Friday Update: August 22, 2003

Help Wanted: Education Consultants

The IPSB is seeking applicants for two education consultant positions. Minimum requirements are a bachelor's degree and teacher licensing OR a master's degree. One consultant will work in the Division of Licensing and one will work in the Division of Assessment. (And, of course, other duties as assigned.) Minimum annual salary is $36,556 plus benefits. If interested, please send a cover letter and resume to Rose Miller, Human Resources, at the IPSB. Positions available until filled.

Help Wanted II: Committees and Advisory Groups

The IPSB is seeking applicants for the Teacher Education Committee, the Standards Committee, the Bilingual/Bicultural Advisory Group, and the Exceptional Needs Advisory Group. Applications are available at www.in.gov/psb/. Deadline for committee applications is September 5 and for the advisory groups is September 12.

Rules 2002 Social Studies Licenses

Under Rules 2002, social studies at the high school setting includes the following six areas: economics, geographical perspectives, government and citizenship, historical perspectives, psychology, and sociology. Applicants must have at least three of these areas listed on the license. Please note that United States history and world civilization have been combined into one licensing area: historical perspectives. Historical perspectives will count as only one of the three options that must be on the license.

Rules 2002: Adding a Higher School Setting Under Rules 2002 licensing, if you are adding a higher school setting to your existing license, you must take the Praxis II content test in that area. This will affect teachers who hold elementary primary and intermediate school settings and are adding a middle school/junior high setting content area or teachers who hold middle school/junior high and are adding a senior high school setting content area.

Better Teaching, Better Learning, Better Schools

On Saturday, September 20, the IPSB and the ISTA Title II Teacher Quality Center are sponsoring a meeting on National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS) certification. The meeting will include sessions for current NBC teachers, candidates, teachers who are interested in learning more about the process, administrators, higher education faculty, and others who are interested in learning more about how the National Board Certification process can be integrated into school improvement plans, graduate course work, and ongoing professional growth experiences. The agenda and registration information is available at http://www.ista-in.org/content/default.cfm/xnode.2412

New Programs from Educational Testing Service (ETS)

ETS is introducing two new services to recognize individual performance and to provide customized diagnostic support to Praxis test takers who need it.

ETS Recognition of Excellence

The ETS Recognition of Excellence program was established to commend and encourage outstanding individual performance on select Praxis II tests that measure specific subject matter or pedagogical knowledge.

Beginning in September 2003, examinees can qualify for the Recognition of Excellence when they take any of 11 Praxis II tests that assess fundamental subject knowledge or pedagogy skills for beginning teachers. Examinees must earn the scaled-score achieved by the top 15 percent of individuals who took a particular test between March 1998 and March 2003. ETS will issue a certificate and congratulatory letter to recipients, and the award will be noted on all Praxis score reports.

The Recognition of Excellence is not a criterion for making decisions about teacher licensure, hiring, or promotions. Rather, it is intended as a professional honor recognizing exceptional performance on the Praxis exams.

Diagnostic Preparation Program (DPP)

In response to requests by examinees, licensing agencies, and Institutes of Higher Education, ETS has also developed the Diagnostic Preparation Program, which provides diagnostic feedback to candidates who are planning to retake a Praxis test.

Beginning with the September 13, 2003, test administration, individuals who do not achieve a passing score on any of 18 Praxis exams can order the Diagnostic Preparation Program and receive detailed, customized feedback about their test performance. This service will help test takers to better understand their strengths and weakness and plan their study efforts accordingly.

Question of the Week

Q.  I am a beginning teacher and I was wondering if I am required to do an internship or assessment program.

A.  If you have a Rules 46-47 license with "Internship Required" at the bottom of the license, you will be enrolled in the one-year program. If you have a Rules 2002 Initial Practitioner License, which expires in two years, you will be enrolled in the first year of the two-year program this fall.

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