Certification of Highly Accomplished and Lead Teachers in SA

Welcome & Introduction

Mary Pickett ~ Adviser: Performance &

Development

pickettm@ais.sa.edu.au

Aims

Outline: National Certification of Highly Accomplished and Lead

Teachers process for SA Independent Schools from 2013

What? Why? How?

• Clarify process and requirements

• Timelines for AISSA schools

• Cost $1820

• Support for potential applicants

• Q and A

Australian Professional Standards for Teachers http://www.teacherstandards.aitsl.edu.au/

Certification information & documents on AITSL website

http://www.newsroom.aitsl.edu.au/blog/teacher-certificationPrinciples & ProcessesGuide (SA version still to be finalised)Documentary Evidence Supplements (HA and

Lead)Evidence Mapping Documents (HA and Lead)

AITSL Self-assessment tool http://www.selfassessment.aitsl.edu.au/

Preparation for today

What is Certification?

National assessment of Highly Accomplished and Lead teachers

Using the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers which define the work of teachers at 4 career stages and make high quality teaching explicit

Optional

5 years

At own cost

Where does Certification fit?

Career Stages

Teacher Quality

Initial Teacher Preparation Registration Certification

Australian Professional Standards for Teachers

Australian Teacher Performance and Development Framework

The Australian Charter for the Professional Learning of Teachers and School Leaders

Graduate Proficient (registration

)

Highly Accomplished

Lead

Know UnderstandDemonstrat

eIncludeImprove

EffectiveApplyDesign

ImplementOrganise

SelectCreate

Improve

Highly effectiveSkilled

InnovativeCollaborative

KnowledgeableGuide & assist

Model, advise & support

Plan & evaluate Modify

DevelopExpandAnalyse

ExemplaryInnovative

LeadInspireInitiateReview EvaluateIn-depthPromoteEmpowerAnalyse

SynthesiseBuild capacity

Research

Teaching Career Stages

Principles of Certification

1. Standards-based • Australian Professional Standards for Teachers

2. Student-improvement focused • learning• engagement in learning• wellbeing

3. Development driven• professional learning, performance assessment &

development4. Credible

• rigorous, valid, reliable, fair, consistent and transparent

5. Evidence-based• Best practice: what works in schools

affirmation

opportunities growth

recognitionC

erti

fica

tio

n:

Wh

y?

Teacher Quality & Professionalism

"Professionalism is knowing how to do it, when to do it and doing it.”   

Frank Tygler

Certification: Why?

NATIONAL

Supports the National Goals for Schools:

Melbourne Declaration on Educational Goals for Young

Australians (2008)

Improve quality of Australian teaching workforce

= improved student educational

outcomes

Recognise and promote quality teaching in Australia

Enhance professionalism of Australian teachers

Certification: Why?

INDEPENDENT SCHOOLS

Teacher quality

Exemplary teachers: model, inspire and lead colleagues

Promote a professional learning & development culture

Value, recognise and support excellent practitioners

Indicator of school improvement

Certification: Why?

PERSONAL & PROFESSIONAL BENEFITS

Professional learning, growth and development

Reflect, seek feedback and strive to improve current

practice

Recognition and affirmation of quality teaching and

excellence

Career satisfaction, opportunities and progression

Financial – will be up to sectors, systems and schools

Sta

ges

of

Cer

tifi

cati

on

Pre-assessment: Snapshot

1. Eligibility

2. Readiness

Prior to commencing a certification application teachers determine their eligibility and readiness to apply for certification

Pre-assessment: Eligibility

1. Australian citizen or have a permanent residency visa

2. Full registration with SA Teacher Registration Board

3. Recent annual performance assessments = satisfactory

• Highly Accomplished career stage = 2 years• Lead career stage = 3 years

(referees can provide evidence of past performance if no formal process) Teachers do not have to be certified as a Highly Accomplished teacher

before applying for Lead teacher status

Pre-assessment: Eligibility

. 4. Teaching Requirement

Applicants must an authentic teaching role

Must teach students over a period of time to enable them to demonstrate achievement of the complete range of Standards and Descriptors

No requirement for a specified number of hours or teaching load, but the teacher must be responsible for:

ongoing teaching program assessment of the students.

Pre-assessment: Readiness

. 1. Discussion with Principal

All applicants must conduct a professional discussion with their Principal/supervisor regarding their readiness to apply for certification.

If the Principal is unavailable he/she may delegate to the Deputy/Assistant Principal or an equivalent member of the senior leadership team of the school/setting who has significant knowledge of the applicant’s practice.

Pre-assessment: Readiness

2. Self-AssessmentIt is strongly recommended that the self-assessment tool be undertaken by the teacher prior to commencing a certification application.

An online questionnaire which assesses a teacher’s readiness to apply for certification, by guiding them through a detailed self-analysis of their current practice

http://www.selfassessment.aitsl.edu.au/

Assessment Stage 1: Snapshot

The assessment of the collection of evidence submitted by the applicant against the Standards

1. Annotated direct evidence of teacher practice

2. Classroom Observation reports

3. Teacher Reflection/Statement on the direct

evidence

4. Referee statements

Evidence Types

Teaching and learning programs

Classroom observations

Reflection and feedback

Student assessment and

learning

Collaboration and

communication

Professional learning Ref: Certification documentary evidence supplements

Evidence

Credible

Robust & verifiable

Authentic: drawn directly from the teacher’s work

Demonstrate positive impact and improvement in

student outcomes

the practice of colleagues

A true representation of the teacher’s impact over

time

Must clearly reflect the teacher’s individual

contribution

Evidence Mindset

As part of your every day practice:think evidence-based link to Standards/Descriptorsthink improvement (students/colleagues)think IMPACT (students/colleagues)

How will you know? How will others know?

What is the evidence?Where is the evidence?

How & when am I going to: collect it organise it (portfolio) link it to the Standards

"What can be asserted without evidence can also be dismissed without evidence.”

Christopher Hitchens

Stage 1: Your Collection of Evidence

Collectively needs to...

demonstrate achievement of each of the 7 Standards and take account of each of the Descriptors at the relevant career stage

Therefore...

each of the 7 Standards must be addressed by at least two pieces of evidence, and

each of the descriptors (37) at the relevant career stage will be accounted for at least once

Stage 1: Your Collection of Evidence

and your evidence must be effectively annotated to demonstrate:

the impact of the teacher’s practice on improvement in student outcomes:

learning engagement in learning wellbeing

the impact on the practice of colleagues

Stage 1: Evidence

An artefact is individual piece of evidence and/or linked extracts which demonstrate a teacher’s achievement against 1 or more Descriptors and are annotated to demonstrate improvement in student outcomes and other’s practice.

An individual piece of evidence may address more than one annotation and/or demonstrate more than one Standard/Descriptor

The collection of evidence is the entire submission of evidence

stand alone artefacts and/orevidence sets: group of artefacts linked by a general

themewritten statementreferee statements and lead initiative description

Stage 1: Evidence

Approximately 35 quality artefacts or fewer

well-chosen,

high quality

effective

concise (quality over quantity).

Stage 1 Evidence: Annotations

http://www.teacherstandards.aitsl.edu.au/CertificationEvidence

Annotations provide effective commentary that enables an applicant to clearly demonstrate how each artefact they have submitted explicitly addresses the particular standard(s) and descriptor(s) and impact on student outcomes/ colleagues.

Stage 1 Evidence: Forms of Annotating

...include but are not limited to:

Annotation per Descriptor (approx. 150 words)

Annotation per Artefact – covering multiple Descriptors

(approx. 350 words)

Annotation per Evidence set – covering multiple artefacts

and Descriptors (approx. 600 words)

A piece of evidence can address multiple descriptors within and

across standards and should demonstrate the holistic nature of a

teacher’s practice.

Stage 1 Evidence: Annotations

CARE MODEL

Context: identify the Standard(s)/Descriptor(s) and make explicit links between the evidence and these

Action: describe how the evidence demonstrates your contribution and the achievement of the Descriptor

Result: Identify impact on student outcomes and/or the practice of other colleagues

Evaluation: include analysis and reflection on practice and identify your leading/supporting/sharing/modelling role

Stage 1 Evidence: indirect

A teacher in certain context may not be able to provide direct evidence for a particular descriptor

Example: Focus Area 1.4 Strategies for teaching Aboriginal and Torrens Strait Islanders

Where a teacher has not had the opportunity to teach ABTSI students they could provide indirect evidence linked to other areas of their practice.

Stage 1 Evidence: Observation Reports

Minimum of 2 observation reports (1 from the

Principal/Delegate)

(part of the Collection of Evidence)

provide feedback on the teacher’s classroom practice

provide a clear link to the Standard(s)/Descriptor(s)

annotations to be used to clearly show this link

description of behaviour observed by the observer

evaluative comments by the observer

AITSL – developing a template

Stage 1 Evidence: Teacher Written Statement

addresses the Standards

provides an overview of the teacher’s context and background

highlights

key features of evidence, refers to annotated artefacts

provides a summary of major strengths against each of the 3

domains:

Professional : Knowledge, Practice & Engagement

No more than 3 single sided A4 pages

(or the equivalent when submitted

online)

Stage 1: Lead Teacher Initiative

Lead only

implemented over a minimum of 6 months

linked to school and/or system initiatives

demonstrate the applicant’s leadership in design,

implementation, evaluation and review

demonstrate evidence of impact on colleagues’

knowledge, practice and/or engagement.

No more than 2 x A4

pages

Stage 1: Referee Statements (3 – 5)

The evidence must be supported by referees

statements to collectively provide coverage across all Standards;

verify and provide evaluative statements of the evidence against the

specific

focus area of the Standards of which they have direct knowledge;

applicant’s Principal must be one of the referees; (*SA)

Lead applicants must have at least 1 referee with knowledge of their

lead initiative;

assessors will contact the Principal and one other referee for further in-

depth

comment as necessary. Verbal comments will be documented. (*SA)

Stage 1: Presentation format

Multiple formats, including:

Hardcopy, print-based collection

Electronic collection

Combination collection

Multimodal collection, including video, etc.

Other formats by negotiation

AITSL Certificate Evidence Mapping document

recommended

http://www.aitsl.edu.au/verve/_resources/Highly_Accomplished_Certification_Evidenc

e.pdf

3 copies need to be available or submitted if hard copy.

Stage 1: Decision-making

2 assessors will be appointed by AISSA

• Assessors independently assess evidence, then confer

• On-balance judgement* will be made

• 3rd assessor appointed if they cannot reach agreement

Assessors will make the final assessment and recommendation

to SATCom who will endorse or decline the recommendation

based on the assessment meeting the requirements of the

certification process.

SATCom will formally certify the teacher.

Stage 1: Decision-making

On-balance judgment refers to ‘net’ or ‘overall’ judgment

Assessment will be at the level of the seven Standards.

Assessors will make an on-balance judgment about whether

there is sufficient evidence that each Standard has been

demonstrated, based on the evidence provided which takes

account of each descriptor within that Standard. Applicants who do

not provide sufficient evidence of meeting any of the seven

Standards will not proceed to Stage 2.

Stage 1: Written report

A written feedback report will be provided to SATCcom which will then go to the applicant:

Successful applicants:

• areas of focus for the site visit may be identified

Unsuccessful applicants:

• strengths and areas requiring further improvement will be

identified

Stage 1: Unsuccessful Applicants

Applicants may request of the assessment process through

AISSA.

The review does not include a review of the outcome of the

assessment or, of assessments of other applicants.

Unsuccessful applications for Lead teacher Stage 1 are not automatically considered for Highly Accomplished but

• May apply and use substantially the same evidence but it will need to be

annotated

again to demonstrate achievement at the Descriptors at the HA

career stage

• Adjust written statement

• Must apply within 4 weeks (*SA) – no further cost.

Stage 2: Direct Assessment

Following successful completion of Stage 1 there will be a direct assessment of teacher practice onsite by one of the previous external assessors which includes:

1. observation of classroom practice

2. observation of other activities within school (not compulsory – as negotiated)

3. professional discussion with applicant

4. professional discussion with principal/supervisor, and with no more than 3 colleagues and others as negotiated

Stage 2: Decision making

The assessor will document the evidence provided during the site visit and submit this to the second assessor (same assessors as Stage 1).

Collaboratively they will decide whether the applicant meets all 7 Standards at the relevant career stage based on all the evidence provided against the Standards at Stage 1 and 2. Again a third assessor may be involved where the first two are unable to reach a decision.

A further site visit may be held at the instigation of the assessors where evidence remains inconclusive or insufficient.

Certification in SA

The SA Teacher Certification Committee (SATCcom*)

has oversight of the certification process in SA.

It has the responsibility for ensuring the SA Catholic, Independent and government school

sectors meet the requirements for assessment and certification.

Certification in SA

In SA each sector is responsible for the application and assessment process.

Further details will be available on the AISSA website soon.

Certification in SA

Assessors & Assessor training

• National – run by AITSL

• Quality assurance and moderation

• Approx 50 hours online + face to face (3 days)

• July/August – SA based training (3 sectors) *tbc

To be advised

Certification in SA

Independent School Teachers$1820 – to be paid in 3 stagesTax deductible

1. Registration of interest $50 Date:2. Stage 1 $885 Date:3. Stage 2 $885 Date:

To be advised

Certification in SA

DRAFT Timelines

2013/20141. Registration of interest October 20132. Stage 1 submission February 20143. Stage 2 Term 2, 2014

Support: AISSA

• Updated information – link www.ais.sa.edu.au

• More information sessions Term 2

• Evidence Workshops June 3 – see AISSA Events

page

• Assessor Training

• Collaboration: sector network groups, social media,

etc

Mary Pickett - pickett@ais.sa.edu.au

Support: AITSL

http://www.teacherstandards.aitsl.edu.au/Illustrations

Annotated artefacts (e.g. video, lesson plan or work sample) that shows

what the Professional Standards for Teachers look like in practice at a

particular career stage.

Illustrations of Practice

Certification Evidence

The certification evidence pages contain examples of annotated artefacts

and sets of evidence that demonstrate the Australian Professional

Standards for Teachers at the Highly Accomplished and Lead career

stages. These are designed to support applicants to Certification of Highly

Accomplished and Lead Teachers in Australia. http://www.teacherstandards.aitsl.edu.au/CertificationEvidence

Support: AITSL

Classroom observation framework

Currently being developed by AITSLAligns with the Australian Professional Standards for TeachersMain focus on classroom practice - Professional Practice domain

Online questionnaire assessing a teacher’s readiness to apply for certification, by guiding them through a detailed self-analysis of their current practice

http://www.selfassessment.aitsl.edu.au/

Self-Assessment Tool

Questions

Thank you