Teacher Leader Licensure

General Information

The Teacher Leader License is issued to professional teachers who have demonstrated exceptional leadership in the school environment, education profession and the larger community while consistently advancing student growth and achievement.

Term of License: Five years

Minimum Qualifications

To meet the minimum qualifications for the Teacher Leader License, you must:

• Hold a Continuing, Initial II, Standard, or Professional Teaching License;
• Have taught five full academic years during the five years prior to application;
• Meet "evidence of effectiveness" standard by having two (2) evaluations of "effective" or "highly effective". The evaluations must be:
• Within the five (5) years immediately preceding application for Teacher Leader licensure.
• While the applicant held an Initial II, Continuing, Standard, or Professional Teaching License.
• Applicant must verify that they have not received an evaluation lower than an "effective" level within the five (5) years immediately preceding the application for the Teacher Leader license.
• If an applicant is employed by a private school, the applicant must verify that their school evaluates educators in accordance with the requirements of ORS 342.856. The applicant must provide documentation that the employing private school formally adopted the equivalent evaluation method in a meeting of the governing body.

Note: "Effective" and "Highly Effective" equate to the top two differentiated levels established as provided in the Oregon Department of Education's "Oregon Matrix Model for Educator Evaluation." Similar evaluation terms may include, but are not limited to: proficient, exemplary, accomplished, or distinguished.

• Meet evidence of "professional leadership practices" by submitting a portfolio of current leadership practices. The evidence within the portfolio must:
• Have occurred within the five years immediately prior to the application for the Teacher Leader License; and
• Demonstrate that you have fully met at least twelve (12) elements of the existing thirty-seven (37) elements under any of the seven (7) domains of the Rubric for Teacher Leader Evaluation (Currently Under Revision).
• At least two professional colleagues must substantiate the evidence for each element. Professional colleagues may include coworkers, supervisors, or other professional peers; and
• The evidence for each element submitted must be unique and separate. For example, an applicant may not reuse evidence from one element to support meeting another element.

National Board for Professional Teacher Standards Certification

If you have obtained the National Board for Professional Teacher Standards Certification, you may use the same evidence to qualify for the Teacher Leader license. The national board evidence must:

• Have occurred in the five years immediately prior to the application for the Teacher Leader License; and
• Document how your board certification and subsequent professional practice meets at least twelve (12) elements of the existing thirty-seven (37) elements under any of the seven (7) domains of the Rubric for Teacher Leader Evaluation (Currently Under Revision).

Application Steps

To apply for the TEACHER LEADER LICENSE:

Please review the following document first before completing the steps below:

Teacher Leader License Rubric.pdf

Step 1: Submit an application and payment to the eLicensing system on the TSPC website. (License category: Teacher | Application Type: New | License Type: Teacher Leader)

Step 2: Complete your portfolio of teacher leadership activities and evidence. The portfolio must:

• Clearly identify the date of the leadership activities or evidence;
• Clearly identify which domain and element of the Rubric for Teacher Leader Evaluation (Currently Under Revision) the evidence is supporting. The applicant must meet at least twelve (12) elements of the thirty-seven (37) elements contained in the rubric. The 12 elements may be from any of the seven (7) domains.
• Provide verification from at least two colleagues for each leadership activity submitted as evidence.

Step 3: Submit your portfolio, along with the affidavit form (found on page 44 of the Rubric document above):

• Electronically to: contact.tspc@tspc.oregon.gov. Please submit as a PDF and put "Teacher Leader Application" in the subject line of the email.

Review and Approval Steps

Upon review of the information above, please submit any questions about the Teacher Leader License application to contact.tspc@tspc.oregon.gov .