Educator Quality Guarantee

GEORGIA STATE UNIVERSITY
QUALITY ASSURANCE GUARANTEE FOR EDUCATORS
PROFESSIONAL EDUCATION FACULTY
GEORGIA STATE UNIVERSITY
THE BOARD OF REGENT'S QUALITY ASSURANCE
"The University System will guarantee the quality of any teacher it graduates"

The Professional Education Faculty, Georgia State University, will guarantee the quality of any educator that it recommends for initial certification in Georgia.

DEFINITIONS:

The definitions that appear below are in effect for this document and procedures attentive to it.

Educator - A person employed in the public schools whom Georgia State University has recommended for a clear renewable certificate from the Georgia Professional Standards Commission.

Certified - Has received licensure as an educator by the Georgia Professional Standards Commission upon recommendation by Georgia State University.

Guarantee - A statement of essential preparation requirements that a certified educator, without exception, will have met in completing an approved program of study leading to recommendation for licensure.

Warranty - A statement of performance standards certified educators will be able to meet during the first two years of employment in a Georgia school immediately following receipt of the institution's recommendation _ for initial certification, provided they are teaching within the state guidelines, a reasonable number of subjects in the field of their certification, have been given an induction to the school and district, and have been assigned a mentor who provides guidance and support.

GUARANTEE

1. Georgia State University's Professional Education Faculty guarantees that each individual recommended for initial educator certification:

has completed an educator preparation program that is accredited by the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE), Georgia Professional Standards Commission (PSC) and The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS);
has passed or exempted PRAXIS I (knowledge of basic skills) and has passed PRAXIS II (in certification areas(s));
has successfully completed a supervised capstone student teaching and/or practicum/internship experience in an accredited school setting;
has demonstrated knowledge of subject matter required to teach QCC Objectives in the specialization field of preparation at Georgia State University;
will demonstrate success in bringing students from diverse cultural, ethnic, international, and socioeconomic groups to high levels of learning; and
will use telecommunication and information technologies as tools for learning when appropriate.

LIMITED WARRANTY

Georgia State University will guarantee educators during the first two years immediately following graduation from Georgia State University or following recommendation by Georgia State University for an initial certificate, whichever occurs first. Any Georgia State University educator in a Georgia School, who fails to demonstrate the essential skills, will be provided additional training by Georgia State University's Professional Education Faculty at no expense to the educator or the employer. That training will consist of an individualized plan agreed upon by the school district and the university that includes specified learning outcomes. Georgia State University assumes no responsibility for the educator's employment contract with the employer.
The Professional Education Faculty at Georgia State University will not be held accountable under this warranty for graduates who during the life of the warranty

commit criminal acts,
engage in unethical behaviors that violate the Georgia Educators Code of Professional Ethics,
teach outside of their field of certification or concentration (middle school graduates: two major fields of content concentration),
teach under a provisional certificate in a field while attempting to secure enough courses at Georgia State University to secure clear renewable certification in that field.

PROCEDURE FOR HONORING THE WARRANTY

1. Initial contact will be with the Dean of the College of Education.
Principals must provide to the Dean of the College of Education documentation that the educator's performance does not meet the criteria established by the warranty. Included will be:

a copy of a minimum of two criterion based assessments;
documentation of professional development support provided by the school;
a copy of the professional improvement plan;
a written explanation of the principal's rationale for identifying the educator as someone who does not perform to the level specified by the warranty;
a signed statement from the Superintendent and/or his/her designee indicating that all documentation has been reviewed and is supported by the Superintendent.

2. The Dean's office will forward the request to the department(s) responsible for preparing the educator.

3. The Department Chair(s) will convene a committee to develop a remediation plan with the educator within 30 working days of the receipt of all documentation.
Committee members, at a minimum, should consist of (a) a student teaching/internship supervisor, (b) one or more faculty member(s) representing the content area(s) of certification, and (c) an employing school mentor. Enrollment in regularly scheduled relevant university courses will be available at no expense to the educator; however special classes will not be offered for this purpose.

4. At the end of the remediation plan's timeline, which shall not exceed two years, a letter of progress for each identified professional development outcome will be submitted to the employing school.

Approved by the College of Education Department Chairs on 7/14/99 for submission to the Professional Education Council for its approval and subsequently to the Professional Education Faculty. Approved by the Professional Education Council on 11-30-99.