Columbus Education Association

In October of 1996, the State of Ohio Board of Education initiated a new focus for professional development with the adoption of the Teacher Education and Licensure Standards. With the passage of the Professional or Associate License Renewal Law (Senate Bill 230) the Ohio Legislature enacted the standards into law, effective January 1, 1998. The Teacher Education and Licensure Standards are based on the belief that educators must continue to learn, grow, and develop throughout their careers. At each phase of the professional development continuum, spanning recruitment through retirement, accountability for performance and continued growth is emphasized. Additionally, the law authorized the establishment of a Local Professional Development Committee responsible for approval of growth activities and certificate and license renewal. These documents identify the initiatives of the Columbus Public Schools regarding such mandates and include materials explaining the procedures of the Local Professional Development Committee, the processes for renewing licenses, and the related forms required for the process.

District Goals
As educators in Columbus Public Schools, we are challenged to provide a quality education to all students, enabling them to develop the knowledge, understanding and skills they will need to succeed in tomorrow’s world. To accomplish this important mission, we must focus on our district’s goals:

GOAL 1 (Quality Instruction) All teachers will deliver high quality instruction to increase academic achievement for all students.

GOAL 2 (Committed Leadership)   District leaders will create and maintain policies and practices that support increased academic achievement and efficient business operations.

GOAL 3 (Opportunity to Learn)   All students will be given equitable opportunities for learning.

GOAL 4 (Student Motivation)   All students will be motivated to give their best effort.

GOAL 5 (Efficient, Equitable Operations)   The district will operate more efficiently and equitably.

GOAL 6 (Parent/Community Involvement)   The district will engage parents and community organizations to support student success.

Professional Development Philosophy

Professional Development should align personal growth objectives with the student needs and stated district and school goals. High quality professional development is founded on the understanding that:

High quality professional development (HQPD) is a purposeful, structured and continuous process that occurs over time.
HQPD is informed by multiple sources of data.
HQPD is collaborative.
HQPD includes varied learning experiences that accommodate individual educators’ knowledge and skills.
HQPD is evaluated by its short- and long-term impact on professional practice and achievement of all students.
HQPD results in the acquisition, enhancement or refinement of skills and knowledge.

The Local Professional Development Committee (LPDC)

The major purpose for establishing the Local Professional Development Committee is to ensure that professional development aligns with the ongoing continuous improvement of a district and school. The LPDC is established in accordance with the collective bargaining agreement and subject to provisions of the Ohio Revised Code.

The main responsibilities of the LPDC are as follows:

 Develop standards and policies for all aspects of the LPDC.
 Support development of Independent Professional Development Plans (IPDPs).
 Review and approve IPDPs.
 Review and approve credit-bearing activities related to an IPDP.
 Approve CEU applications for both district and non-district providers.
 Approve teacher-initiated, independent professional development activities for CEU credit.
 Provide an appeal process.
 Authorize transition to and renewal of educator licenses.
 Communicate with educators on all issues related to LPDC policies and procedures.

The Individual Professional Development Plan (IPDP)
An Individual Professional Development Plan (IPDP) consists of an educator’s personal learning goals, relates to the Ohio Standards for Teachers or Administrators, is relevant to the individual’s area(s) of licensure, and leads to strengthened instructional practices and improved student learning. The IPDP is tied to an educator’s current license and expires along with the license. A new IPDP must be created and submitted for approval each time an educator begins a new 5-year licensure cycle.

The Local Professional Development Committee will oversee all full-time licensed or certificated educators of the Columbus Public School District who hold either an 8-year certificate or 5-year license.

The Local Professional Development Committee will oversee the following groups of part-time (hourly) licensed or certificated educators of the Columbus Public School District:

 Tutors
 Super Substitute Teachers
 Sign Language Interpreters
 Treasurers

Criteria for Course Work and Equivalent Other Activities (EOAs)
To earn credits for licensure, educators must participate in approved credit-bearing experiences that relate to one or more of the goals on their IPDP and correlate to the Ohio Standards for Teachers and/or Administrators. For a complete listing of these, download the Approved Credit-Bearing Experiences Chart from the LPDC section of the Office of Staff Development webpage located at http://www.columbus.k12.oh.us/staffdev/

Guidelines for Approvals

The LPDC has established guidelines for approval of credit-bearing experiences. A chart of these activities along with other LPDC documents will be available on the LPDC section of the Office of Staff Development webpage (currently at: http://www.columbus.k12.oh.us/staffdev/). Individual Professional Development Plans will be approved by a simple majority of the LPDC members present.

Documents and Records
The LPDC Committee will maintain the necessary secretarial and technology support to assist with the forms, database, and other materials needed to function. All documents produced by the LPDC will be dated. One secretary will assist the committee with the following:

 Maintaining databases necessary for supporting the LPDC processes
 Notifying applicants and members of meetings and hearings
 Processing educators’ applications for licensure
 Preparing and issuing CEU certificates
 Processing approved CEU provider applications

LPDC Membership Composition
Structure

The Columbus Public Schools’ Local Professional Development Committee is composed of 14 members:

 9 teachers
 5 administrators

The Association President will appoint the teacher members; the Superintendent will appoint the administrator members.

A teacher member of the LPDC will serve as the official secretary for all LPDC meetings. This individual will be responsible for taking minutes during each meeting. At the end of the school year (June 30) the responsibilities of the LPDC meeting secretary will pass on to the teacher member with the next highest committee seniority.

Length of Terms

The term of an LPDC member shall be determined by the CEA President (for teachers) and the Superintendent (for administrators).
Meetings
The LPDC will meet the second Wednesday of each month at 4:15 p.m. at the Northgate Center unless otherwise rescheduled and communicated on the LPDC website. A quorum must be present to conduct business--two of the five administrators and five of the nine teachers.

Appeal Procedures
An educator may appeal any decision made by the LPDC. When an educator receives a non-approval notice from the LPDC, the educator may appeal by submitting a written request to the LPDC Office.

In response, the LPDC may either grant the request or ask the applicant to appear before the LPDC for a hearing.

Amendment Procedures

Any changes or revisions to the Plan of Operation shall be done by a two-thirds majority vote of the established quorum vote.

Forms

The LPDC will use the following forms:

Online Individual Professional Development Plan (IPDP)
Individual Professional Development Activity CEU Application Form
ODE Licensure Application Forms

Copies of or links to these forms may be found on the LPDC Section of the Office of Staff Development webpage.

The Individual Professional Development Plan (IPDP) must be completed and submitted to the LPDC electronically. Currently, the LPDC has adopted the CerTrak Management System (which is a part of the MyEdPortal website) to achieve this purpose. The web address for MyEdPortal is www.myedportal.com/columbus.

Reciprocity

When an educator transfers from another district to Columbus Public Schools, the Columbus LPDC shall accept the transfer of all credits earned under an approved IPDP from the educator’s previous district. The Ohio Department of Education has a transfer form posted on their website for this purpose. The educator will immediately be required to submit a new IPDP for approval using the approved method of the Columbus Public Schools’ LPDC.

The Columbus LPDC will, upon request, provide all educators who have a current, approved IPDP on file with a completed transfer form when they leave the district.

Exceptional cases are subject to LPDC review and appeals.

Converting and Renewing Teaching Credentials

Conversion to License from an 8-Year Certificate

Anyone who does not hold a permanent certificate will be required to convert to a license when his/her 8-year certificate expires.

To convert to a license, all educators must engage in the IPDP Conversion Cycle. As soon as educators renew their 8-year certificates for the final time and receive an official ODE Issue Date, they must complete and submit an IPDP for approval and follow the Five-Year IPDP cycle outlined below.

 STEP ONE: Five Years Prior to Expiration of Five-Year License
Develop an IPDP and submit the completed plan to the Local Professional Development Committee (LPDC) for approval.

 STEP TWO: During the Five-Years of an Active, Approved IPDP
Engage in credit-bearing professional activities related to the IPDP. Educators must follow the LPDC regulations for adding these credits to their professional records.

 STEP THREE: During the Certificate Expiration Year
Finish credit-bearing work amounting to 6 semester hours, 9 quarter hours or 18 CEUs (or a combination of these) by February 1 of the year one’s certificate/license expires.

 STEP FOUR: By February 1 of Certificate Expiration Year
Submit renewal materials to the LPDC Office at Northgate. If submitted materials do not reflect the credits required by the Ohio Department of Education for license transition, the educator will be non-renewed. All materials must be submitted to the LPDC Office by February 1 for approval. The Personnel Department will send a non-renewal notification to all educators who have not been approved for license transition by the deadline.

Credits Required for Certificate Conversion

In order to convert a certificate to a license or to renew a license, an educator must have earned either 6 semester hours or 9 quarter hours from a NCATE or ODE accredited college or university or 18 CEUs or a combination of any of the above. All of these credits must directly relate to the educator’s IPDP. The following chart explains the equivalents of semester hours, quarter hours, and CEUs.
              Conversion Table
Semester
Hour(s)    Quarter
Hours
CEUs
1    1.5    3
2    3    6
3    4.5    9
4    6    12
5    7.5    15
6    9    18

Note: CEU credits can not be used to obtain an advanced degree, to advance on the pay scale, or in other instances where college/university credits are required.

Renewal of License: 1st Time

To renew a professional 5-year license, each Columbus Public School educator will engage in a five-year cycle as follows:

 STEP ONE: Five Years Prior to Expiration of Five-Year License
Develop an IPDP and submit the completed plan to the Local Professional Development Committee (LPDC) for approval.

 STEP TWO: During the Five-Years of an Active, Approved IPDP
Engage in credit-bearing professional activities related to the IPDP. Educators must follow the LPDC regulations for adding these credits to their professional records.

 STEP THREE: During the License Expiration Year
Complete credit-bearing work amounting to 6 semester hours, 9 quarter hours or 18 CEUs (or a combination of these) by February 1 of the year one’s license expires.

 STEP FOUR: In February of License Expiration Year
Submit renewal materials to the LPDC Office at Northgate. If submitted materials do not reflect the credits required by the Ohio Department of Education for license renewal, the educator will be non-renewed. All materials must be submitted to the LPDC Office before February 1 for approval. The Personnel Department will send a non-renewal notification to all educators who have not been approved for license renewal by the deadline.

Renewal of License: 2nd Time

Every licensed educator will need to renew his/her license every 5 years.

In order to renew a license for the second time, all educators who began their teaching careers with a license are required to complete a Master's degree or 30 semester hours of graduate credit. Educators who already have Master's Degrees will need 6 semester hours, 9 quarter hours or 18 CEUs to renew. This must be consistent with his/her IPDP and submitted to the LPDC as in the previous renewal process.

Educators who held certificates under the 1987 Ohio Certification Standards (which were in effect up until 9/1/98) are exempted from the Master's degree or 30 semester hour requirement for second renewal. They will still need the required 6 hours, 9 quarter hours or 18 CEUs that are consistent with their IPDPs.

Approved Credit-Bearing Experiences

All educators converting to or holding a license must earn college credits or CEUs by engaging in courses, workshops, seminars, and activities that relate to their IPDPs. The Approved Credit-Bearing Experiences Chart, which can be downloaded from the LPDC section of the Office of Staff Development webpage at http://www.columbus.k12.oh.us/staffdev/ provides an outline of experiences, guidelines, and required documentation related to professional development. Please note that many of the listed activities receive CEU credit based upon contact time.

Sixty minutes (1 hour) of contact time equals .1 (one-tenth) CEU. Contact time is the actual time spent in conference sessions, workshops, seminars, etc. Registration, breaks, and lunch are not included in the tabulation of contact hours. Partial hours will be rounded down to the nearest hour.

Contact hour equivalencies do not apply to Nontraditional Professional Development Activities. To receive CEU credit for participating in a nontraditional professional development activity, an educator must apply to the LPDC using the Independent Professional Development CEU Application Form (that can be downloaded from the LPDC section of the Staff Development Webpage).

CEU Policy Statements

 By Ohio Revised Code, no LPDC in the State of Ohio can grant CEUs to an educator who does not have a current, approved IPDP on file with their LPDC.

 October 1 is the deadline to apply for CEU Credit for participating in any professional development experience that occurred during the previous school year (strictly defined by the LPDC as August 1 – July 31).

 The LPDC does not grant partial CEU credit for an approved professional development experience. An educator must be in attendance for the duration of the experience to qualify for the approved number of CEUs.

 All professional development facilitators, both within and outside the district, who wish to offer CEUs to Columbus educators for participating in a professional development experience must submit the official CEU Prospectus for a CPS Workshop to the LPDC Office for approval at least two weeks prior to the event. This electronic form can be downloaded from the LPDC section of the Office of Staff Development website.

For a complete guide to Columbus LPDC procedures related to CEUs, see the document entitled Earning CEUs that can be downloaded from the LPDC section of the Office of Staff Development website.