TSPC staff wishes to commend our district partners for your tremendous efforts on behalf of Oregon’s PreK-12 students through this COVID-19 crisis. Way to go! This newsletter should give you an update on several TSPC items, including COVID-19 and eLicensing.
Dr. Rosilez has been in regular contact with superintendents regarding district needs and concerns in planning for the upcoming school year. We will be providing updated guidance in late June.
Licensure Staff Update
Beginning in mid-March, all Licensure Staff began full time telecommuting. The first couple of weeks were difficult due to equipment and technical issues, but once those were resolved, the work continued as though nothing had happened. We are not able to take calls without being in the office, and we continue to put the safety health of staff as a top priority. Very few educators have expressed concern at the lack of phone availability, but all have been understanding. We have managed to keep email response times to under seven days. US Postal Service mail is collected once a week from the Post Office and some staff is in the office to receive non-scheduled deliveries.
If you hear of any issues with day-to-day operations, please do not hesitate to reach out to the Director of Licensure, Elizabeth Keller for assistance at Elizabeth.keller@oregon.gov.
Licensure Staff Update
On the evening of June 8, the TSPC website was updated to a new platform. While the site is significantly different in appearance, it is our intention to make relevant information more accessible and easier to use. Rather than providing information in long webpages, much of that information has been converted to PDF files. We hope it provides more options for navigation, and the opportunity to view only the information necessary for a particular license or task.
If you utilize links to the TSPC website in any materials, some of those links may change. The homepage and eLicensing links remain the same. Of particular interest may be the added pages for Renewal Information and Instructions and Upgrading to Professional. The “Documents Required” pages for both new and renewing applicants have been consolidated with other pages.
During the summer of 2019 and prior to the implementation of the eLicensing District Portal in August of 2019, most districts utilized an Excel spreadsheet to request status on an applicant. That process will be implemented again, with a revised spreadsheet.
We will only track one spreadsheet per district to avoid duplication
The district should use the District Portal to enter as much information as possible prior to submitting the spreadsheet to Elizabeth. The spreadsheet will identify which field must be complete prior to submission to Elizabeth.
Elizabeth will add the date the 90 days (Senate Bill 205) expires whenever possible
The new spreadsheet will be emailed to the district contacts who utilized the tool in 2019, as well as those districts that did not use the tool but are identified as a primary TSPC contact.
Common Application Status Definitions
New: the application has been saved by the applicant, but the fee has not been paid and the application is not considered “Submitted” Submitted: the application and fee have been submitted, but the background check has not been completed. In Background Review: a background evaluator has likely requested additional information from the applicant. Please email finger.printing@oregon.gov for an update on anything in this status. Awaiting Evaluation: the background check is complete and the educator can begin their assignment without the license for 90 days from the date of the application (not the date of the background check). Evaluators address applications in date-order, so check the current processing date on the TSPC homepage to know about how long it might be. Awaiting Applicant Response: the evaluator has requested additional information. eLicensing does not alert the evaluator that something has been added to the file. Encourage the applicant to log into eLicensing and check their Message tab. Once they know that the requested information has arrived, they should Reply to that Message to let the evaluator know that the file is ready for review. Evaluation In Progress: the evaluator is looking at this one. If it stays in this status for longer than you think it should, it may be a referral or a waiver request. Those take longer to evaluate.
Other TSPC Tips
Send district letters to contact.tspc@oregon.gov. They are almost always added to the applicant’s account the day we receive them. District sponsorship letters cannot be added to educator accounts through the District eLicensing Portal. It will cause delays in processing.
PEER forms: Remember that if you have access to the District Portal, you can upload a PEER form directly into an educator’s eLicensing account. Many of you are using that feature, and we are very grateful to you.
eLicensing and Awaiting Applicant Response: eLicensing does not alert evaluators that something has been added to the file. Remind applicants to “Reply” to their eLicensing Messages once they know the requested information has been received. Doing that notifies the assigned evaluator that the file is ready for review. The applicant receives the following email, notifying them of the pending Message:
eLicensing Updates
License Images are not available for printing by the educator or TSPC staff. Please print the record as you view it in Public Search or the District Portal to use as proof of licensure.
eLicensing development work is continuing, in particular with the teaching license endorsement issues. Please discourage your teachers from selecting the Change Endorsement or Specialization button to apply for licensure. We are unable to issue licenses resulting from that action. Once the endorsement issues are corrected, TSPC does not anticipate making any more significant changes to eLicensing.
TSPC is in the process of preparing to procure a new vendor, with an implementation timeline of two to three years from now. The agency has received and will continue to receive significant support from the state’s Office of Enterprise Information Systems on working through eLicensing issues as well as planning for the future.
COVID-19 and TSPC
You can find TSPC’s Agency Response to COVID-19 on the agency homepage. Key points for districts in that guidance:
PDUs: For those holding an active license during the time period between March and September of 2020, the number of PDUs required to renew a renewable license is reduced by 12. That means Preliminary Teaching Licenses require 63 and Professional Teaching Licenses require 113. This will be in effect until the next renewal for these licenses. The reduction by 12 PDUs applies to those reinstating a license as well.
New Teachers Completing Programs: This guidance includes detailed information about teachers who were very near the end of their program but couldn’t complete student teaching or testing due to the shutdown. If they are suitable for a particular position in your district, that guidance will describe to you the process for Emergency or Restricted licensure and the subsequent upgrade process if they are successful in your district.
Content Testing: Is again available in most areas of Oregon. Encourage teachers to complete the required testing prior to the beginning of the 2020/2021 school year.
Civil Rights: Is currently suspended. This content is imbedded in Oregon approved programs. For those coming from out of state, TSPC intends to put into place an alternate means to demonstrate this competency by the end of 2020.
Does the suspension of Civil Rights mean the end of the Reciprocal License? For teachers who can produce acceptable content tests from another state where they were licensed, it is likely that they will be awarded the Preliminary or Professional License and skip the Reciprocal. School Administrators prepared outside of Oregon need the Oregon School Law and Finance course. But School Counselors, School Psychologists and School Social Workers may not be required to complete any Oregon-specific items and be awarded full licensure from the beginning.
Let Us Know How We Can Help
In these most unusual and uncertain circumstances in which we all find ourselves these days, please do not hesitate to reach out to any TSPC staff for assistance.
TSPC Commission Meeting
The next full Commission meeting is June 22-23, 2020 and will be held virtually.
Districts: Please contact your TSPC representative if you have questions about licenses for educators in your district.
Please note: Your TSPC representative’s email address and phone number are exclusively for district use and should not be distributed to educators. Educators must contact TSPC by email until staff is able to return to the office to answer phone calls.
This newsletter is intended to provide general information only.
Please refer to Chapter 584 of the Oregon Administrative Rules for specific rules and regulations governing educator licensure in Oregon.
