1 An Overview of the Continuing Professional Teacher Development (CPTD) System in South Africa Presentation to the Basic Education Portfolio Committee

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An Overview of the Continuing Professional Teacher Development

(CPTD) System in South Africa

Presentation to the Basic Education Portfolio Committee

21st February 2012

Focus of the Presentation

• Overview of the CPTD system

• The CPTD System Pilot

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National Policy and Legislative Context

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• SACE is a professional council established in terms of the SACE Act no. 31 (2000)

• The Act mandate SACE to:– Register all public and independent school

educators, ABET practitioners (?), and FET college Lectures (?) (BELA Act No.15 of 2011, ECD Sector – Council Resolution);

– Promote the development of educators; and– Ensure educators’ adherence to the Code of

Professional Ethics

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National Policy and Legislative Context...

• SACE’s additional mandate comes from the National Policy Framework on Teacher Education and Development (NPFTED) in South Africa, April 2007

• Section 53 of the NPFTED (2007) states that “…the South African Council for Educators (SACE), as

the professional body for professional educators, will have the overall responsibility for the

implementation, management and quality assurance of the CPTD system. SACE will be

provided with the necessary resources and support to undertake that role”


• This mandate is supported and enhanced by the Departments of Basic Education and Higher Education and Training’s Integrated Strategic Planning Framework for Teacher Education and Development in South Africa, 2011 – 2025

• The plan indicates the following explicitly:– that it (the plan) must be considered by other planning

processes such as those related to IQMS, WSE, NEEDU and the SACE CPTD Management System

– The TED ICT support system will be linked to the SACE CPTD Management System

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• SACE has an important quality management role to play in promoting and supporting the system for identifying and addressing teacher development needs.

• SACE responsibilities in this regard include ensuring that:– the providers of teacher development programmes are fully

approved by SACE,

– and the professional development courses available for teachers are endorsed by SACE;

– and can lead to the accrual of Professional Development (PD) points on successful completion.

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National Policy and Legislative Context…

• Recently, the Basic Education Laws Amendment (BELA) Act, September 2011 provided official and specific powers to SACE in terms of managing the CPTD System by amending section 5(b)(iv) of the SACE Act

• Section 19 of the BELA Act no.15 of 2011 provides that SACE

• “must manage a system for promotion of the Continuing Professional Development of all teachers”.

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• This amendment implies, amongst other things, the following:– The legislation has given SACE direct powers to

manage a system for the continuing professional development called – the Continuing Professional Teacher Development (CPTD) Management System

– The CPTD Management System is now part of the SACE programmes fully and fits neatly into the Professional Development Division of SACE.

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• In fact, section 5(b) of the SACE Act, as amended by the BELA Act, locates CPTD directly under SACE’s Professional Development role, scope and functions

• This calls for the reconceptualisation of the Professional Development Division within a broader context of the SACE Act as amended, and the entire organisation (SACE)

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• SACE working on various proposals to be finalised in March / April 2012 with full staffing and financial implications for the organisation

• The proposals will be informed by the pilot report and the implementation plan.

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• Section 91 of the NPFTED says:

“the Department of Education will ensure that SACE has the necessary resources to

undertake its CPTD development and management roles”

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• This has been interpreted as the Department of Education (now DBE) availing the physical, financial, and human resources for the processes of developing and managing the CPTD System

• Secondly, the DoE (Legal Section) has been arguing that the SACE Act is silent on SACE receiving any direct funding from National treasury

• It further argues that SACE should have a section, in the SACE Act, that will make it easy for it to receive ongoing funding from DoE (now DBE) without any hassles

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• Subsequently, Section 19 of the SACE Act has been amended by an insertion of a new clause under subsection 1 as follows:

“ money appropriated by Parliament ”

• The appropriation of money by Parliament to various government departments is done through the Financial Appropriation Act.

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The amended section 19 of the SACE Act

now reads as follows:

“The funds of the council consists of-

(A) money appropriated by parliament

(a) compulsory fees

(b) money received from donations, interests or fines; and

(c) other money received by the council from any other source”

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• It is very important to note that SACE could be funded from four different sources.

• Section 19 of the SACE Act, as amended, implies that SACE may, in addition to other sources of funding, be funded by the fiscus in respect of any of its statutory functions.

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• This will be done in terms of processes of applying for funds to National treasury in terms of government’s Medium Term Expenditure Framework.

• Any funding of SACE in terms of this provision will be made to National Treasury via the DBE budget and bidding processes

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The CPTD Management System

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Introduction

• The Teacher Development Summit in June-July 2009 laid the basis for a new, strengthened, integrated national plan for teacher development

• CPTD is an important part of that plan

• The South African Council for Educators (SACE) and the Department of Basic Education (DBE) are working together to bring CPTD to all teachers

Introduction….

• All workers, including professionals like teachers, need lifelong learning to do their jobs betterTo improve their knowledgeTo improve their skillsTo keep up to date with new researchTo learn from colleagues

• Better teachers will help learners to learn better and become better citizens

What is the CPTD Management System?

It is a system for recognising all useful teacher development activitiesBy approving quality and credible professional

development providersBy endorsing relevant and good professional

development quality activities and programmesBy allocating professional development (PD)

points to such activitiesBy crediting each teacher’s CPTD account /

record with the PD points they have earned21

Purpose of the CPTD System

– Ensure that all professional developmentprogrammes contribute more effectively and directly to the improvement of teaching andlearning;

– Emphasise and reinforce the professionalstatus of teaching;

– Provide educators with clear guidance aboutwhich Professional Development (PD) activities will contribute to their professional growth;

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Purpose of the CPTD System..

– Protect teachers from fraudulent providers; and

– Expand the range of activities that contribute to the professional development of teachers

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Vision of the CPTD system

– To support and facilitate the process of continuing professional development

– To give recognition to teachers who commit themselves to continuing professional development

– To revitalize the teaching profession

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What is SACE’s Role in Continuing Professional Development

• It is very important to clarify the role of SACE in Continuing Professional Development (CPD) to avoid confusing it with that of the employers

• “SACE IS NOT A PROVIDER OF CONTINUING PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT”

• Employers of educators – Provincial Departments of Education, SGBs, and Independent Schools / Boards – have, amongst other things, the responsibility to provide CPD to educators as their employees

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What is SACE’s Role in Continuing Professional Development

• The Integrated Strategic Planning Framework for Teacher Education and Development in South Africa, 2011 – 2025 provides some guidelines and priorities with regard to the provisioning of the CPD for educators

• SACE has the responsibility to develop the entire profession and part of this involves:– Promoting teaching as a profession;– Developing standards of entry into the profession;– Promoting the image and status of the teaching

profession;– managing a system for promotion of the Continuing

Professional Development of all teachers .

What is SACE’s Role in CPTD

• In managing the CPTD System, SACE must:– Provide all teachers with information on how

to develop themselves professionally– Keep a record of teachers’ professional

development and points earned on its CPTD Information System (CPTD-IS)

– Keep a record of approved providers and endorsed activities manually and electronically on the CPTD-IS

– Screen external providers of professional development activities and approve those that meet SACE’s quality criteria

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What is SACE’s Role in Continuing Professional Development…

– Evaluate activities submitted to SACE by external providers and endorse those that meet SACE’s criteria of relevance, effectiveness and quality

– Monitor and evaluate the CPTD Management System in order to ensure that it helps improve teachers’ professionalism and the quality of teaching and learning in schools

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The Basic Structure of the CPTD System

• Teachers engage in three kinds of SACE Endorsed Professional Development (PD) activities / programmesoPersonal (Teacher priority)oSchool organised (School priority)oExternally organised (Profession priority)

• Endorsed PD activities have points value• Pre-determined points and points allocated

through endorsement process

The Basic Structure of the CPTD System..

• Target: Teachers to earn 150 PD points every three years

• Teachers are awarded Certificate of Achievement on completion of each cycle target

• Teachers maintain a personal PD portfolio• Rewards / Sanctions

• Section 60 of the NPFTED• Council Resolution

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CPTD System Quality Management and Assurance

Processes

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CPTD System Quality Management and Assurance Processes

• Purpose– Establishment of quality culture– Promote quality assurance in the teaching

profession– Improvement in provider and programme

quality– Protect teachers against fraudulant providers

and poor quality programmes

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CPTD System Quality Management and Assurance Processes

QCs - HEQC– QA Terms

• Accreditation (Programmes)

• Provider Approval (No)

– Credits (Permanent)

– Evaluators (1500)

– Accreditation Committee

– Accreditation of HEI programmes

SACE• QA Terms

– Approval (Providers)– Endorsement (Activities /

Programmes

• Points (shelf life)• Evaluators (6)• Endorsement Committee• Endorsement of all

Programmes / Activities including Accredited Ones. Accredited-endorsed programmes – credits/points

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CPTD System Quality Management and Assurance Processes...

• Three Quality Councils (NQF Act no.67 of 2008) mandated to perform quality assurance functions – HEQC, QCTO, UMALUSI

• SACE joined the QA terrain BUT it is not a QC• Demarcations, Overlaps, possible contestations • Questions raised about duplication of QA

functions by SACE • Collaborations, Partnerships, MoUs, Sharing

Resources and best practices

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CPTD System Quality Management and Assurance Processes…

• SACE Quality Assurance Terms – Approval of Providers, and – Endorsement of PD Activities / Programmes

• Providers in this context refers to:– Employers (9 x Provincial DoEs, SGBs, Independent Schools,

and others),– Other Government Departments,– HEIs,– Private Providers– NGOs / CBOs / FBOs,– Teacher Unions,– Professional Associations, and– Others

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CPTD System Quality Management and Assurance Processes…

• Providers must be SACE approved

• to offer SACE endorsed activities

• for which participating teachers get PD points

• These are three separate operations

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Provider Approval

• Approval is a decision by SACE that a provider meets its criteria and is fit to offer quality PD activities

• All providers must apply for SACE approval when they submit activities for endorsement

• Only “SACE Approved Providers” may provide SACE endorsed PD activities

Provider Approval

• What Does Provider Approval Status Mean?– has met SACE’s criteria for approval of

providers– has signed up to SACE’s Code of Practice for

providers– is fit to offer professional development

activities endorsed by SACE

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Provider Approval

– agrees to offer only activities that are endorsed by SACE

– will provide SACE with lists of successful teacher participants in endorsed activities

– agrees to feedback from participants and monitoring by SACE

• Provider Approval Status lasts for a period of three years

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Provider Approval…

• Providers fall into two categories– Category A: Accredited by one of the three

Quality Councils– Category B: Not accredited by any of the

three Quality Councils

• Category A providers: approval is in principle automatic, but they must still be approved to offer X and Y activities

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• Category B providers are likely to compriseo Professional associationsoUnionsoNational and provincial DoEsoNGOs

• They must apply for SACE approval only if they intend to provide activities themselves

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• SACE must apply an appropriate set of criteria similar to accreditation

oProvider/Endorsement Unit screens for formal compliance

oSACE Evaluators Panel screens provider for approval to offer X and Y activities

o Evaluators make site visits and interview providers’ presenters

oEvaluators report and recommend

Provider Approval Criteria

• Purpose statement

• Financial viability

• Tax clearance certificate

• Physical resources

• Facilities for delivery of activity

• Staff expertise, qualifications, experience

• Track record/evaluations/references

• Any other information required by SACE43

Endorsement of Activities / Programmes

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Endorsement of Activities...

• Endorsement is a term introduced by the NPFTED alongside the introduction of the CPTD system

• Endorsement includes a process of examining the quality of an activity with respect to how it contributes to the professional development of the teacher

• A process of evaluating and approving professional development activities against a set of criteria and coming up with an endorsement decision

• Quality Councils – Accreditation and SACE - Endorsement

Endorsement Process

• Process– Application (manual to SACE)– Check Listing and Screening for completeness

and requirements (Endorsement Unit Staff, prepare documents and assign Evaluators)

– Evaluation (Evaluators, Reports and Recommendations to Endorsement Sub-Committee)

– Endorsement (Endorsement Committee, Scrutinise Reports and Recommendations from the Evaluators and make Final Recommendation to Council)

– Council through PRODCO (delegated authority

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Endorsement of Activities..

• Applicable largely to Type 3 professional development activities (Externally Initiated Activities)

• Only SACE Approved Providers will submit proposed teacher development activity to SACE for endorsement

• SACE evaluators will evaluate the activity and made a positive recommendation to the Endorsement Sub-Committee

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Endorsement of Activities..

• SACE’s Endorsement Sub-committee will certify that the activity meets each of the SACE criteria at a satisfactory level

• SACE’s Endorsement Sub-committee will endorse the proposed activity for a maximum of three years

• The SACE Approved Provider may offer the endorsed activity for a maximum of three years

Endorsement Criteria

Fitness of Purpose– Relevance and Appropriateness– The extent at which the institution /

organisation / provider’s mission, goals, and activities are responsive to national priorities, agenda, and needs

– Addresses the needs of the system / profession through the organisation’s mission and goals

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• Fitness of Purpose (Criteria)

– Aligns with identified system needs– Strengthens subject competence– Strengthens professional practice– Promotes professional commitment,

responsibility– Promotes system transformation


• Fitness For Purpose– Assess the Effectiveness of an Activity /

Programme– Assess an Activity / programme against its

stated outcomes / purpose – Each activity or programme’s outcomes /

purpose should be clearly defined– Purpose and Outcomes to be informed by the

needs of the system, profession, schools, and teachers

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Endorsement Criteria...

• Fitness for Purpose (Effectiveness)– Addresses identified needs of target learning

area/subject/phase/social or institutional conditions

– Addresses identified needs of target audience (admission requirements may be specified)

– Proposes appropriate assessment procedures for content/method/target audience, including demonstrated professional learning where appropriate

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Endorsement Criteria...• Quality

– Teaching/learning strategies are• Related to content and outcomes• (Wherever possible) participatory• Related to teaching/learning situation of target

audience

– Learning materials/resources are suitable to audience and outcomes, user-friendly

– Presenters/facilitators are well qualified, experienced, knowledgeable about teaching/learning conditions of target audience

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Endorsement Criteria...

• Rating – Good or Poor– No Scores– Professional Judgement

• Endorsement Decision– Endorsed or Not Endorsed

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Funding Principle

• Only SACE-endorsed activities offered by SACE approved providers should be funded by employers

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CPTD Information SystemCPTD - IS

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CPTD - IS

• The CPTD System will include an electronic management information and communication infrastructure with the capacity to support the efficient operation of the CPTD system.

• This ICT system is called the CPTD Information System (CPTD-IS), and

• It is the primary administrative tool of the CPTD system

• Concept informed by UFR, USR documents • It has two sub-systems:

• SACE CRM System • SACE Self-Service Web Portal

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Two Components of the CPTD-IS

• CRM System

–Office / internal use by SACE CPTD Unit staff only

–Manual data processing

–Educator Data Migration from Registration Division

–School data from EMIS

–Different Security Levels58

Two Components of the CPTD-IS

• Self-service Portal

– For external users (Teachers, Schools, Providers, and Evaluators)

– Accessed through the SACE website

– Sign-up processes, Log-in, and Password

– Demo

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CPTD System PILOT

• 2008 Research Study on Professional Development Practices in Schools

• 2009 Pilot study– 13 Pilot Districts

– 144 schools across the 9 provinces

– 3963 educators

• March 2012 Pilot Report

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CPTD PILOTPROVINCE No. Schools No. Educators

GAUTENG 21 719

LIMPOPO 20 542

EASTERN CAPE 20 520

NORTHERN CAPE

12 428

FREE STATE 12 421

KWAZULU-NATAL 24 394

NORTHWEST 12 376

MPUMALANGA 12 252

WESTERN CAPE 12 311

TOTAL 145 3963 61

Where is the Pilot Happening and Who are the Implementers?

• National Level– Largely at SACE (directly through CPTD Unit,

Implementation Team, and Task Team)– DBE (indirectly, through Implementation Team and

Task Team)

• Provincial Level– Provincial Departments of Education (HRD/Teacher

Development Units)– 9 Provincial Coordinators– 9 Provincial Pilot Coordinating Committees– 36 Resource Persons

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Where is the Pilot Happening and Who are the Implementers?

• School Level– 144 Principal – 288 Lead Participants– 3963 Educators

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WHAT IS THE PILOT TESTING?

The Pilot is testing the readiness of the CPTD system to be rolled out to all SACE registered

school-based educatorsTHE PILOT IS TESTING THE MANAGEMENT OF THE

CPTD SYSTEM AND NOT THE ACTUAL PROVISIONING OF PROFESSIONAL

DEVELOPMENT

SACE IS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE DEVELOPMENT, IMPLEMENTATION AND

MANAGEMENT OF THE CPTD SYSTEM ONLY

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WHAT IS THE PILOT TESTING

– Endorsement Processes (SACE)• Functionality of the Endorsement Interim

Committee (EIC) • Functionality of the Endorsement Unit• Provisions of the CPTD System Handbook on

Endorsement Matters• Endorsement of Provider and non-provider

activities and points allocation processes• Availability of endorsed PD activities /

programmes from which teachers will choose65


Endorsement Processes (School Level)–Questionnaire assisting educators in identifying PD activities they are/have been involved in and who has been providing them–Submission to SACE–Providers contacted (by PSU) to submit the identified activities to SACE for Endorsement–Activities endorsed and loaded on the CPTD-IS as part of the Dbase of Endorsed activities–educators earning points from them

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Initial Findings on Endorsement Processes

• Reconceptualise and reconstitute the Endorsement Committee

• Remuneration of Evaluators and Endorsement Committee

• Collaborations with other institutions dealing with similar provider approval / accreditation processes be forged in terms of their register of private providers, and database of accredited providers and evaluators

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Initial Results…

• Formal provider approval not taking place– systems, procedures and processes to be put in place

to ensure approval takes place– More work be done on the implications for the site

visit and possibility of charging an application fee

• Establishment of the Endorsement Unit

• Inadequate data / register of providers– establish a credible register of approved

providers and publish it accordingly

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Initial Results …

• Improvement of the electronic register / database of endorsed activities on the CPTD-IS

• 300 activities endorsed

• Teachers’ participation in professional development activities

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– Provider Capacity• The functionality of the Provider Support

Unit• Provider Register (Pilot Districts / Schools)• Analysis of Available Providers

– Provisioning Scope– Areas of Specialisation– Places of delivery– Mode of delivery

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Initial Findings

• 56 Providers in the database

• Provider Support Unit need to be established

• Provider Forums to be established in all the nine provinces

• Provider analysis needs to be done to understand the scope, locations, areas of specialisation

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– CPTD-IS (CRM from SACE)• Functionality of the system as a whole• Data capturing processes and volumes at SACE level• Dbase of pilot educators• Dbase of endorsed activities• Register of providers• Accessing Educator Records of Points• Management Reports• Tracking System (Queries, Evaluators’ work, provider

applications, endorsed activities, and others)• Reconciling Self-Service portal with SACE CRM

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• CPTD-IS (Schools)– Access to the Web Self-Service Portal by schools and

educators– Educator / School Sign-Up process for accessing the

CPTD System– Updating information– Educators / Schools accessing information on:

• Points earned• Endorsed CPTD activities• Available Providers• Recording of Points

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• CPTD-IS (Providers and Evaluators)– On-line Applications for Endorsement– Tracking Endorsement Process– Feedback on Endorsement Outcomes– Database of Endorsed Activities– Communication and Feedback on Evaluation

Process between Endorsement Unit and Evaluators

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Initial Findings

• Challenges with Functionality of the system – mini project underway to address those challenges

• Access to the CPTD-IS a challenge to most of the teachers and as result most opt for manual options

• Need for testing the system on a bigger and wider scale

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– Management, administrative and support capacity

• SACE systems and personnel • DoE/PDE/district systems and personnel• School systems, personnel

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Advocacy and Communication– Test levels of buy-in, awareness,

understanding of CPTD policy and implementation implications, at/amongst:

• School ( management; teachers, SGBs) • District ( management; core units, other units)• PDE- (management, core and other related units) • Stakeholders at National and Provincial Levels• CPTD pilot structures

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• Advocacy and Communication– Testing the effectiveness of tools and

strategies used to communicate CPTD messages

– How messages were communicated

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Data Collection

• Through the following methods:– Questionnaires / Surveys– Interviews (principals, teachers, SACE, DoE,

PDoEs, Stakeholders, Districts, Pilot Structures, Resource Persons)

– Document Analysis– Observations

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Pilot Data

• Two Types of Data– Fed into the CPTD-IS manually (by CPTD data

capturers) and electronically (by educators, providers, evaluators) through the self-service portal

– Collected through the four research methods or even research instruments

• Data Collection• Capturing / Recording• Analysis• Report Writing

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Management of the CPTD System Pilot

National Level– SACE - management role with the support of

the Department of Education– DBE-SACE CPTD Task Team - oversight role– CPTD Reference Group – Advisory structure– Independent Service Provider – Ongoing Pilot

Monitoring and Evaluation

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Provincial Level

• Provincial Pilot Coordinating Committee (PPCC) • Consist of the following:

– Provincial Department of Education Officials;

– Teacher Unions at provincial level;– SGB Formations;– Independent School Associations;– SACE; and – Other relevant stakeholders

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Provincial Level

• Provincial Pilot Coordinating Committee (PPCC) • Consist of the following:

– Provincial Department of Education Officials;

– Teacher Unions at provincial level;– SGB Formations;– Independent School Associations;– SACE; and – Other relevant stakeholders

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Milestones Reached...• Establishment of the CPTD Unit at SACE

• Development of the CPTD Design Document – Version 13A (approved by the SACE Council and the Council of Education Ministers)

• Development of the CPTD Information System (CPTD-IS), an ICT system managed by SACE that serves as the administrative and information hub of the CPTD Management System

Milestones Reached...• Research Study on Teacher Development Practices in

36 schools in Free State, KwaZulu-Natal, and Western Cape (undertaken by CEPD for the Task Team)

• The study had to address the following issues:

– The state of professional development in the schooling system.

– The levels of readiness for the introduction of the CPTD points system.

– The design and management of the system; and

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Milestones Reached...

• The challenges related to introduction of the CPTD points system and its management

• CPTD Pilot in 13 districts and 145 schools in all 9 provinces - a work in progress supported by all Provincial Education Departments

• Pilot endorsement of providers’ professional development activities – in progress

• Finalising the CPTD System Pilot Report

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Milestones Reached...• Information Pack on the CPTD Research Study as

advocacy material • Draft CPTD Endorsement Handbook (approved

by the SACE Council) • CPTD System Handbook (simplifying and

replacing the design elements of Version 13A) (approved by the SACE Council)

• Incorporation of the CPTD Management System as an integral element in the Integrated Strategic Planning Framework for Teacher Education

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Milestones Reached...

• Evaluation and endorsement of 300 professional development activities from various providers

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Broader Challenges

• Teacher understanding and buy-in (communication)

• Working conditions of teachers, time availability and resources

• Ensuring relevance of programmes to teacher needs and system needs

• Funding SACE / PD Programmes• Maintaining good relationships with

teacher unions89

Broader Challenges

• Availability, quality and specialisation of providers

• Capacity of SACE to manage the system

• Capacity of the national and provincial Education Departments to support and monitor PD activities

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Implementation

– Phase 1: Research study on Continuing Professional Teacher Development Practices in schools (2008)

– Phase 2: Pilot study to test the design and management systems, Approval by SACE Council, HEDCOM, and the Minister of Basic education (August 2009 – March 2012).

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Implementation

• Post Pilot Phase (1st April 2012 – 31st March 2013)

• Approval of the Pilot Report and Implementation Plan

• CPTD-IS bigger scale testing• SACE and DoE to make changes to the CPTD

system and IS after the pilot• When the changes have been made the system

will be ready for launching• Advocacy• Phased-in implementation

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Implementation

– Phase 3: A phased-in (slow approach) implementation over a 3 year period (2013 – 2015)

– Phase 4: Full implementation and expansion of the system from 2016

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ME-Policy and Research 94

Thank You

Documents

1 An Overview of the Continuing Professional Teacher Development (CPTD) System in South Africa Presentation to the Basic Education Portfolio Committee