A new commissioner was sworn into office by Alan Bersin, Secretary of Education:

Dr. David Pearson, Dean of the College of Education at UC Berkeley, professor of early reading and literacy and former 5^th grade teacher.

Report from the Secretary of Education

Secretary of Education, Alan Bersin, addressed the commission with his thoughts on accountability and accreditation.

• Accreditation should be standards-based with a focus on outcomes, such as how students are doing at learning. The accreditation process should allow for self-assessment and improvement, with public acceptance and understanding.
• There are fiscal constraints associated with the accreditation process and without adequate resources there is a hesitancy to move forward. Dialog between national accreditation agencies is encouraged. Perhaps there are possible partnerships that would be beneficial, efficient and effective, while at the same time addressing California standards.
• The commission should create a timeline for implementation of the accreditation process, assuring that students do no receive negative consequences from the implementation.
• We must establish a connection between teacher training and student achievement scores. The Teacher Performance Assessment (TPA) must be consistent in scoring and assessment across all institutions, effectively gauging that connection.
• While most stakeholders continue the desire to invest in the CCTC to monitor credentialing, some in Sacramento feel that the credential backlog must be addressed before moving forward.
• There is a need for longitudinal data analysis and there should be an investment in such a data structure

January/February 2006 minutes approved

April agenda approved with designated changes to move item 4E to 4B

Chair’s Report

Chair Schwarze commended staff for their excellent work in preparing the annual credential report and for conducting a thoughtful and fair process to come up with the most qualified candidates for the RICA validation panel.

Sam Swofford was recognized for his 10 years of service to the commission as the Executive Director.

Executive Director’s Report

Beth Graybill was recognized for her years of service at the commission. Ms. Graybill has taken a position in Senator Jack Scott’s office as a consultant.

Appeals and Waivers Committee

January 2006 Minutes - approved

Waivers: Consent Calendar – approved

Waivers: Conditions Calendar – Approved

Waivers: Denial Calendar – Approved

Professional Services Committee

Administrator Lawrence Birch reviewed the process the accreditation committee began in 2000 to look at the current system of accreditation activities. The committee is proposing a 7-year cycle with on-going data reporting taking place throughout that time. A program review of documents would take place at year-4, a site visit at year-6 and then year-7 would be used to handle any necessary follow-up.

A survey was conducted to gather stakeholder feedback. The survey results can be found at:

http://www.ctc.ca.gov/commission/agendas/2006-04/2006-04-agenda.html under agenda item 2A.

Next Steps:

• Staff should develop, for next meeting, a timeline for implementation of a new accreditation system along with a matrix of expected IHE participation.
• Staff should continue the initial investigation that the committee began on possible partnerships with national accreditation agencies.
• Staff were directed to prepare, for next meeting, a cost analysis for implementing the existing accreditation process for the 11 institutions that have never been visited. The 2006/2007 budget for accreditation visits is $200,000.

Approval was given to extend the 11 Accreditation Committee member’s terms to June 30, 2007 with direction to staff to propose a new timeline staggering term expirations of members serving on the committee so all members would not leave at one time, and assess the current committee member’s willingness to serve additional time.

Issues concerning the Education Specialist Credential were presented and the following proposals made:

• Require all Education Specialist teacher preparation programs embed EL content in their programs and respond to the appropriate standards.
• Direct a voluntary stakeholder meeting to review Professional Level issues.
• Direct staff to gather information about subject matter preparation issues from stakeholders.
• Direct staff to further define strategies for policy work with interested stakeholders to determine whether the current structure for the Education Specialist continues to be the most appropriate to meet the needs of California’s schools.

All proposed solutions were approved.

The need for additional credentials in languages other than English (LOTE) is uncertain and varies over time. There are cost implications for developing subject matter examinations for these languages, therefore, a proposal was made for staff to work with National Evaluation Systems (NES) to develop a template for an assessment consisting entirely of constructed responses that would cover the range of the five LOTE subject matter requirement domains. This proposal was approved.

A brief presentation of the passing rates on all commission-approved examinations was given. The Report on Passing Rates of Commission- Approved Exams for 2000-01 to 2004-05 can be found at:

http://www.ctc.ca.gov/commission/agendas/2006-04/2006-04-agenda.html under agenda item 2F.

A report on the stakeholder meetings regarding the Commission examination system was given. Topics of discussion at these meetings were:

• Ways to reduce the number of examinations required for credential candidates.
• Implementation of electronic testing format
• The future of the teaching performance assessment

Fiscal Policy and Planning Committee

During the month of February Commission staff met with consultants of the Education Budget Subcommittee to discuss the Commission’s budget. The dialog was reported positive and the information provided was appreciated. The May revision should be released by May 14.

Approval was given for the Executive Director to authorize an agreement in excess of $100,000 with Choice Point Public Records, Inc. for continued provision of web-based services.

Staff sought approval of $250,000 necessary to conduct the RICA validity study, however, due to the discussion centered around the possibility of reducing the number of examinations the commission voted to deny the request for additional funding for the study at this time. Staff was directed to report back next month: the length of time that the validity study can legally be delayed.

Efficiencies adopted by the Commission for 2005-2006 were highlighted. The full report can be found on the website at:

http://www.ctc.ca.gov/commission/agendas/2006-04/2006-04-agenda.html under agenda item 4C.

NOTE: CCTC staff informed the commission that CCAC wrote a letter to the chair asking for reinstatement of the liaisons. The commission has forwarded that letter to the Dept. of Finance committee for consideration.

Staff presented for consideration the need to release a Request for Proposal (RFP) for the administration of commission exams: CBEST, CSET and RICA. In order for the testing administration to continue in 2007-2008 without interruption a RFP should be released by summer. The directive to staff was to report on the following issues at the next meeting:

• Investigate the legal possibilities of the commissioners reviewing the RFP prior to issuance.
• Prepare a historical cost report on these examination services.
• Investigate the legal possibility of extending the current contracts for additional time.

Legislative Committee

Legislation of interest:

• SB 1533 – Sponsored by CCTC – set for hearing on 4/19
• AB 49 – Support from CCTC – referred to Committee on Ed
• AB 476 – Support from CCTC – referred to Committee on Ed

Analyses of Bills of interest:

• AB 1857 – CCTC voted to oppose – Set for hearing 4/19
• AB 2054 – CCTC watching – Directed staff to work on template w/ NES in agenda item 2E
• AB 2445 – CCTC watching
• SB 1209 – CCTC watching
• SB 1292 – CCTC watching

Credentialing and Certificated Assignments Committee

Commissioners recommended that publications about credential shortage waiver areas be referred to as High Incidence Waiver Areas as opposed to Credential Waiver Shortage Areas because using the term “Waiver Shortage Areas” lends itself to the possibility of having the data interpreted as a “Credential Shortage Area” which is very different. The current High Incidence Waiver Areas are:

• Special Education
• 30-Day Substitute
• Clinical and Rehabilitative Services
• Designated Subjects in Driver Education

The Teacher Supply in California 2004-2005: A Report to the Legislature was approved with the following corrections:

• Remove from the summary statement, ‘This is optimistic news regarding the supply of fully prepared teachers…”
• Add a statement in the summary that indicates that this report gives an incomplete representation of teacher status in California.

Next Meeting: May 31, 2006