Specialty Endorsement Development

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Specialty Endorsement Development
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General Certification Requirements

• 18 years old
• Pass moral character and fitness (fingerprints)
• Hold bachelors degree from regionally accredited
  college/university
• Complete state-approved teacher preparation
  program
• Pass WEST-B and WEST-E for each endorsement area

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The world of certification
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Specialty Endorsement
Washington Learns
31 endorsement reviews
Revised Standard V
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A Brief History of Endorsements
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• Standards, weve got standards

Knowledge and skills-- all teachers
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Endorsement System Purpose

• To align requirements for endorsements with the
  states learning goals and EALRs.
• To align requirements for endorsements with the
  specialty organization standards, where
  appropriate
• To maintain rigorous standards for obtaining
  endorsements

• To provide school districts with teachers who are
  able to demonstrate a positive impact on student
  learning.
• To complement a performance based teacher
  certification program

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Ways to Obtain Endorsements

• By completing a college/university program
  approved to offer the endorsement. This can be
  in-state or out-of-state.
• By earning National Board certification in a
  Washington endorsement area.
• By passing the WEST-E test in an area closely
  compatible with an endorsement already
  held/experienced.
• By passing the WEST-E plus pedagogy assessment.

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Specialty Endorsement Definition

• Specialty endorsements prepare a teacher
  candidate to work with a specific student
  population/demographic and/or subject matter
  area, and are created to help candidates teachers
  specialize beyond the required certificate
  endorsements. Specialty endorsements have unique
  endorsement competencies not found in any of the
  existing endorsements.

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Specialty Endorsements Phase I

• Proposers shall submit a pre-approval proposal to
  the Professional Educator Standards Board that
  includes the following information
• Documentation of nationally-recognized teaching
  standards unique to the proposed specialty
  endorsement
• Letter of support from a professional educator
  standards board-approved college or university
  interested in offering the proposed specialty
  endorsement program.

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Specialty EndorsementsPhase 2

• If proposers receive pre-approval from the
  Professional Educator Standards Board, they shall
  submit a phase two application to the board. The
  phase two application, not to exceed ten pages,
  will address the following information
• A description of the needs, student population
  and/or subject matter addressed by the proposed
  specialty endorsement.
• A description of the unique knowledge and skills
  the proposed specialty endorsement provides to
  educators.
• An explanation of the expected value and benefit
  of the proposed specialty endorsement for the
  K-12 system.

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Committees and Focus Groups Finding a Balance

• P-12 teachers/admin higher education faculty/
  admin
• Recent ProCert completers National Board
  teachers
• Private public
• Urban rural
• Eastside westside
• Gender
• Ethnicity
• Low SES schools high SES schools

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Beginning the Process

• Look at national standards
• Consider best practices
• Review related research

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Gathering Input
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Approval Package

• In addition to the Phase II forms, be prepared to
  provide
• Recommended standards national standards
• Letters of support from state organization(s) and
  OSPI
• Committee and focus group names and affiliations
• Analysis of GLE alignment
• Description of the process

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PESB Timeline

• Materials are due to PESB three weeks before a
  meeting.
• Backing up even further, future agenda items are
  sent to PESB one week after their previous
  meeting.
• In other words, the official paperwork begins two
  months from when you want on the agenda.

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Guiding Principles

• The standards should be appropriate for beginning
  teachers.
• The standards should focus on the type and amount
  of content needed for effective teaching.
• The standards should provide not only appropriate
  understanding of content but the ability to
  convey it to learners.
• The standards should be closely aligned with
  state P-12 learning standards.
• The standards should be organized in a way that
  facilitates meaningful assessment.
• Standards for initial teacher programs should be
  aligned with standards for later professional
  development.
• All in all, the standards should be realistic.