Career Ladder Handbook

2011-2012 Career Ladder Handbook

Mission: to provide teachers with monetary incentives to go above and beyond and ensure every student succeeds academically.

Career Ladder: Helping teachers and students reach new heights!

Policies, Procedures, and Guidelines

Important Dates 2011-2012

Student Achievement Plan Dates for Career Ladder Participants

HLIR Dates for Level III and IV Participants

Participant Requirements

Due to changes in the state law that took effective in November 2009, no new participants may join Career Ladder at this time.

Teachers participating in the Career Ladder program must:

• be a continuing Career Ladder participant.
• hold a valid teaching certificate.
• be evaluated in classroom performance competencies using the Certificated Staff Evaluation Instrument (CSEI).
• meet the requirements for higher-level instructional responsibilities (for Level III and IV placement).
• work directly with the same group of students instructionally on a regular basis (weekly) for at least 50% of the student day (minimum of 15 students).
• successfully complete the requirements for the student achievement plan.
• teach students (including planning and assessment for instruction) directly a minimum of 50% of their contract time and student time with the district.

Special Education Teachers

Special education teachers must meet the above and following requirements regardless of the teaching assignment:

• Teachers who teach self-contained special education classrooms must use their whole class.
• Teachers who do not have self-contained classrooms must include at least 15 students in their plan; if the entire caseload number is less than 15, consult your instructional specialist.
• Plans must reflect the needs identified in student I.E.Ps, if appropriate and include instruction and assessment of specified performance objectives.

Strands, concepts, and performance objectives must follow the required Career Ladder format.

Reciprocity

Teachers new to the district who have a previous placement (and are still in good standing) from a Career Ladder district in Arizona may be placed on the CUSD Career Ladder. Previous Career Ladder placement must have been for the school year immediately prior to employment in Chandler. Final placement on the ladder will be determined by the administrator of the Career Ladder program.

Teachers new to the district and whose Career Ladder placement is from another state may have their placement reviewed and determined by the administrator of the Career Ladder program, provided the candidate's previous program requirements meet Arizona statutory requirements as defined in (A.R.S.15-918.02)

Placement and Movement on the Ladder

Chandler Career Ladder guidelines have established the following schedule by which participants may choose to advance up the ladder with additional years of teaching experience.

Please note that you must demonstrate the ability to successfully complete all the requirements of a level (qualify) BEFORE you may be paid at the level. This means you must apply and qualify (successfully complete all requirements and have attained the requisite number of years of experience) for advancement in the year prior to the desired new level placement.

In particular, in YEAR 5, if you wish to advance to Level III in year 6, you must complete all the requirements for Level III in the 5th year of teaching. This is also true for YEAR 7 and moving to Level IV.

Be prepared and plan ahead!

Maintaining Placement

The Chandler Career Ladder program pays in the current year for current year’s work. A participant will continue to earn an addendum providing that he/she continues to meet all Career Ladder criteria throughout the placement year, including meeting all required deadlines. Failure to meet established deadlines may result in dismissal from the program and the participant may be required to repay any addendum money received.

As required by law, Career Ladder participants will be compensated for performance, irrespective of years of service in the district. The law also requires a Career Ladder addendum schedule, which allows a Career Ladder teacher to reach the highest level of the ladder in eight years or less. In addition, the law requires a salary range for each level, with a specific salary for each step within a level.

Both the range and the salary for each step will vary according to the base salary.

Advancement on the Ladder

Advancement on the Chandler Career Development Ladder is based on demonstration of higher levels of performance as stipulated in the program requirements. Teachers may request evaluation for a higher-level placement the year prior to the desired placement.

As required by law, Career Ladder is designed to permit teachers who choose to proceed through the levels in sequence to reach the highest level in eight years or less. Teachers may request placement evaluation, however, for any level for which they are qualified.

Appeal Procedures for Career Ladder Placement

Career Ladder programs are required by law to provide an appeal process, which includes both teachers and administrators, to review situations in which teachers disagree with their placement.

If the teacher, upon being notified of Career Ladder placement, disagrees with the placement, he/she will have five (5) working days to submit a written request for a placement conference to the Career Ladder Office. Upon receipt of the request, the administrator of the Career Ladder program will schedule a conference with the teacher to review the placement. Please note that a teacher may only appeal one of the four areas of competency: classroom performance, student achievement plan, higher-level responsibilities, or years of experience.

The purpose of the conference is to allow the teacher to express concerns about the placement and to clarify any misunderstandings about the placement. No new material may be submitted at the time of the appeal.

Following the conference, the teacher may request, in writing, a hearing by the Career Ladder Appeal Committee, which shall consist of one teacher representative from the Career Ladder steering committee, one principal, and one district administrator. The Career Ladder administrator shall serve as a non-voting member of the appeal committee.

The written request for a hearing shall include specific reasons for the appeal and must be submitted within three (3) working days of the conference. Every effort will be made to schedule this hearing within ten (10) working days of receiving the request.

The appeal committee will meet with the teacher to review the placement. Again, no new material may be submitted. The purpose of the hearing is to review the placement based on the data presented and reviewed in the evaluation process.

The appeal committee will issue a written ruling on the appeal within five (5) working days. The decision of the appeal committee is final. All written documents and proceedings of the appeal hearing will remain confidential.

Career Ladder Salaries

Target Salary

The target salary is the maximum salary that may be paid for each level and step. It is computed from the CUSD base salary. Actual teachers' salaries seldom reach the target salary but will continue to progress upwards toward that limit.

Baseline Dollar Figures

Providing funding is allocated by the state, the baseline amount is the minimum a teacher will receive if the baseline amount plus the traditional salary does not exceed the Career Ladder target salary. This figure is part of the computation of the Career Ladder addendum.

Salary Computation

Providing funding is allocated by the state, the actual Career Ladder addendum will be determined by combining the baseline dollar amount and a variable percentage of the difference between the Career Ladder addendum and the traditional salary. The variable percentage is based on the amount of money left in the salary portion of the budget, after the entire baseline addenda are factored out.

This variable percentage changes every year due to the amount budgeted for salaries, the number of teachers placed on the ladder, and the levels and steps at which teachers are placed.

If the difference between a Career Ladder teacher's traditional salary and the target salary is greater than the baseline dollar amount plus the variable, he/she will receive the baseline dollar amount plus the variable.

Example: Teacher A qualifies for Level III ($63,842). He earns $40,867 on the traditional salary schedule, a difference between his district salary and his Career Ladder target salary of $22,975. In the example, the variable percent will be .14. His Career Ladder addendum will be as follows:

* NOTE: This number is only an example. The variable is different each year.

In other words, Teacher A will receive an addendum of $6,216.50, or a total salary of $47,083.50.

Since teachers may request evaluation for placement at any level for which they are qualified, and because funding for the Career Ladder is limited, the Career Ladder budget does not permit funding to exceed the target salaries.

A teacher's combined district base salary plus Career Ladder addendum may never exceed the Career Ladder target salary. If the difference between a Career Ladder teacher's district salary and Career Ladder target salary is less than the baseline amount, the teacher will receive the difference, not the baseline amount.

Current-year Career Ladder addenda may begin in December and are prorated for the balance of the year.

Leaves of Absence

From time to time, it may be necessary for Career Ladder teachers to take a leave of absence during the school year. If the absence is unpaid on the district salary schedule, the Career Ladder portion of the salary will be suspended until the teacher returns to service. At that time the total addendum will be adjusted to reflect the portion of the school year for which the teacher received pay and then apportioned over the remaining number of pay periods in the teaching contract. The teacher will be expected to complete all requirements for the ladder in a timely manner.

If the teacher does not return from leave, resulting in termination of employment, the remaining portion of the Career Ladder salary shall be forfeited.

If you will be on leave of any kind, you must contact your Career Ladder Specialist or the Career Ladder Office in advance of your leave to ensure all requirements can be met. Failure to do so may result in removal from the Career Ladder participation.

Evaluation of Teacher Classroom Performance

Career Ladder placement evaluations of classroom performance will be conducted by instructional specialists who have completed the qualified evaluator training as prescribed by law. The purpose of formative evaluation is to provide feedback to teachers regarding areas of strength and areas of refinement. Teachers are encouraged to request the option of a formative evaluation. The summative evaluation is the placement evaluation.

Evaluation Instruments

The CUSD Certificated Staff Evaluation Instrument (CSEI) will be used for evaluating teachers' instructional skills.The CSEI was developed through a collaborative process involving district teachers, administrators, and the governing board. The evaluation instrument rates teaching performance as unsatisfactory (0 pts), basic (1 pt), proficient (2 pts), or distinguished (3 pts) in areas of classroom performance and professional competencies.

Classroom Performance Competencies

Chandler Teacher Evaluation Instrument

The following table list the minimum points required to qualify for a given Career Ladder Level. Each level requires progressively higher classroom ratings in order to move up the ladder. No ratings of unsatisfactory are acceptable in any area and will disqualify a teacher from Career Ladder placement. At Level II, a teacher may have two basics as long as they are not in classroom climate and environment or instruction.

The evaluation instrument rates teaching performance as unsatisfactory (0 pts), basic (1 pt), proficient (2 pts), or distinguished (3 pts) in areas of classroom performance. There are 16 total indicators for a maximum of 48 points as the highest possible score. Level III and IV participants may not have any unsatisfactory or basic ratings.

Evaluations may be conducted by the building evaluator and the instructional specialist. Career Ladder evaluations will be followed by a post-evaluation conference. The Career Ladder evaluation will be the one used for the Career Ladder Placement and compensation.

Level III and IV Evaluation Procedures

The summative evaluation for Level III and Level IV teachers consists of two evaluations, one by the principal and one by the instructional specialist. The evaluation by the principal consists of an announced and an unannounced observation. The evaluation by the instructional specialist will consist of a minimum of two unannounced observations. By mutual agreement, the principal and teacher may ask to have the Career Ladder evaluation from the instructional specialist serve as his or her district evaluation in lieu of the principal’s evaluation.

Constructive Feedback

The goal of the evaluation process is to continuously improve instruction and impact learning positively. Please keep an open mind and remember, we all have something that we can and should improve. The feedback process is essential and helps you see how others view your performance. Accepting outside feedback as a source of information from another perspective is critical to your growth as a professional.

Miscellaneous

Part-Time Teachers
Part-time and job-share teachers (.5 FTE) will receive one-half the appropriate Career Ladder addendum by meeting all requirements in student achievement and performance competencies and one-half of the requirements for higher-level instructional responsibilities. Teachers must be employed for a minimum of .4 FTE to participate in the program. (Your addendum is dependent on the percentage of FTE that you are employed. Examples: If you are employed in a .4 FTE position, you are paid .4 of the Career Ladder addendum. If employed .8 FTE, you are paid .8 of the addendum.)

Voluntary Withdrawal
As a voluntary program, participants may choose to stop participating in the program. The Career Ladder addendum is terminated on the date of withdrawal. For example, if you are placed on the ladder and begin receiving addenda and in February decide to not continue on the ladder, the addendum will be terminated on the official date of withdrawal.Additionally, you would be responsible for repayment of any Career Ladder funds received during the current school year.

This teacher may NO LONGER reapply for placement on the Career Ladder.

Voluntary Downward Movement
A teacher at Level III or IV may voluntarily choose to move to a lower level but may not go lower than Level II, Step 2. A corresponding reduction in Career Ladder addendum will be in effect. The teacher may reapply for placement at a higher level after one school year.

Involuntary Downward Movement
Teachers who apply for, but do not attain, placement at a specific level will be placed at the highest level for which they qualify with the corresponding salary. If a Career Ladder teacher's district salary exceeds the Career Ladder target salary, then the addendum is zero.

Retirement
Since teachers earn a Career Ladder addendum for meeting and maintaining requirements in the current year, a Career Ladder teacher who plans to retire at the end of the current school year must meet all Career Ladder requirements for his/her placement or forfeit his/her Career Ladder addendum in that last year of employment.

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