Picking up few weeks later on the subject of staff certification and job titles for the school district's administrative branch today I will go over, quickly, on the three different kind of certifications the state offers: Certificate of Eligibility, Provisional and Standard.
One of the oaths a school board takes is that one of hiring the "best qualified" applicant. This is a serious oath that deserves careful consideration when talking about certifications since it is not only qualifications but experience that is reflected on the kind of certification any given school staff has, thus looking at the Plainfield's hiring practices can show what a school board's vision and standards are when it comes to hiring the "best qualified" person. Until now "certification" talks have been dominated by scandal, it doesn't have to be that way if we all learn the difference and the quality of each certification.
A holder of a "Certificate of Eligibility" is a person that has the educational requirements, or related work experience, to hold a certificated position in a school district. This CE certificate gives the hiring district the green light to hire the holder of the "Certificate of Eligibility". But there is a condition to this:
The hiring district must register the holder of a "Certificate of Eligibility" (CE) into the state's mandated and approved mentoring program and the cost of it is usually paid by the district. Once the holder of this CE gets accepted into the mentoring program his CE then becomes a "Provisional Certificate".
The "Provisional Certificate" can go from one year to two years, this timing is based on the person's educational background and usually means the person will need 2 years of mentoring. Persons with related work experience or out of state professionals are usually required to 1 year of mentoring. Once the mentoring time requirement has been met the Provisional Certificate becomes a Standard Certification, a Standard Certificate is good for life.
With this said one would think that the most qualified person is a person that holds a Standard Certification. But you also want to leave the door open for staff professional growth and I can only imagine that to reach a balance on this matter is not an easy task for those hiring, our school board.
An OPRA request filed with the state for administrators' certifications revealed that the district has a tendency to promote employees or hire people that hold a Certificate of Eligibility. What is more, the OPRA response revealed that the district has a good number of fairly new administrators with some of them just recently getting their Standard certification while others are still holding a "Provisional Certification".
The number of fairly new administrators can be attributed to the 2007-08 personnel shake up that took place due to the state's personnel files review through QSAC. One question here is how the functioning of the district has been affected by the hiring decisions the school board has taken on these past 5-10 years.
More on this subject at the next post. Corrections, clarifications and opinions are welcome.
7 comments:
It seems to me that we have a lot of "provisional" certificates and people are not given time limits to be fully certified and the BOE and superintendent don't follow up. They sure know how to waste out money. I couldn't get away with that at the college where I teach.
Be careful with who has provisional and standard as many files are it updated at the district level. I have been asked to provide my cert several times and at one point I was listed as non tenured despite having worked in the district for several years due to "paperwork updating" ... Before posting, you would check with individuals at the teaching, admin, and central office levels.
Bob,
The district had a lot of "Provisional" holders for a good while. You are definitively right. Thanks.
10:45,
Certifications are given by the state, tenure by the district.
On Tenure. Employees would do themselves a favor by soliciting all pertinent regulations when it comes to tenure and a copy of their union's contract. A request in writing would do wonders, OPRA could even be used for this purpose if needed be.
On Certifications. Thanks for suggesting that I check with the district but since it is state issued certifications what I requested I believe the state has the proper information as they are the ones issuing these certifications. Thanks.
Just because a person has a standard cert. doesn't make them more qualified.I know teachers who have their standard certs and are burnt out-new teachers sometimes bring new ideas, cutting edge methods and a renewed energy to teaching. These teachers also costthe district less money on the pay scale-for an extended time too according to the PEA contract. Hiring administrators through promotions makes sense-we invest all the PD into them and tuition reimbursement money we should reap the benefits. All the money spent on hiring Gallon and his high $$$ was such a waste.
In response, as a teacher I am clear who grants what. However, the district doesn't receive the certs from the state, employees must provide them as proof. Therefore, in several of our cases we have provided updated certifications from the state to the district yet when we request to see our personnel files only the older version is in there. Meaning if you opra the district you will only get what they have on "file". This was a running joke during the gallon era as several administrators and teachers have their certs in their desks or walls now to prove certification.
Agree with 322 in that standard doesn't always mean better. We should continue the process of having teams of community members, teachers, and admins all interviewing candidates and also check their certifications and educational backgrounds as well.
3:22,
New teachers and new administrators still need to have the proper certifications at time of hiring. Thanks.
3:40,
Concerns on how documentation is handled at the district is nothing new. Have the district unions address this issue or raise the concern to the BOE and the state. If I were an employee I would be very concerned about how the HR Department handles sensitive personal information and would try to do something about it. Thanks.
And, what about PPS's off-the-hook use of substitute teachers??? Where are the SUB STATS? Why aren't building admins SCREAMING about the number of days (days-on-end, really) that Plainfield's children have subs? I thought there were laws or regs or policies or something that makes sure kids have stable long-term settings with "highly qualified" and fully certified people?
What is the next level after district supervisors??? Isn't the county supposed to be monitoring Plainfield??? We pay a LOAD of people to get this right, but...
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