPID search in November
Use the Act 48 tools to look up a professional personal ID (PPID)
SPRING UPDATES
Monitoring the Application Status
Pending Documentation – the cover sheet and proof items have not been
received or scanned into TIMS
Pending Payment – waiting for the cover sheet and money order
Waiting for Educ or Work Exp Verification – waiting for the school
employer to verify work experience or preparation program to verify program
• Completed verification only ONE time, either electronically (if school
provisioned in TIMS) or via forms (if not provisioned in TIMS)
• 338A-Out-of-State Program Verification
• 338V-Verification of Work Experience for non-provisioned entities
• 338C-In-State Program Verification - should be done electronically
• 338P-Level II Experience Verification
Awaiting Evaluation– payment and documents are received and scanned
Review In Progress – application is under review!
**Auto emails come from RA-TeacherCert@pa.gov (no reply)
SPRING UPDATES
Focus Periods For Application Review
PDE has identified specific time periods to focus on high
volume applications to address critical application backlogs
 More efficient in the new Teacher Information Management
System (TIMS)
 Does not affect the submission of applications by candidates
 Applications may be submitted at any time
 Applications will be processed on a first in, first out basis
according to type of application and identified periods
 Posted on the web under Teachers, Administrators and
Certifications >> Application Processing Status and
Application Review Focus Periods
SPRING UPDATES
Focus of Application Review Periods
From
January
To
May
May
July
July
October
August
December
Focus of Application Review

Level II applications
o Instructional and Educational Specialist II
applications

Letter of Equivalency for Master’s or Bachelor’s
(MEQ/BEQ)

Emergency Permits

Instructional, Educational Specialist I and Intern Level
I applications:
 In-state recommended candidates
 Candidates without in-state recommendation



December
January

Emergency Permits
Level II applications
o Instructional and Educational Specialist II
applications
Letter of Equivalency for Master’s or Bachelor’s
(MEQ/BEQ)
Level I applications:
o Instructional, Educational Specialist I and Intern
applications
 In-state prepared candidates
 Out-of-state prepared candidates
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Permit Updates
• Emergency permit applications may be
submitted now for the 2013-14 school year
• The dashboard will change to the new year in
July
– Permits do not show on the dashboard when the
permit year is different from the dashboard year
– Permits from other years (past and future) may be
viewed using the Permit Search feature
• Subsidy billing was emailed in May for the
2011-12 year
SPRING UPDATES
Permit Reminders
• Who must submit a permit request
through TIMS every year?
– Good moral character (GMC) applicants
– Non-U.S. Citizens (Note: applicants must
correct citizenship – especially if
“Unknown/Other”)
• Send copies for 06 Day-to-Day
substitute audit documentation
• Do NOT send money orders for 06
audits
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Survey of Prep Program
• Completed by Pennsylvania preparation program
candidates applying for certification in TIMS
SPRING UPDATES
Questions?
For more information on Certification please
visit PDE’s website at ww.education.state.pa.us
The mission of the department is to academically prepare
children and adults to succeed as productive citizens. The
department seeks to ensure that the technical support,
resources and opportunities are in place for all students,
whether children or adults, to receive a high quality
education.