Background:

Professional Educator Standards Board. Established by the Legislature in 2000, the Professional Educator Standards Board (PESB) is a 12-member board that adopts rules and creates policies for the preparation and certification of educators. The PESB's statutory duties include:

establishing policies and practices for the approval of programs of courses, requirements, and other activities leading to educator certification, such as for teachers and school administrators; and
specifying the types and kinds of educator certificates to be issued and the conditions for certification.

Teacher Certificates. Washington has two levels of certification for classroom teachers: residency and professional. To obtain a residency teacher certificate, applicants must complete an approved teacher preparation program and pass a basic skills test and a content knowledge test. To obtain a professional teacher certificate, applicants must either: (1) have at least two years of successful teaching experience and complete the ProTeach Portfolio, an external, uniform assessment adopted by the PESB; or (2) have at least three years of experience and become certified by the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (National Board), which offers a voluntary advanced teaching credential.

The PESB must require professional certification no earlier than the fifth year following the year that the teacher first completes provisional status, with an automatic two-year extension upon enrollment.

Administrator Certificates. Washington also has two levels of certification for administrators (principals and program administrators): residency and professional. To obtain a residency administrator certificate, applicants must complete an approved administrator preparation program, have documented successful school-based experience in an instructional role with students, and hold, or have held, a valid residency or professional teacher or educational staff associate certificate. To obtain a professional administrator certificate, applicants must hold a residency administrator certificate, complete an approved professional administrator certificate program, and complete coursework in issues of abuse. In addition, principal applicants must have documentation of three contracted school years of employment as a principal or assistant principal.

Administrators are not required by state statute or rule to earn a professional certificate. There is currently no national administrator certificate.

Certificate Renewal. There are a variety of options available for certificate renewal, depending on the type of certificate and when it was issued. For example, teachers with a residency certificate can renew the first three-year certificate for an additional two years if they attempt and fail the ProTeach Portfolio. Some professionally certified teachers and administrators renew their certificates by creating four annual Professional Growth Plans (PGPs) over a five-year period. The PGPs are a plan that an educator intends to implement for growth over the coming year. Some teachers can use the PGP option or accumulate 150 clock hours in five years, or combine these options to renew their professional certificate. In addition, teachers who earned a professional certificate by obtaining a National Board Certificate may renew the certificate by renewing the National Board Certificate.

Credit and Clock Hours. College quarter hour credits (and equivalent credits) earned by teachers and administrators are eligible for application to the salary schedule if the course content meets specified requirements, for example: pertains to the individuals' current or expected assignment or is required to obtain advanced levels of certification. Ten-clock hours of approved continuing education or in-service training are equivalent to one college quarter credit.

Summary of Engrossed Second Substitute Bill:

Residency Certificate Renewal. By September 1, 2017, the PESB must adopt rules allowing teachers and principals with at least two years of experience, who hold or have held a residency certificate and have not achieved the professional certificate, to renew their residency certificate in five-year intervals based on completion of 10 credits or 100-clock hours.

Optional Professional Certification. The PESB is no longer directed to require professional teacher certification.

Other. Nonsubstantive or technical changes are made, for example language is removed related to: developing and piloting ProTeach; directions to adopt rules related to preparation programs for professional teacher certification; and expired reporting requirements.

The Professional Educator Collaborative. The Professional Educator Collaborative is established to make recommendations to improve and strengthen state policies, programs, and pathways that lead to highly effective educators at each level of the public school system.

The collaborative must examine issues related to educator recruitment, certification, retention, professional learning and development, leadership, and evaluation for effectiveness. The examination must consider what barriers and deterrents hinder the recruitment and retention of professional educators, including those from underrepresented populations. The collaborative must also consider what incentives and supports could be provided at each stage of an educator's career to produce a more effective educational system. The collaborative is directed to review nine specific issues.

The members of the collaborative must include representatives of the Legislature, education agencies, educator preparation programs, and educator associations, as listed. Staff support must be provided by the PESB, and from other state agencies if requested. The collaborative is required to contract with a nonprofit, nonpartisan institute that meets certain requirements.

By November 1, 2018, the collaborative must submit a preliminary report to the Legislature that makes recommendations on specific educator certificate types, tiers, and renewal issues. By November 1, 2019, the collaborative must submit a final report to the Legislature that makes recommendations on additional issues.

Staff Summary of Public Testimony (Education):

(In support) There are many obligations for teachers to enter and stay in the teaching field: exams to enter teacher preparation programs, assessments to obtain a residency certification, a rigorous evaluation system, and assessments to obtain a professional certificate. One of these is not like the other and that is the ProTeach Portfolio requirement. This requirement is just another hoop, when there are other opportunities to benefit teachers, such as the National Board Certificate. A survey of 1,000 professionally certified teachers showed that over 80 percent of teachers think that the ProTeach process is not helpful and is unnecessary.

It is good to remove the professional certification requirements for principals. Many principals are doing an outstanding job and should not have to meet additional education requirements. Many current administrators were not required to go through a ProTech Portfolio process when they were teachers and were instead required to complete clock hours. That was a tried-and-true method that would be good to go back to. This would help give current and future teachers professional development plans.

The current professional certification requirements for teachers need to be thrown out. The ProTeach Portfolio takes too much time. It is just about journaling and is not supported by school principals. The new requirements are more than just about clock hours, because they give credit for teachers who present to their professional learning community team. Those teachers who have moved into instructional coach positions have to change positions and go back into the classroom to complete ProTeach Portfolio requirements. The ProTeach Portfolio is very expensive and some teachers choose to go out of state or leave the teaching profession in order to avoid this cost.

A license demonstrates statewide coherency within the teacher preparation system. The evaluation is on the performance of the teacher in the classroom. Since ProTeach Portfolio was implemented, the state has enacted the preservice assessment and the teacher evaluation system. Teachers who are professionally certified think that the ProCert Portfolio is repetitive, increases workload without providing significant growth, and is costly. Collaborative time with colleagues is more helpful. The two-tier licensure system is favored, but the assessment is not.

The ProTeach Portfolio is duplicative, expensive, and not connected to what is happening in classroom on a daily basis. Many districts are already providing teachers with professional learning opportunities. There is confusion about which professional development activities are allowed under the bill. Activities may not be related to activities required under federal or state laws. This seems to exclude training on the entire assessment system.

School districts want to remove barriers that perpetuate teacher shortages. School directors are supportive of removing the professional certificate for administrators, but administrators should continue to receive professional development, such as through the evaluation process. There is support for increased efficiency for reciprocity in certification of out-of-state teachers. The current directive to the PESB on out-of-state teacher certification is still too limited, as there is only reciprocity for three other state's second-tier certificates. Twenty-five percent of teachers from out-of-state come from Oregon, so it is concerning that the reciprocity for this certificate will expire soon.

(Opposed) Eliminating the professional teacher certification and going back to clock hours is moving in the wrong direction. This bill requires half of the clock hours that were required in 1970. The current professional certification process can be improved and should not be scrapped. Some teachers find that it improves their process of reflection on student goals and learning, and communication with families. Maybe the state should help pay teacher's ProTeach Portfolio costs, as it has considered paying for other costs of teaching.

Some teachers with a Master in Teaching degree are frustrated when they learn about the professional certification requirements. They think that they have already shown that they are effective teachers. But, they have only met residency standards. After three or four years in the profession, teachers begin to look at their practice differently than when they first began teaching. The opportunity to reflect on their practice, whether they are building a cohesive learning environment and designing instructional sequences that meet the needs of all students, can cause a shift in practice to a student-centered learning environment. Removing the performance based assessment endangers the desire to hold teachers at high standards and continue to guarantee the public that teachers are held to standards that improve student achievement. There needs to be greater coherence between the evaluation process and the professional certification process.

A license is a defined set of knowledge and skills. This bill is about continuing education. This bill effectively eliminates a two-tiered system, because there are no consistent standards for the second level. The ProTeach Portfolio was the first of its kind. It is submitted online, which cut the cost and time in obtaining a professional certificate in half. Teachers are encouraged to begin working on their portfolio in their third year of teaching, and then they have three years, plus potentially two two-year renewals. So, a new Washington teacher has until they complete their ninth year of teaching to complete the ProTeach Portfolio. This is not an unreasonable requirement, as there are no other professional development requirements during this time. The challenges to the current requirement are duplication and cost. These are things that can be improved. Teaches need to know how to use evidence of practice well and for different purposes.

The National Board Certificate process is not critiqued like the professional teacher certificate process likely because there is financial compensation for teachers who obtain a National Board Certificate, while the professional certificate has no compensation. In House Bill 2261, the Legislature promised that it would acknowledge this certificate in pay.

(Other) There are several good ideas out there about how to revise the licensure process to consider other elements of the teacher career continuum. Maybe the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction and the PESB should explore these ideas and make recommendations to the Legislature on this issue.

There should be a second-tier certificate for administrators, but the current system does not work for principals. The PESB is looking at how to improve principal certification, so eliminating the second-tier now seems premature.

Staff Summary of Public Testimony (Appropriations):

(In support) The bill passed unanimously out of the House Education Committee. Washington is a leader in teacher licensure. The state has increased the rigor in preparation programs and has modernized its evaluation system. Many educators think that the ProTeach Portfolio is redundant and expensive and does not improve teaching practice.

The new third option for professional certification does not require enough credits to move an educator up the salary schedule. The collaborative is good because it will evaluate the entire system. In section 2 of the bill, it is not clear which activities would be approved because the bill says "among other things."

(Opposed) The Legislature directed the PESB to set performance standards and develop and implement a uniform and externally administered professional-level certification assessment. The Legislature then makes this a high-stakes assessment by requiring teachers to complete it or lose their license. The PESB did what was asked of it, and in 2010, it created an online performance assessment that reduced the time and cost for teachers to take the assessment. The Legislature also called for the development of an enhanced salary model to go along with the assessment, but the Legislature has not implemented this.

A study similar to what is described in the bill is prudent and is already being conducted by the PESB. The PESB would have to wait until the legislatively mandated study is complete before improving the professional certification processes. Before changing the professional certification requirements, the Legislature should wait for the study to be completed.

Requiring only 75 hours of approved professional development is less than half of what was required in 1970. It is unusual to approve at the activity level rather than at the provider level.

There is an urban legend that half of all new teachers leave within five years. Washington is ahead of other states on teacher quality. Washington has 8,000 National Board Certificate teachers, while Oregon has 324, and Texas has 873. Cutting assurances that teachers are qualified is the wrong way to go.

(Other) There are issues with professional certification, and it is good to work on these. It is unknown how much the new professional certification options would cost because it is unknown how many teachers and administrators would choose these options, and how many providers would step in to provide the professional development activities. The data on provisional status is not collected at the state level because this is an employment decision.