Frequently Asked Questions for Implementing Registered Teacher Criteria
Introduction
Purpose
Background to the Development of the Registered Teacher Criteria
Frequently Asked Questions
Professional leaders
1. When must I use the Registered Teacher Criteria for assessment prior to recommending a
teacher for gaining or maintaining full registration?
2. Can I start using the Registered Teacher Criteria in 2010?
3. Will there be suppporting resources for using the Registered Teacher Criteria?
4. Will the application forms be changing in 2010?
Mentor teachers
5. When will I have to start using the Registered Teacher Criteria in the induction and
mentoring programmme for provisionally registered teachers?
6. What will be evidence of a provisionally registered teacher meeting the Registered Teacher
Criteria?
Year One Provisionally Registered Teachers
7. I will be a Year One Provisionally Registered Teacher in 2010. Should I be working with the
Registered Teacher Criteria in 2010 or the Satisfactory Teacher Dimensions?
8. I will be a Year One Provisionally Registered Teacher beginning my induction and mentoring
programme in 2010. Can I work with the Satisfactory Teacher Dimensions in 2010 and 2011?
Year Two Provisionally Registered Teachers
9. In 2010 I will be a Year Two (or longer period) Provisionally Registered Teacher. Can I continue
to work with the Satisfactory Teacher Dimensions?
10. In 2010 I will be a Year Two Provisionally Registered Teacher. Can I change from working with
the Satisfactory Teacher Dimensions to working with the Registered Teacher Criteria?
11. My 2010 - 2011 induction and mentoring programme is using the Satisfactory Teacher
Dimensions. Will my final assessment be using the Satisfactory Teacher Dimensions or the
Registered Teacher Criteria?
12. My 2010 - 2011 induction and mentoring programme is using the Satisfactory Teacher
Dimensions but what will happen if I am not able to complete this programme until 2012? Will my
final assessment be using the Satisfactory Teacher Dimensions or the Registered Teacher Criteria?
Practising Certificates
13. I will need to renew my full practising certificate in 2010. For that process, will I need to be
assessed as having met the Satisfactory Teacher Dimensions or the Registered Teacher Criteria?
14. My school, kura or ECE service has decided to use the Registered Teacher Criteria from 2010
and I am renewing my full practising certificate. Why can’t I be assessed against the Satisfactory
Teacher Dimensions?
15. My full practising certificate is due for renewal in 2011. Which standards will I be assessed
against?
16. My practising certificate is subject to confirmation and in 2010 I will seek to be recommended
for full registration. Will I need to be assessed as having met the Satisfactory Teacher Dimensions
or the Registered Teacher Criteria?
Teachers who have participated in the Council’s Pilot programmes
17. As a Year One Provisionally Registered Teacher beginning my induction and mentoring
programme in 2009, I participated in a Teachers Council pilot programme, working with the
Registered Teacher Criteria. Can I continue to work with the Registered Teacher Criteria in 2010?
18. As a Year Two Provisionally Registered Teacher in 2009, I participated in a Teachers Council
pilot programme, working with the Registered Teacher Criteria. In 2010, will I be assessed as
meeting the Satisfactory Teacher Dimensions?
19. I am a mentor teacher (or PRT Co-ordinator, or Specialist Classroom teacher or other
experienced teacher) who was or is involved in a Teachers Council pilot programme in 2009 - 2010,
using the Registered Teacher Criteria. In 2010, can I renew my full practising certificate using the
Registered Teacher Criteria?
Teachers outside the general education system
20. I work in a setting outside the general education system that has been approved for maintaining
full registration. Do the Registered Teacher Criteria apply to me?
21. I work in a setting outside the general education system that is not approved for maintaining full
registration. Do the Registered Teacher Criteria apply to me?
Introduction
From 2010, the New Zealand Teachers Council/Te Pouherenga Kaiako o Aotearoa (the Council) will begin phasing out the Satisfactory Teacher Dimensions and replacing them with the Registered Teacher Criteria as the standards for teacher registration.
In 2010, most teachers will continue to use the Satisfactory Teacher Dimensions for registration purposes. This transition year is an opportunity for the profession to familiarise with the new criteria and see how they fit in with school and early childhood education service processes.
Voluntary uptake of the Registered Teacher Criteria is possible for schools, kura and ECE services in 2010. Some teachers will begin or continue to work formally with the Registered Teacher Criteria, particularly if they have been involved in the pilot programmes 1 during 2009. Schools, kura and ECE services who decide to introduce the Registered Teacher Criteria will need to have processes in place to support teachers as they work with the new criteria.
It is important to be aware that formal training and resources to support using the Registered Teacher Criteria, for teachers, mentors and professional leaders, will only become available during 2010. The development of training programmes and resources will be the focus of the Council in the early part of 2010.
Purpose
The Registered Teacher Criteria will be used for assessment of teachers prior to recommendation for gaining and maintaining full teacher registration. The Registered Teacher Criteria describe the required professional knowledge in practice, and the professional relationships and values for teaching in Aotearoa New Zealand. They have been developed to reflect current thinking and research about quality teaching practice. The Registered Teacher Criteria can be found at the following link: http://www.teacherscouncil.govt.nz/policy/standards.stm.
Background to the Development of the Registered Teacher Criteria
The Council began a review of the Satisfactory Teacher Dimensions in October 2006, working with a reference group and writing group. Consultation on the Registered Teacher Criteria was conducted in 2007 and 2008 and the criteria were trialled in a pilot programme in 2009. Feedback from the consultations and the pilot has been used to finalise the Registered Teacher Criteria.
Frequently Asked Questions
Professional leaders
1. When must I use the Registered Teacher Criteria for assessment prior to recommending a teacher for gaining or maintaining full registration?
b. At this time your induction and mentoring programme for provisionally registered and subject to confirmation teachers will need to incorporate the Registered Teacher Criteria.
c. For all teachers working with the Registered Teacher Criteria in 2011, your processes for assessment prior to recommending for full registration will need to align with the Registered Teacher Criteria.
2. Can I start using the Registered Teacher Criteria in 2010?
b. If you choose to work with the new criteria you will need to ensure that systems are in place which support their use, including assessment processes and documentation.
c. You may choose to begin incorporating the Registered Teacher Criteria in your wider performance management systems but delay formal assessment and recommendations using the Registered Teacher Criteria until they are mandatory for registration in 2011.
3. Will there be suppporting resources for using the Registered Teacher Criteria?
b. During 2010, check the website regularly for updates to information and resources that support the implementation of the Registered Teacher Criteria.
4. Will the application forms be changing in 2010?
b. In 2010, when a recommendation is sent to the Council based on an assessment using the Registered Teacher Criteria, a note should be made on the form to this effect. Such teachers will be deemed to have met the Satisfactory Teacher Dimensions.
Mentor teachers
5. When will I have to start using the Registered Teacher Criteria in the induction and mentoring programmme for provisionally registered teachers?
b. Therefore, from the beginning of 2011 the new criteria will need to be incorporated into your induction and mentoring programmme for these teachers.
c. Provisionally registered teachers in their second (or more) year of induction, can continue to use / be assessed against the Satisfactory Teacher Dimensions for 2011 only.
d. Any provisionally registered teachers who were or continue to be part of one of the Council’s pilot programmes, will be expecting to continue with the Registered Teacher Criteria.
6. What will be evidence of a provisionally registered teacher meeting the Registered Teacher Criteria?
b. Training and resources to assist in the use of the Registered Teacher Criteria will become available progressively, during 2010. Check out our website, For Teachers newsletter and the Education Gazette for information about a workshop near you.
c. During 2010, check the website regularly for updates to information and resources that support the implementation of the Registered Teacher Criteria.
Year One Provisionally Registered Teachers
7. I will be a Year One Provisionally Registered Teacher in 2010. Should I be working with the Registered Teacher Criteria in 2010 or the Satisfactory Teacher Dimensions?
b. In 2010 most schools, kura and ECE services will still be using the Satisfactory Teacher Dimensions.
c. Any provisionally registered teachers who were or continue to be part of one of the Council’s pilot programmes, will most probably continue to work with the Registered Teacher Criteria. (See section on pilot programmes, questions 16-17).
8. I will be a Year One Provisionally Registered Teacher beginning my induction and mentoring programme in 2010. Can I work with the Satisfactory Teacher Dimensions in 2010 and 2011?
b. In 2011, an assessment as meeting the Satisfactory Teacher Dimensions will be deemed by the Teachers Council to be meeting the Registered Teacher Criteria.
Year Two Provisionally Registered Teachers
9. In 2010 I will be a Year Two (or longer period) Provisionally Registered Teacher. Can I continue to work with the Satisfactory Teacher Dimensions?
10. In 2010 I will be a Year Two Provisionally Registered Teacher. Can I change from working with the Satisfactory Teacher Dimensions to working with the Registered Teacher Criteria?
b. The use of the Registered Teacher Criteria is voluntary for schools, kura and ECE services in 2010.
c. If your school, kura or ECE service has not chosen to work with these criteria you should continue to work with the Satisfactory Teacher Dimensions.
11. My 2010 - 2011 induction and mentoring programme is using the Satisfactory Teacher Dimensions. Will my final assessment be using the Satisfactory Teacher Dimensions or the Registered Teacher Criteria?
b. Only provisionally and subject to confirmation registered teachers who started an induction programme prior to or in 2010 can complete their programme in 2011 using the Satisfactory Teacher Dimensions.
c. In 2011 the Registered Teacher Criteria will be mandatory for teachers beginning an induction programme that year and for teachers renewing a full practising certificate.
d. In 2011, the registration application forms will change to specify the Registered Teacher Criteria as the registration standards. An assessment as meeting the Satisfactory Teacher Dimensions in 2011 will be deemed by the Teachers Council to be meeting the Registered Teacher Criteria.
12. My 2010 - 2011 induction and mentoring programme is using the Satisfactory Teacher Dimensions but what will happen if I am not able to complete this programme until 2012? Will my final assessment be using the Satisfactory Teacher Dimensions or the Registered Teacher Criteria?
Practising Certificates
13. I will need to renew my full practising certificate in 2010. For that process, will I need to be assessed as having met the Satisfactory Teacher Dimensions or the Registered Teacher Criteria?
b. You should only be working with the Registered Teacher Criteria if your school, kura or ECE service is familiarising teachers with the Registered Teacher Criteria and has systems in place to support their use.
c. If your school, kura or ECE service has decided to use the Registered Teacher Criteria you will be assessed as meeting these. In this case, in 2010 the Teachers Council will deem that you have met the Satisfactory Teacher Dimensions.
14. My school, kura or ECE service has decided to use the Registered Teacher Criteria from 2010 and I am renewing my full practising certificate. Why can’t I be assessed against the Satisfactory Teacher Dimensions?
15. My full practising certificate is due for renewal in 2011. Which standards will I be assessed against?
16. My practising certificate is subject to confirmation and in 2010 I will seek to be recommended for full registration. Will I need to be assessed as having met the Satisfactory Teacher Dimensions or the Registered Teacher Criteria?
b. You should only be working with the Registered Teacher Criteria if your school, kura or ECE service is familiarising teachers with the Registered Teacher Criteria and has systems in place to support their use.
c. If your school, kura or ECE service has decided to use the Registered Teacher Criteria you will be assessed as meeting these. In this case the Teachers Council will deem that you have met the Satisfactory Teacher Dimensions.
Teachers who have participated in the Council’s Pilot programmes
17. As a Year One Provisionally Registered Teacher beginning my induction and mentoring programme in 2009, I participated in a Teachers Council pilot programme, working with the Registered Teacher Criteria. Can I continue to work with the Registered Teacher Criteria in 2010?
b. If you have changed your place of employment in 2010, and your new school, kura or ECE service has not been part of the Council’s pilot programme, you will have to negotiate with your employer which set of registration standards is to be used for your induction programme and assessment.
18. As a Year Two Provisionally Registered Teacher in 2009, I participated in a Teachers Council pilot programme, working with the Registered Teacher Criteria. In 2010, will I be assessed as meeting the Satisfactory Teacher Dimensions?
b. If you have changed your place of employment in 2010, and your new school, kura or ECE service has not been part of the Council’s pilot programme, you will have to negotiate with your employer which set of registration standards is used for your induction programme and assessment.
19. I am a mentor teacher (or PRT Co-ordinator, or Specialist Classroom teacher or other experienced teacher) who was or is involved in a Teachers Council pilot programme in 2009 - 2010, using the Registered Teacher Criteria. In 2010, can I renew my full practising certificate using the Registered Teacher Criteria?
Teachers outside the general education system
20. I work in a setting outside the general education system that has been approved for maintaining full registration. Do the Registered Teacher Criteria apply to me?
b. It is possible to begin to use the Registered Teacher Criteria in 2010, if your institution has systems in place that support their use. Most teachers, however, who renew a practising certificate in 2010, will use the Satisfactory Teacher Dimensions.
21. I work in a setting outside the general education system that is not approved for maintaining full registration. Do the Registered Teacher Criteria apply to me?
b. You may, however, wish to use the Registered Teacher Criteria as a useful framework for your professional development and or appraisal.
c. If you apply to renew your practising certificate as subject to confirmation, your employer needs to endorse that you “are likely to be a satisfactory teacher.”
1 During 2009, the draft Registered Teacher Criteria were piloted in several schools, kura and ECE
services in the Canterbury region. Also in 2009 an induction and mentoring programme, which included
working with the draft Registered Teacher Criteria, was piloted in the ECE sector. Similar programmes
have also been piloted in the primary, secondary and Māori medium settings during 2009 and are
continuing in 2010.