Setting the ‘Standards’ Helen Casey

1. New Scheme and Casual Teachers 2013 Preparing Evidence at Proficiency /Professional Competence Assistant Principals Meeting 15 March 2012 Setting the ‘Standards’ Helen Casey Lyn Smith Sr Frances Fitzpatrick

2. The Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership (AITSL) came into being on 1 January 2010. • AITSL has responsibility for: • rigorous national professional standards • fostering and driving high quality professional development for teachers and school leaders • working collaboratively across jurisdictions and engaging with key professional bodies. Why?

3. Professional Standards For Teachers • The greatest resource in our Australian schools is our teachers. They account for the vast majority of expenditure in school education and have the greatest impact on student learning, far outweighing the impact of any other education program or policy.”

4. Professional Knowledge • 1. Know students and how they learn • 2. Know the content and how to teach it • Professional Practice • 3. Plan and implement for effective teaching and learning • 4. Create and maintain supportive and safe learning environments • 5. Assess, provide feedback and report on student learning • Professional Engagement • 6. Engage in professional learning • 7. Engage professionally with colleagues, parents/carers and the community

5. Who needs to be accredited? • NSW legislation requires that all people teaching in NSW for the first time after 1st October 2004, or returning to teaching in NSW after an absence of five years or more, must be accredited. • You will be required to be accredited at the point of employment by a Teacher Accreditation Authority, (CEO) which is usually the school or school system offering employment.

6. HOW DO I KNOW I’M DOING WELL? Use some of the Illustrations of Practice on the AITSL website to get an indication of how your own teaching practice measures against the national standards. For example, Making Money Amounts on the AITSL site is directed to: Standard 2: Know the content and how to teach it Focus area 2.2: Proficient Descriptor: Organise content into coherent, well-sequenced learning and teaching programs. Other descriptors Standard 3: Plan for and implement effective teaching and learning Focus area 3.2: Proficient Descriptor: Plan and implement well-structured learning and teaching programs or lesson sequences that engage students and promote learning.

7. What is Required for professional competence/proficiency? The report • The report is to be completed by supervisor/mentor (the proforma is available on CEO intranet and on the Casuals Page on the CEO website) • The report requires statements about each of the seven standards. Refer to language of the standards for each descriptor. • The report is written, signed off and submitted to CEO with the teacher’s evidence and annotations

8. What is Required? The New Scheme Teacher • Collect evidence. • Nothing apart from what would normally be prepared by a teacher • Annotate evidence based upon standards • Quality not quantity • Should fit into a plastic sleeve 15-20 pages – no staples! (total of evidence, not each piece in a plastic sleeve!) • Must be your work • Verified by Principal or Supervisor

9. What Evidence is suitable? • Classroom/teaching program • Assessment records (remove anything that identifies students) • Sample of feedback to students (eg student work with written feedback) • Sample of student reports (again nothing to identify student) • Teacher diary indicating meetings with colleagues, professional development etc

10. What Evidence is suitable? • Term overviews for parents • Items from school newsletter • Copies of emails professional communication with colleagues • Copies of critical self reflection or professional journal • Differentiated learning activities

11. What Evidence is not suitable? • Written comments from supervisor or mentor eg observation notes of lesson • Documents that are not your work (eg references from parents, students, colleagues) • Non BOS syllabus (ie not K-6 TNO units) • Units of work you have not developed (eg those from CAP website or such)

12. In summary….. • 1.The Accreditation Report (supervisor to complete) • 2. Cover page signed by Principal, Supervisor and NST • 3. New Scheme Teacher evidence • Sample of Evidence required: • 1 x annotated lesson plan or • 1 x annotated unit of teaching program; • 1 x annotated assessment task with a rubric and feedback; • 1 x annotated proof of professional learning • 1 x annotated student work sample; 1 x annotated example of feedback to parents, students • 4. Posted to Lyn Smith • Please note: fit in 1 plastic sleeve, no staples

13. CEO Forms • Available through the CEO intranet and on the Casuals’ Page on the CEO website: • Accreditation Report for the NSW Institute of Teachers at the level of Professional Competence

14. The Process • Once teacher has collected evidence and school is able to verify performance against all standards • within 7 elements: • Write Report • Submit to CEO • report signed by New Scheme Teacher • coversheet signed by Principal and Mentor • evidence verified by Principal or Supervisor • CEO makes accreditation decision (signs as TAA) • CEO submits to NSW Institute of Teachers

15. The Next (Unseen) Step • The NSW Institute of Teachers sends all Applications for Accreditation at the level of Professional Competence to external validators • External validators cannot overturn the decision of the TAA • If the decisions we make are queried then our ability to be a TAA is questioned

16. The final step • Teacher receives a certificate indicating recognition at the level of Proficiency Professional Competence signed by Director of CEO (as TAA) and Chief Executive of NSW Institute of Teachers • Certificate sent to CEO and then forwarded to Teacher with letter of acknowledgement from Director of CEO.

17. Common issues and problems • New Scheme Teacher forgets to pay the account to NSWIT! Non financial member – cannot teach in NSW • Incorrect report form (NSW Institute of Teachers form not CEO’s) • Use of RE documents as evidence • Poor quality evidence • Lack of appropriate annotation

18. Feedback from NSW Institute of teachers • Importance of annotation – look at the examples on the Institute website • Importance of linking assessment and evaluation with planning for teaching and learning