Correction: A web headline originally misstated which program's participants will receive provisional certification. The headline has been corrected.
The Oklahoma State Board of Education has granted Tulsa Public Schools’ request to secure provisional certification instead of emergency certification for participants of its accelerated teacher training program.
State board members last week unanimously approved the district’s application to become an alternative teacher preparation provider through Tulsa Teacher Corps. The proposal was made in response to recent legislation directing the board to authorize pilot programs in public schools for “new and innovative pathways toward teacher certification.”
Essentially, TPS will be able to request provisional certification for Tulsa Teacher Corps members upon demonstrating proficiency in managing classrooms, designing lessons and facilitating effective instruction. The provisional certificates will last up to three years and must be renewed each year.
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Devin Fletcher, the district’s chief academic and talent officer, said the goal is to provide novice teachers a clearer pathway to earning their standard teaching certification.
Tulsa Teacher Corps, which has begun recruiting for its third year, previously consisted of emergency-certified teachers who undergo extensive training for two years while completing the testing and education requirements for standard certification.
The problem, Fletcher said, is many participants drop out or are removed from the program for failing to meet the requirements in the allotted time.
“We’ve invested significant amounts of dollars in their professional development over time, relationships with our students more importantly, and integrating them to our staff, and then they leave us,” he said. “This is an opportunity for us to create a stop gap, but one that actually works.”
The provisional certifications serve as an anchor by showing the aspiring teachers they are valued and have a pathway to standard certification while also giving them a reason to stay with the district long term, Fletcher said.
The district’s application also included a request to waive college course credit requirements for Tulsa Teacher Corps members. Aspiring educators seeking standard certification must complete 12 or 18 college semester hours of education coursework depending on their current degree level.
According to the application, the Teacher Corps offers its own online coursework that meets the “Tulsa-specific instructional content and pedagogical learning needs” of its members.
“The reason we’re asking for that is because one of the things that we know is that educators who are coming in often face significant challenges financially that (become) a barrier for them to continue their work,” he said. “We have created a robust program that encompasses the requirements that have been set forth by the state and national standards and believe that we can meet that bar and show it through their preparedness and completing the certification examinations and their progress in the classroom.
“That would eliminate a hurdle for our educators and create an opportunity for us to ensure they become standard-certificated individuals along the way.”
TPS further requested to waive the requirement for completing the Oklahoma General Education Test for participants who score at least a 22 on the ACT or a 1120 on the SAT, with writing section scores of five for reading and writing and four for analysis.
Another request involved allowing eligible corps members from the original cohort to be granted the same benefits of current participants.
Fletcher said the program currently offers training for elementary and special education but will look to seek approval to add programs of study in teacher certification areas that traditionally have been difficult to staff, such as early childhood and secondary math and science.
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