Toledo Career Development Plan for the Professionalization of Teaching

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TOlEDO CAREER DEVELOPMENT PLAN FOR THE PROFESSIONALIZATION OF TEACHING

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A joint effort of the Toledo Federation of Teachers. American Federation of Teachers. and the Toledo Public Schools. Ruth L. Scott. Superintendent William Lehrer. Assistant Superintendent Thomas Bollin. Assistant Superintendent Dal Lawrence. President Eileen Burch. Classroom teacher Terry Wyatt. Classroom teacher

Our appreciation is extended to numerous Toledo teachers and administrators who gave us input and assistance during the three years we worked to develop our career ladder concept. Special thanks are extended to the leadership of the Ohio Senate. the Ohio House of Representatives. and Governor Celeste's office. Without their cooperation we would not have been able to initiate this project. Funds provided to us for the next two years were critical. The Ohio Department of Education encouraged us as did members of the Toledo Board of Education. We acknowledge their support. The planning for this project was paid through a $25.000 grant from the Secretary's Discretionary Fund. U.S. Office of Education. The money not only made it possible to plan carefully and wisely. but it also gave us added incentive to break new ground. July. 1987

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A joint effort of the Toledo Federation of Teachers, American Federation of Teachers. and the Toledo Public Schools. Ruth L. Scott. Superintendent William Lehrer, Assistant Superintendent Thomas Bollin. Assistant Superintendent Dal Lawrence. President Eileen Burch, Classroom teacher Terry Wyatt, C/aS$room teacher

Our appreciation is extended to numerous Toledo teachers and administrators who gave us input and assistance during the three years we worked to develop our career ladder concept. Special thanks are extended to the leadership of the Ohio Senate. the Ohio House of Representatives. and Governor Celeste's office. Without their cooperation we would not have been able to initiate this project. Funds provided to us for the next two years were critical. The Ohio Department of Education encouraged us as did members of the Toledo Board of Education. We acknowledge. their support. The planning for this project was paid through a $25,000 grant from the Secretary's Discretionary Fund, U.S. Office of Education. The money not only mlde it possible to plan carefully and wisely, but it also gave US added incentive to break new ground. July. 1987

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INTRODUCTION
This design for a career ladder for teachers has been produced during the last three years by various Toledo teachers and administrators after a careful review of existing career ladder literature. The ideas presented are tailored to specific needs of the Toledo district. Fifteen states now have state-wide career ladders or pilot projects; another fourteen, including Ohio, have established mechanisms for developing such programs1. None of the ladders in place are working satisfactorily, and those in Florida, Tennessee, and Alabama have been in serious trouble because of strenuous opposition from teachers. Each of these three states has gone through "re-tooling" phases in an effort to save its career ladder concept. Poor planning seems to be a standard feature of existing career ladder programs, as well as misconceptions about the purpose of career ladders. The need to develop career options for teachers is real, however. Forty to fifty percent of America's teachers will retire or leave teaching in the next seven to ten years. These are conservative estimates, and although Toledo's demographic data do not fall into the national pattern, shortages in math, special education, and science are already evident. The number of individuals needed to staff American schools will require colleges to more than double the number of students who currently choose teaching as a career, In 1981, 1,400 science and math teschers were awarded S.A. degrees. There are over 15,000 school districts in the United States. During the 1982-83 school year, 18,000 science and math teachers stopped teaching2. Nationally, eight percent of the teaching force has only four years or fewer experience. A teaching career must be made more attractive. Money alone will not entice talented young people to the classroom although leading researchers of the problem, such as Rand, the Carnegie Foundation, the Holmes group, and almost all individual resear.chers, agree it is imperative that teaching pay be brought into line with professions competing for talented undergraduates. What is also clear in all the research is that teachers must be professionalized to make the job appealing 3 . Opportunity for professional growth and added responsibilities must be made available to teachers in order to attract and hold good teachers. While there are various suggestions about what schools should look like in the future, a change in the role of the teacher is the key to professionalization; professionalization and pay are the keys to maintaining public schools acceptable to the public and adequate for national needs in the near future.

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The Carnegie Task Force Report, "A Nation Prepared: Teachers for the 21 st Century," calls for reforms that seek full professionalization of teaching as well as the restructuring of schools. Opportunities for professional development, control of instructional responsibilities, and greater compensation are at the heart of Carnegie's vision for the profession. Carnegie recommendations that mesh with concepts Toledo has created for its Career Development Plan include 1. 2. 3. Teachers need to be given the discretion and autonomy that invariably mark professional status. Most teachers need to be provided with support so they can be more effective and productive. New approaches to school leadership need to be tried, especially those that put teachers at the center of the instructional program. Districts should foster collegial styles of decision-making with "Lead Teachers" playing a central role. The range of teachers' salaries should be increased to those of other professions with. comparable education, training, and experience.

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Most of these Carnegie recommendations were unknown to us when we developed the basic concepts of the Toledo Career Development Plan. It is apparent, however, that the two designs have common assumptions and many similar characteristics. The Toledo design is based on a professionalization reform already in place - the intern/intervention programs with their heavy emphasis on peer review'. Peer review has been accepted by Toledo teachers and administrators. It is an example of a teacher-management shared governance responsibility (inducting quality new teachers to the district and assisting tenured teachers identified as performing below accepted district standards), normally not found in public schools. Our Career Development Plan relies on peer review to identify excellent teachers who would then have opportunities to share responsibility for developing and implementing educational projects for the district. The identification of talent and the opportunity to use that talent to address district needs is central to the concepts that follow. Ideas developed by Carnegie or the Holmes Group will help us shape and refine our local efforts in the future, and some of this design might be useful to various national and state planning efforts currently under way. The plan outlined in this document assumes continuation of the traditional salary schedule. Voluntary access to the Career Development Plan is intended to encourage excellent teaching by all staff members, to discover and utilize talents in ways not now
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The Carnegie Task Force Report, "A Nation Prepared: Teachers for the 21st Century," calls for reforms that seek full professionalization of teaching as well as the restructuring of schools. Opportunities for professional development, control of instructional responsibilities, and greater compensation are at the heart of Carnegie's vision for the profession. Carnegie recommendations that mesh with concepts Toledo has created for its Career Development Plan include 1. 2, 3. Teachers need to be given the discretion and autonomy that invariably mark professional status. Most teachers need to be provided with support so they can be more effective and productive. New approaches to school leadership need to be tried, especially those that put teachers at the center of the instructional program. Districts should foster collegial styles of decision-making with "Lead Teachers" playing a central role, The range of teachers' salaries should be increased to those of other professions with comparable education, training, and experience.

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Most of these Carnegie recommendations were unknown to us when we developed the basic concepts of the Toledo Career Development Plan. It is apparent, however, that the two designs have common assumptions and many similar characteristics. The Toledo design is based on a professionalization reform already in place - the intern/intervention programs with their heavy emphasis on peer review', Peer review has been accepted by Toledo teachers and administrators. It is an example of a teacher-management shared governance responsibility (inducting quality new teachers to the district and assisting tenured teachers identified as performing below accepted district standards), normally not found in public schools. Our Career Development Plan relies on peer review to identify excellent teachers who would then have opportunities to share responsibility for developing and implementing educational projects for the district. The identification of talent and the opportunity to use that talent to address district needs is central to the concepts that follow. Ideas developed by Carnegie or the Holmes Group will help us shape and refine our local efforts in the future, and some of this design might be useful to various national and state planning efforts currently under way. The plan outlined in this document assumes continuation of the traditional salary schedule, Voluntary access to the Career Development Plan is intended to encourage excellent teaching by all staff members, to discover and utilize talents in ways not now
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possible. to answer critics who rightly point out that teaching is an occupation absent significant psychic and monetary rewards. and to avoid the severe resistance American teachers have shown to mandatory career ladders or merit pay schemes. Our priority is not to save the single salary schedule; rather, it is to create a voluntary career ladder based on incentives.

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Red level M A -In-held or twenty post-graduate nours related to the track activitIes successful completion of assIgned dulles.

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Candidate elects to quaNfy tor the Commendation lMl and successfully completes peer review.

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Red level M Am"elo or twenty post-graduate nours related to the track activities successful completion of aSSigned duties

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THE TOLEDO CAREER DEVELOPMENT PLAN FOR THE PROFESSIONALIZATION OF TEACHING
A Brief Description The Toledo Career Development Plan will consist of four levels of achievement constituting a single career option and development track. All teachers who qualify through an induction process will enter the program and will be given the opportunity to progress through the various levels by meeting the established minimum requirements. These four levels will be designated as Commendation Level, Green Level, Blue Level and Red Level. During the Qualification Year each applicant to the plan will earn a "ranking score" based on an interview, references, a written submission, a test, and peer observations. ThOle applicants at or above a predetermined cut-off score will be accepted Into the program for the Induction Year provided clallroom performance meets established standards. During the Induction Year the candidates will attempt to qualify for the Green Level, or they may choose to qualify for the Commendation Level. Success will be determined by intensive peer review in addition to a project assigned by a governing board for those attempting Green Level status. Advancement to the blue and red levels is based on prescribed educational requirements and various duties assigned by the governing board in addition to successful peer review at the Green Level. The details of these requirements and the roles of the various groups and individuals are explained in detail later in this booklet.

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OUTLINE OF PLAN
LEVEL REQUIREMENTS

Qualification Year Induction (first year)

Achieve a ranking score at or above the cutoff score for qualification. B.A. degree; four-year provisional certification, successful completion of the peer review procedure, and an assigned project for those who choose to qualify for Green Level status. Candidate elects during induction year to qualify for the Commendation Level and successfully completes peer review. BA degree, four-year provisional certification, successful completion of peer review and assigned duties during induction year. M.A. degree, successful completion of a number of assigned duties each with a unit value. M.A.-in-field or twenty post-graduate hours related to the track activities, pius successful completion of assigned duties.

Commendation Level

Green

Blue

Red

All projects and duties will be assigned or approved by a board of governors.

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OUTLINE OF PLAN

LEVEL
Qualification Year Induction (first year)

REQUIREMENTS

Achieve a ranking score at or above the cutoff score for qualification. B.A. degree. four-year provisional certification. successful completion of the peer review procedure. and an assigned project for those who choose to qualify for Green Level status. Candidate elects during induction year to qualify for the Commendation Level and successfully completes peer review. B.A. degree. four-year provisional certification. successful completion of peer review and assigned duties during induction year. M.A. degree. successful completion of a number of assigned duties each with a unit value. M.A.-in-field or twenty post-graduate hours related to the track activities. plus successful completion of assigned duties.

Commendation Level

Green

Blue

Red

All projects and duties will be assigned or approved by a board of governors .

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TOLEDO CAREER PROFESSIONAl DEVELOPMENT PlAN

Successful Performance EvaluatiOn

Commendation Status ~

PerlNnent Commendation level

Induction Year Qualification Year

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Successful Performance Evaluation. Prolect accepted

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Green level

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Blue level

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Red level

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Unsuccessful Performance Evaluation

Choose not to continue

No Status on Career Development Plan
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