Rhode Island Code of Regulations
Title 200 - Board of Education
Chapter 20 - Council on Elementary and Secondary Education
Subchapter 20 - Educator Quality and Certification
Part 1 - Regulations Governing the Certification of Educators in Rhode Island
Section 200-RICR-20-20-1.3 - Rhode Island Professional Educator Standards
Universal Citation: 200 RI Code of Rules 20 20 1.3
Current through September 18, 2024
1.3.1 Educator Standards
A. RIDE has
established teaching and leadership standards, as well as a code of
professional responsibility for educators in Rhode Island.
1. Rhode Island Professional Teaching
Standards.
2. Rhode Island
Standards for Educational Leadership.
3. Rhode Island Code of Professional
Responsibility.
1.3.2 Rhode Island Professional Teaching Standards
A. Teachers create
learning experiences using a broad base of general knowledge that reflects an
understanding of the nature of the communities and world in which we live.
1. Reflect a variety of academic, social, and
cultural experiences in their teaching.
2. Use a broad content knowledge base
sufficient to create interdisciplinary learning experiences designed to ensure
that all students achieve state standards for content and
achievement.
3. Exhibit a
commitment to learning about the changes in their disciplines and in our world
that models a commitment to lifelong learning for students.
4. Facilitate student involvement in the
school and wider communities.
B. Teachers have a deep content knowledge
base sufficient to create learning experiences that reflect an understanding of
central concepts, structures, and tools of inquiry of the disciplines/content
areas they teach.
1. Know their
discipline/content and understand how knowledge in their discipline is created,
organized, and linked to other disciplines and applied beyond the school
setting.
2. Design instruction that
addresses the core skills, concepts, and ideas of the disciplines/content areas
to help all students meet Rhode Island's learning standards.
3. Select appropriate instructional materials
and resources (including technological resources) based on their
comprehensiveness, accuracy, and usefulness for representing particular ideas
and concepts in the discipline/content areas.
4. Engage students in a variety of
explanations and multiple representations of concepts, including analogies,
metaphors, experiments, demonstrations, and illustrations, that help all
students develop conceptual understanding.
5. Represent and use differing viewpoints,
theories, and methods of inquiry when teaching concepts and encourage all
students to see, question, and interpret concepts from a variety of
perspectives.
C.
Teachers create instructional opportunities that reflect an understanding of
how children learn and develop.
1. Understand
how students use their prior knowledge to construct knowledge, acquire skills,
develop habits of mind, and acquire positive dispositions toward
learning.
2. Design instruction
that meets the current cognitive, social, and personal needs of their
students.
3. Create age-appropriate
lessons and activities that meet the variety of developmental levels of
students within a class.
D. Teachers create instructional
opportunities that reflect a respect for the diversity of learners and an
understanding of how students differ in their approaches to learning.
1. Design instruction that accommodates
individual differences in approaches to learning.
2. Use their understanding of students to
create connections between the subject matter and student
experiences.
3. Seek information
about the impact of students' specific challenges to learning or disabilities
on classroom performance, and work with specialists to develop alternative
instructional strategies to meet the needs of these students where
appropriate.
4. Make appropriate
accommodations and modifications for individual students who have identified
learning differences or needs in an Individualized Educational Plan (IEP), 504
Accommodation Plan, Personal Literacy Plans (PLPs), or other approved
school-based individualized learning plans (ILPs).
E. Teachers create instructional
opportunities to encourage students' development of critical thinking, problem
solving, performance skills, and literacy across content areas.
1. Design lessons that extend beyond factual
recall and challenge students to develop higher-level cognitive
skills.
2. Pose questions that
encourage students to view, analyze, and interpret ideas from multiple
perspectives.
3. Make instructional
decisions about when to provide information, when to clarify, when to pose a
question, and when to let a student struggle to try to solve a
problem.
4. Engage students in
generating knowledge, testing hypotheses, and exploring methods of inquiry and
standards of evidence.
5. Use tasks
that engage students in exploration, discovery, and hands-on
activities.
F. Teachers
create a supportive learning environment that encourages appropriate standards
of behavior, positive social interaction, active engagement in learning, and
self-motivation.
1. Use principles of
effective classroom management to establish classrooms in which clear rules and
standards of behavior are maintained.
2. Establish a safe, secure, and nurturing
learning environment that supports the active engagement of all
students.
3. Provide and structure
the time necessary to explore important concepts and ideas.
4. Help students establish a classroom
environment characterized by mutual respect and intellectual
risk-taking.
5. Create learning
groups in which all students learn to work collaboratively and
independently.
6. Communicate clear
expectations for achievement that allow students to take responsibility and
advocate for their own learning.
G. Teachers work collaboratively with all
school personnel, families, and the broader community to create a professional
learning community and environment that supports the improvement of teaching,
learning, and student achievement.
1. Work
collaboratively with their colleagues to examine teacher practice, student
work, and student assessment results with the goal of improving instruction and
achievement.
2. Develop
relationships with students and their families to support learning.
3. Understand the role of community agencies
in supporting schools and work collaboratively with them as
appropriate.
H. Teachers
use effective communication as the vehicle through which students explore,
conjecture, discuss, and investigate new ideas.
1. Use a variety of communication strategies
to engage students in learning.
2.
Use a variety of modes of communication to promote learning.
3. Use technological advances in
communication, including electronic means of collecting and sharing
information, to enrich discourse in the classroom and the school.
4. Emphasize oral and written communication
through the instructional use of discussion, listening, and responding to the
ideas of others and group interaction.
5. Seek knowledge of and demonstrate
sensitivity to the particular communication needs of all students.
I. Teachers use appropriate formal
and informal assessment strategies with individuals and groups of students to
determine the impact of instruction on learning, to provide feedback, and to
plan future instruction.
1. Select and/or
design individual and group classroom assessments based on the strengths,
limitations, and data provided by the assessment.
2. Identify and consider student and
contextual variables that may influence performance so that a student's
performance can be validly interpreted.
3. Systematically collect, synthesize, and
interpret assessment results from multiple assessments to monitor, improve, and
report individual and group achievement.
4. Provide students with opportunities and
guidance to evaluate their own work and behavior against defined criteria and
use the results of self-assessment to establish individual goals for
learning.
5. Use assessment results
to provide students with timely, helpful, and accurate feedback on their
progress toward achievement goals.
6. Maintain records of student learning and
communicate student progress to students, parents/guardians, and other
colleagues.
7. Use information from
their assessment of students to reflect on their own teaching, to modify their
instruction and to help establish professional development goals.
J. Teachers reflect on their
practice and assume responsibility for their own professional development by
actively seeking and participating in opportunities to learn and grow as
professionals.
1. Solicit feedback from
students, families, and colleagues to reflect on and improve their own
teaching.
2. Explore and evaluate
the application of current research, instructional approaches and strategies,
including technologies to improve student learning.
3. Take responsibility for their own
professional development and improvement of their students' learning by
participating in workshops, courses, or other individual and collaborative
professional development activities that support their plans for continued
development as teachers.
4. Take
responsibility for learning about and implementing federal, state, district,
and school initiatives to improve teaching and learning.
K. Teachers maintain professional standards
guided by legal and ethical principles.
1.
Maintain standards that require them to act in the best interests and needs of
students.
2. Follow school policy
and procedures, respecting the boundaries of their professional
responsibilities, when working with students, colleagues, and
families.
3. Follow local, state,
and federal law pertaining to educational and instructional issues, including
regulations related to students', parents'/guardians', and teachers' rights and
responsibilities.
4. Interact with
students, colleagues, parents, and others in a professional manner that is fair
and equitable.
5. Are guided by
codes of professional conduct adopted by their professional
organizations.
1.3.3 Rhode Island Standards for Educational Leaders
A. Standard 1.
Mission, Vision, and Core Values - Effective educational leaders
collaboratively develop, advocate, and enact a shared mission, vision, and core
values of high-quality education and academic success and social and emotional
well-being of each student.
1. Effective
Leaders:
a. Collaboratively develop a mission
for the district/school to promote the academic success and social and
emotional well-being of each student.
b. Develop and promote a vision for the
district/school, in collaboration with members of the school community, on the
successful learning and development of each child and on instructional and
organizational practices that promote such practices.
c. Articulate, advocate, and cultivate core
values that define the district's/school's culture and stress the imperative of
child-centered education; high expectations and student support; equity,
inclusiveness, and social justice; openness, caring, and trust; and continuous
improvement.
d. Continuously review
the district's/school's mission and vision and make adjustments to changing
expectations and opportunities for the school, and changing needs and
situations of students.
e. Develop
a shared understanding of and commitment to the mission, vision, and core
values within the district/school and the community.
f. Model and pursue the district's/school's
mission, vision, and core values as fundamental in all aspects of
leadership.
B. Standard 2. Ethics and Professional
Responsibilities - Effective educational leaders act ethically and in
accordance with professional standards to promote each student's academic
success and social and emotional well-being.
1. Effective Leaders:
a. Act ethically and professionally in
personal conduct, relationships with others, decision making, stewardship of
the school's resources, and all aspects of school leadership.
b. Act according to and promote the
professional traits of integrity, fairness, transparency, trust, collaboration,
perseverance, learning, and continuous improvement.
c. Place the needs of children at the center
of all educational decision making and accept responsibility for each student's
academic and social and emotional success.
d. Safeguard and promote the values of
democracy, individual freedom and responsibility, equity, social justice,
community, and diversity.
e. Lead
with interpersonal and communication skill, social-emotional insight, and
understanding of all students' and staff members' backgrounds and
cultures.
f. Provide moral
direction for the district/school community and promote expected ethical and
professional behavior among all staff and district/school community
members.
C.
Standard 3. Equity and Cultural Responsiveness - Effective educational leaders
ensure equity of educational opportunity and culturally responsive practices to
promote each student's academic success and social and emotional well-being.
1. Effective Leaders:
a. Act with cultural competence and
responsiveness in all interactions, decision making, and practice and ensure
that each student, staff member, and school community member is treated fairly,
respectfully, and with an understanding of culture and context.
b. Recognize, respect, and employ each
student's strengths, diversity, and culture as assets for teaching and
learning.
c. Ensure that each
student has equitable access to effective teachers, learning opportunities,
academic and social support, and other resources necessary for
success.
d. Develop student
policies and address student behavior in a positive, fair, and unbiased
manner.
e. Confront and challenge
institutional biases of student marginalization, deficit-based schooling, and
low expectations associated with race, socio-economic status, culture and
language, gender and sexual orientation, and disability or special
status.
f. Prepare students to live
productively in and contribute to the diverse cultural contexts of a global
society.
g. Consider and address
matters of equity and cultural responsiveness in all aspects of
leadership.
D. Standard 4. Curriculum, Instruction, and
Assessment - Effective educational leaders develop and support intellectually
rigorous and coherent systems of curriculum, instruction, and assessment to
promote each student's academic success and social and emotional well-being.
1. Effective Leaders:
a. Implement coherent systems of curriculum,
instruction, and assessment that promote the mission, vision, and core values
of the school, embody high expectations for student learning, align with
academic standards, and are culturally responsive.
b. Align and focus systems of curriculum,
instruction, and assessment within and vertically across grade levels to
promote student academic success, love of learning, the identities and habits
of learners, and a healthy sense of self.
c. Facilitate instructional practice that is
consistent with knowledge of student learning and development, effective
pedagogy, and individual student needs.
d. Ensure instructional practices that are
intellectually challenging, are authentic to student experiences, recognize
student strengths, and are differentiated and personalized.
e. Promote and facilitate the effective use
of technology in service of teaching and learning.
f. Develop and utilize multiple valid
assessments that are consistent with knowledge of learning and development and
technical standards of measurement to monitor student progress and improve
instruction.
g. Use assessment data
appropriately and with technical limitations to monitor student progress and
improve instruction.
E. Standard 5. Community of Care and Support
for Students-Effective educational leaders cultivate an inclusive, caring, and
supportive school community that promotes the academic success and the social
and emotional well-being of each student.
1.
Effective Leaders:
a. Build and maintain a
safe, caring, and healthy school environment that meets the academic, social
emotional, and physical needs of each student.
b. Create and sustain a school environment in
which each student is known, accepted and valued, trusted and respected, cared
for, and encouraged to be an active and responsible member of the school
community.
c. Develop and lead
coherent systems of academic and social supports, services, extracurricular
activities, and accommodations to meet the range of learning needs of each
student.
d. Endorse and foster
adult-student, student-peer, and school-community relationships that value and
support academic learning and positive social and emotional
development.
e. Cultivate and
reinforce student engagement and leadership and positive student
behavior.
f. Infuse the
district's/school's learning environment with the cultures and languages of the
community.
F.
Standard 6. Professional Capacity of School Personnel - Effective educational
leaders, in collaboration with stakeholders, develop the professional capacity
and practice of school personnel to promote each student's academic success and
well-being.
1. Effective Leaders:
a. Recruit, hire, support, develop, and
retain effective and caring teachers and other professional staff and ensure
their development into an educationally effective faculty.
b. Plan for and manage staff turnover and
succession, providing opportunities for effective induction and mentoring of
personnel.
c. Develop teachers' and
staff members' professional knowledge, skills, and instructional practice
through differentiated opportunities for learning and growth, guided by an
understanding of adult professional learning and development of adults as
professional and ongoing learners.
d. Deliver actionable feedback about
instruction and other professional practice through valid, research-anchored
systems of supervision and evaluation to support the development of teachers'
and staff members' knowledge, skills, and practice.
e. Empower and motivate teachers and staff to
the highest levels of professional practice and to continuous learning and
improvement.
f. Develop the
leadership capacity, opportunities, and support for teacher leadership and for
other professionals in the district.
g. Promote the personal and professional
health, well-being, and work-life balance of faculty and staff.
h. Tend to their own learning and
effectiveness through reflection, study, and improvement, while maintaining a
healthy work-life balance.
G. Standard 7. Professional Community for
Teachers and Staff - Effective educational leaders foster a professional
community of teachers and other professional staff to promote each student's
academic success and social and emotional well-being.
1. Effective Leaders:
a. Support a workplace culture that is open,
productive, caring, and trusting.
b. Develop a culture for professional staff
that promotes the improvement of practice through research and effective
professional learning and promotes high levels of student learning.
c. Empower and entrust teachers and staff
with collective responsibility for meeting the academic, social, emotional, and
physical needs of each student, pursuant to the mission, vision, and core
values of the district/school.
d.
Establish and sustain a professional culture of engagement and commitment to
shared vision, goals, and objectives pertaining to the education of the whole
child; high expectations for professional work; ethical and equitable practice;
trust and open communication; collaboration, collective efficacy, and
continuous individual and organizational learning and improvement.
e. Ensure mutual accountability among
teachers and other professional staff for each student's success and the
effectiveness of the school as a whole.
f. Design and implement job-embedded and
other opportunities for professional learning collaboratively with faculty and
staff.
g. Provide opportunities for
collaborative examination of practice, collegial feedback, and collective
learning.
h. Enable
faculty-initiated improvement of programs and practices.
H. Standard 8. Meaningful
Engagement of Families and Community - Effective educational leaders engage
families and the community in meaningful, reciprocal, and mutually beneficial
ways to promote each student's academic success and well-being.
1. Effective Leaders:
a. Are approachable, accessible, and
welcoming to families and members of the community.
b. Create and sustain positive,
collaborative, and productive relationships with families and the community for
the benefit of students.
c. Engage
in regular and open two-way communication with families and the community about
the district/school, students, needs, problems, challenges, and
accomplishments.
d. Maintain a
presence in the community to understand its strengths and needs, develop
productive relationships, and engage its resources for the
district/school.
e. Create means
for the school community to partner with families to support student learning
in and out of school.
f.
Understand, value, and employ the community's cultural, intellectual, and
political resources to promote student learning and school
empowerment.
g. Openly advocate for
the district and school, and for the importance of education and student needs
and priorities with families and the community.
h. Build and sustain productive partnerships
with public and private sectors to promote school improvement and student
earning.
I.
Standard 9. Operations and Management - Effective educational leaders manage
school operations and resources to promote each student's academic success and
well-being.
1. Effective Leaders:
a. Institute, manage, and monitor operations
and administrative systems that promote the mission and vision of the
district/school.
b. Strategically
manage staff resources, assigning and scheduling educators and staff to roles
and responsibilities that optimize their professional capacity to address each
student's learning needs.
c.
Acquire and manage fiscal, physical environment, and other resources to support
curriculum, instruction, and assessment; student learning; professional
capacity; and family and community engagement.
d. Act responsibly and in an ethical manner
with the district's/school's monetary and nonmonetary resources, engaging in
effective budgeting, spending, and accounting practices.
e. Protect teachers' and other staff members'
work and learning from disruption and create an environment where students are
able to learn.
f. Employ systems to
improve the quality and efficiency of operations and management.
g. Develop and maintain data and
communication systems to deliver actionable information for classroom and
school improvement.
h. Know, comply
with, and help the district/school community understand local, state, and
federal laws, rights, policies, and regulations so as to promote student
success.
i. Develop productive
professional relationships with the district office staff, school staff, and
the School Board so as to promote effective transitions and student
success.
j. Develop and administer
systems for fair and equitable management of conflict among students, faculty
and staff, leaders, families, and community.
k. Manage governance processes and internal
and external politics toward achieving the district's/school's mission and
vision.
J.
Standard 10. School Improvement - Effective educational leaders act as agents
of continuous improvement to promote each student's academic success and
well-being.
1. Effective Leaders:
a. Continuously seek to make school more
effective for each student, teachers and staff, families, and the
community.
b. Use methods of
continuous improvement to achieve the vision, fulfill the mission, and promote
the core values of the school.
c.
Prepare the district/school and community for improvement, promoting readiness,
an imperative for improvement, instilling mutual commitment and accountability,
and developing the knowledge, skills, and motivation to succeed in
improvement.
d. Employ
situationally appropriate strategies for improvement, including
transformational and incremental, adaptive approaches and attention to
different phases of implementation.
e. Assess and develop the capacity of staff
to determine the value and applicability of emerging educational trends and the
findings of research for the school and its improvement.
f. Adopt a system's perspective and promote
coherence among improvement efforts and all aspects of the district/school
organization, programs, and services.
g. Develop technically appropriate systems of
data collection, management, analysis, and use, connecting as needed to the
district office and external partners for support in planning, implementation,
monitoring, feedback, and evaluation.
h. Manage uncertainty, risk, competing
initiatives, and politics of change with courage, resilience, and perseverance.
Openly communicate the need for the process of and outcomes of improvement
efforts.
i. Develop and promote
systems of shared leadership among teachers and staff for inquiry,
experimentation, innovation, and initiating and implementing
improvement.
1.3.4 Rhode Island Code of Professional Responsibility
A. Section 1.
Responsibility to Students
1. Rhode Island
educators' first commitment is to ensure that all students achieve at the high
levels needed to lead fulfilling and productive lives, to succeed in academic
and employment settings, and to contribute to society.
2. Rhode Island educators shall:
a. Respect the inherent dignity and worth of
each student.
b. Act upon the
belief that all students can learn.
c. Establish high expectations and provide
instruction that challenges all students.
d. Recognize the differences among students
and provide the appropriate educational supports and instructional
differentiation responsive to individual needs.
e. Address the uniqueness of each student and
endeavor to maximize learning through personalization of the educational
experience for each student.
f.
Promote the right and responsibility of students to explore ideas, to develop
skills, and to acquire knowledge necessary to be contributing members of
society.
g. Endeavor to present
facts and provide access to all points of view without deliberate distortion,
bias, or personal prejudice.
h.
Assure that their classrooms are environments characterized by respect for and
equal opportunity for all students, regardless of race, ethnicity, national
origin, language, gender, religion, economic status, disability, or sexual
orientation.
i. Promote the
development of character and civic responsibility in their students.
j. Maintain confidentiality of all student
information and dispense that information only when required by professional
practice or state or federal law.
k. Maintain a professional relationship with
students at all times, both in and outside the classroom.
B. Section 2. Responsibility to
Self
1. Rhode Island educators are committed
to establishing high professional standards for their practice and striving to
meet these standards through their individual performance.
2. Rhode Island educators shall:
a. Assume responsibility and accountability
for their performance and continually strive to demonstrate proficiency and
currency in both subject matter knowledge and teaching skills.
b. Develop personal and professional goals
with attention to professional standards, student achievement, and school
district initiatives and implement a course of professional development to
support attaining the goals.
c.
Actively engage in professional learning communities and seek feedback in order
to improve their performance.
d.
Examine their practice on a regular basis to expand their knowledge base,
broaden their skills, and incorporate new ideas.
e. Pursue only those educational positions or
assignments for which they have the appropriate educational certification and
credentials and for which they have appropriate professional
qualification.
f. Strive to
exercise the highest level of professional judgment.
g. Refrain from using institutional or
professional privileges for personal advantage.
C. Section 3. Responsibility to Colleagues
and the Profession
1. Rhode Island educators
are committed to work with school and district colleagues and as members of
professional communities to establish and implement initiatives that will
further student learning.
2. Rhode
Island educators shall:
a. Work effectively
with other professionals on curriculum development, instructional initiatives,
assessment programs, and professional development.
b. Assume responsibility for working with
colleagues to assure their school meets local and state educational
objectives.
c. Encourage and
support staffing decisions that are made based on the best interests of
students.
d. Collaborate with
others to improve student learning.
e. Support colleagues in developing and
maintaining a work environment that allows all educators to maintain their
individual professional integrity free of pressure to act in ways that are not
in the best interests of students.
f. Encourage the participation of teachers in
the process of educational decision making.
g. Encourage promising candidates who are
interested in education to learn about the opportunities and the challenges of
a career in education and support those who pursue careers through informal
induction into the profession as they develop the competence and qualifications
to become effective educators.
h.
Maintain integrity regarding the acceptance of any gratuity, gift or other
compensation that might impair or influence professional decisions or
actions.
D.
Section 4. R esponsibility to Parents, Families, and the Community
1. Rhode Island educators are committed to
collaborate with parents, families, and communities to offer a quality
education to all students.
2. Rhode
Island educators shall:
a. Make concerted
efforts to communicate with parents and families in a way that shares all
information necessary to become meaningful partners in the child's
education.
b. Endeavor to
understand and respect the values and traditions of the diverse cultures
represented in their community and in their classrooms.
c. Endeavor to assure equal educational
opportunities for all children in the community.
d. Cooperate with community agencies that
provide resources and services to support students.
e. Maintain a positive and active
relationship with students' parents/guardians, families, and other members of
the community.
f. Distinguish
between their personal opinion and official policies of the school or
educational organization when communicating with parents/guardians, families,
and the community.
E. Section 5. Responsibility to the Council
on Elementary and Secondary Education
1. Rhode
Island educators demonstrate a commitment to Rhode Island standards for
educator quality through certification requirements and support for the
implementation of state initiatives within their districts.
2. Rhode Island educators shall:
a. Provide accurate, truthful, and complete
information to RIDE concerning all certification matters.
b. Recognize that meeting certification
requirements is a pre-condition to any contractual agreement for a position
that requires certification in Rhode Island schools.
c. Engage in ongoing appropriate professional
development for all certificates they intend to maintain.
d. Accept only those assignments for which
they are professionally qualified and hold appropriate certification unless the
educator and the district have agreed to the assignment and the district has
secured prior approval from RIDE.
e. Develop an understanding of state
initiatives and support the implementation of these initiatives within their
schools and districts.
f. Maintain
the security of standardized testing materials that comprise state assessment
programs.
g. Further the mission,
policies, and regulations of the Council on Elementary and Secondary
Education.
Disclaimer: These regulations may not be the most recent version. Rhode Island may have more current or accurate information. We make no warranties or guarantees about the accuracy, completeness, or adequacy of the information contained on this site or the information linked to on the state site. Please check official sources.
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