To be eligible for the teacher leader license, you must have a MA degree [in anything], a 3.25 cumulative gpa in graduate coursework, a Kansas Professional Teaching License, and at least five years of accredited experience.

If you are interested in more information, you can find all the materials at www.ksde.org/teacherleader .

"It is essential that you read the Teacher Leader Standards thoroughly, since the six tasks on the assessment are based on these eight standards," said Peg Dunlap, director of KNEA Instructional Advocacy. "Those standards are included in the Candidate Guide, posted on the website, along with the six Teacher Leader Assessment Tasks, which include the scoring rubrics."

In an attempt to clarify and codify inservice requirements, the State Department of Education publishes KSDE PDC Resource Guide.

That document outlines what districts must do to bring their PDC's and their inservice plans into compliance with state law and state regulation, especially on the subject of awarding inservice points.

But back to results-based staff development. Just what does it mean for PDC's and for people in classrooms?

The expert on the topic is Dennis Sparks, executive director of the National Staff Development Council. Sparks says answers to the following questions should guide decisions around choosing staff development:

1. What are the results we desire to create?
2. What do we need to excel at to achieve those results? What are the
   critical success factors
3. What evidence will we accept that we have acheived the results?

How staff development is changing (and must change)

Sparks outlined for Kansas educators and policymakers the following changes in staff development:

Reinventing Professional Development

"Coaching, study groups, and action research must become the dominant delivery system for professional development activities," Sparks says. He also suggests that we rethink the concept of single event, isolated "inservice days."

"We need to judge staff development by the extent to which it engages teachers in sustained, rigorous study of what they teach and of how they teach," Sparks adds.

"We won't produce high levels of student learning until that kind of teacher learning and engagement occurs."

"Fundamentals" of staff development

When considering implementing a standards-based, results-driven system, Sparks recommends these fundamentals:

1. Staff development is essential. It must be funded and allocated appropriate amounts of time.
2. Staff development must be different.
   1. It must be results-driven, focusing on the improved learning of all students.
   2. It must be standards-based.
   3. It must be based on core beliefs, values and ideas about teaching and learning.
   4. It must be job-embedded.
   5. It must be part of a system change.
   6. It must address both individual learning and organizational change.
3. Staff development begins with self.
4. Staff development takes place in a political context.

What should you do?

1. Read your state-approved inservice plan. It is a public document. It is YOUR right and business to know what your staff development is supposed to be about and how your district's system is supposed to function.
   
2. Find out who is on your district PDC. How did they get chosen? The regulations require teachers to select the teachers and administrators to select the administrators. Is your district in compliance?
   
3. Talk to the teachers on your district's PDC. Find out their views on staff development and how your district plan "fits" with the concepts outlined on this page.
   
4. Talk with others in your local association. Are there things you could or should do collectively to help improve the staff development opportunities that are available to you?
   
5. Check with your KNEA UniServ director or the Instructional Advocacy staff at KNEA.

1.  How is the system designed?

A:  The system includes:

• Initial license, good for two years, following completion of a preparation program, a pedagogical assessment, and a content assessment.
• Professional license, good for five years, earned by completing a performance assessment during the initial license period.
• Licenses (indicate who you can work with) for:
  
  • Infancy through early childhood (birth-grade 3)
  • Early childhood through late childhood (grades K-6)
  • Late childhood through early adolescence (grades 5-8)
  • Early adolescence through late adolescence/adulthood (grades 6-12)
  • Early childhood through late adolescence/adulthood (grades K-12)
• Endorsements (indicate what you can teach)
• School specialist license-for library media, school counselor, reading teacher leader or school psychologist endorsement, requires graduate degree, 3.25 GPA, school specialist assessment and professional teaching license (except for school psychologist)
• School leadership license-for program, building, or district leadership endorsement, requires graduate degree, 3.25 GPA, 3 years teaching on a professional license, school leadership assessment
• Accomplished teaching license-earned by achieving certification from National Board for Professional Teaching Standards
• Restricted license for teachers, requires content degree, a mentor, a partnership between the hiring district and a college/university, a plan to complete full preparation in 3 years (license can only be used in that district, in that position)
• Restricted license for district leadership, requires content degree, a mentor, a partnership between the hiring district and a college/university, a plan to complete full preparation in three years, three years teaching on a professional license or five years related experience (license can only be used in that district, in that position)
• Interim alternative license, for out-of-state applicants who achieved licensure through alternative routes
• Provisional teaching endorsement or school specialist endorsement, requires current KS license, completion of half of an endorsement program, plan to complete the program, verification of employment (license is portable)
• Licenses for visiting scholars and for candidates from foreign countries and other states
  

2.  What is a license?

A: A license is awarded by the State to indicate that the person is qualified to practice that particular profession. Doctors, cosmetologists, morticians, engineers, architects, etc., must all be licensed by the State before they can practice (work) in the state.

3.  What is a certificate?

A: A certificate is recognition from the profession itself of accomplished practice by a licensed professional. The profession sets the standards and requirements for certification, which is voluntary. For teachers, certificates are awarded by the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS).

4.  How do I renew a Professional License?

A:  Follow the rules printed on your license.  You will need to do one of the following:

• 120 points on an PDP (professional development plan-formerly known as an IDP), for people with advanced degree(s)
• 160 points on an PDP, at least 80 from college/university credit, for people with BA/BS degrees
  • points on PDP's must be from at least one of these three areas: content, professional education, service to the profession 
• 8 credit hours in an approved program or completion of an approved program
• completion of all NBPTS assessment components 
• granted certification from NBPTS
  

 5.  How do I upgrade from an Initial to a Professional License?

A:   You must complete a performance assessment designated by the State Board of Education.  An interim assessment is in place for the 2010-2011 school year.  Click here to see details.

6.  What about the the two renewals for people who have MA/MS degrees?

A: That option remains in the system. It allows educators who have an advanced degree to renew twice using experience. This is sometimes called the "masters privilege."

7.  Where are the license and endorsement standards?

A: Not in these regulations. The standards that define what someone must know and be able to do to get a particular license and/or endorsement have been adopted by reference by the State Board of Education. That is so that it doesn't require the formal regulatory process when amendments are needed. (State Board policies can be amended in 2 to 3 months, instead of the regulatory 8-9 month process.)

8.  Who developed the standards?

A: They were developed by committees of teachers, higher education representatives and members of the public during the original development of the Redesign, 1992-1996. Those standards went through several revisions and were the subject of several hundred hearings involving thousands of Kansas NEA members and Kansas citizens.

The basics of the Kansas licensing system are:

• Preparation programs followed by assessment of content and pedagogical knowledge
• A two-year initial license
• A five-year professional license achieved by successful completion of a performance assessment
• A ten-year accomplished teaching license for those who earn National Board Certification or who complete an assessment of accomplished teaching.

In Kansas, the system consists of licenses (who you can teach) and endorsements (what you can teach them).