NSW Education Standards Authority

TAA Accreditation Decision

Guide

Proficient Teacher

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Table of contents

Introduction ........................................................................................................................................... 3

Who is the TAA? .................................................................................................................................. 3

Table 1: TAAs in NSW schools and services ................................................................................ 3

What does an Authorised Delegate do? .............................................................................................. 4

Proficient Teacher accreditation .......................................................................................................... 4

Overview of process ....................................................................................................................... 4

Reviewing submissions ........................................................................................................................ 5

Documentary evidence and annotations........................................................................................ 5

Observation report .......................................................................................................................... 7

Proficient Teacher Accreditation Report ........................................................................................ 8

Making the accreditation decision........................................................................................................ 8

Guiding questions ........................................................................................................................... 9

Decisions not to accredit .................................................................................................................... 10

Refusal to accredit ........................................................................................................................ 10

Not able to make a decision ......................................................................................................... 11

Implications for teachers ............................................................................................................... 11

Immediate Proficient Teacher accreditation decisions ..................................................................... 11

NESA online account (eTAMS) ......................................................................................................... 12

Authorised Person dashboard ...................................................................................................... 12

Glossary .............................................................................................................................................. 14

*Current version published August 2020

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Introduction

The NSW Education Standards Authority (NESA) Teacher Accreditation Authority (TAA)

Accreditation Decision Guide – Proficient Teacher is for TAA Authorised Delegates who make

accreditation decisions for teachers at the Proficient Teacher level of the Australian

Professional Standards for Teachers (the Standards). This guide will help you understand the

processes, requirements and responsibilities of this important role.

A TAA is a person or body authorised to accredit teachers at specified levels of accreditation.

The process for achieving accreditation at Proficient Teacher is workplace-based and

developmental. The process provides a structured induction into the teaching profession and

gives teachers opportunities to develop and consolidate their practice. Provisionally and

conditionally accredited teachers start developing their practice and working towards Proficient

Teacher accreditation when they begin work in a NSW school or centre-based early childhood

service (service).

To be eligible to teach in NSW, teachers need to gain Proficient Teacher accreditation over a

maximum timeframe by consistently demonstrating teaching practice at the Standards for

Proficient Teacher and collecting evidence of this practice. To achieve this they need regular

advice, support and guidance.

Use this guide in conjunction with the:

Australian Professional Standards for Teachers (the Standards)

Proficient Teacher Accreditation Policy

Proficient Teacher Evidence Guide

Proficient Teacher Evidence Guide – Casual Teachers

Proficient Teacher Evidence Guide – Early Childhood Teachers

eTAMS Help pages (accessible from any page after logging in to eTAMS)

NESA Proficient Teacher webpages.

Who is the TAA?

Table 1 shows who the TAA is for teachers in different schools/services in most cases.

Table 1: TAAs in NSW schools and services

Government schools

Catholic systemic schools

Individual non-government schools

Early childhood services

The principal The relevant Diocese The legal entity that

owns and operates

the school or an entity

with whom it has a

written agreement

NESA (excluding

services attached to a

school or those that

have nominated another

TAA)

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What does an Authorised Delegate do?

Authorised Delegates are appointed by TAAs to make accreditation decisions for teachers.

Specifically, they are responsible for:

reviewing Proficient Teacher evidence and Proficient Teacher Accreditation Reports

making a holistic judgement about a teacher’s practice in relation to the Standards

making accreditation decisions (accredit, not to accredit or cannot make an accreditation decision at this time)

making decisions for immediate accreditation at Proficient Teacher.

Proficient Teacher accreditation

As provisionally and conditionally accredited teachers start developing their practice and

working towards accreditation at Proficient Teacher, they receive regular advice, support and

guidance from teachers accredited at Proficient Teacher or above. The accreditation process

for teachers should be transparent and consultative. It should at all times be focused on

supporting and assisting the teacher to achieve accreditation.

Teachers working towards Proficient Teacher accreditation work with their supervisor1 who

supports and guides them through the process.

A teacher’s development and progress towards demonstrating the Standards will vary

according to their individual experience and circumstances. Factors influencing a teacher’s

progress may include any previous teaching experience, support from their supervisor,

colleagues and the school/service, engagement in professional development, and the

teacher’s knowledge, skills and engagement.

Teachers start the process of finalising their accreditation when they determine their practice

meets all of the Standards for Proficient Teacher and their supervisor agrees.

Overview of process

1. In consultation with their supervisor, the teacher selects and annotates 5-8 items of documentary evidence. They submit their documentary evidence along with a report on a teaching observation done by their supervisor.

2. The supervisor reviews and verifies the teacher’s evidence, completes the Proficient Teacher Accreditation Report (within 21 days of step 1) and declares the report and evidence accurately represent the teacher’s practice.

3. The teacher reads the Proficient Teacher Accreditation Report and acknowledges they have read it.

4. The principal or equivalent for early childhood teachers and non-school/service based teachers2 attests the accuracy of the Proficient Teacher Accreditation Report.

5. The TAA reviews the evidence and Proficient Teacher Accreditation Report and makes the decision (within 28 days of step 3).

If you are the principal and the Authorised Delegate, you will complete steps 4 and 5 at the

1 The NESA Supervisor Guide has more information about the role of supervisors and the process of supporting teachers through the Proficient Teacher accreditation process. 2 All TAAs need to have internal policies and procedures in place that enable an attestation to be made for teachers who work in contexts where there is no principal, or for teachers who are the principal.

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same time.

If you are not the principal, your TAA’s internal processes must ensure the principal completes

the attestation in enough time for you to make the decision within the 28 days.

Reviewing submissions

Your decision about whether or not a teacher’s practice meets the Standards for Proficient

Teacher will be based on:

the teacher’s documentary evidence

a report on an observation of the teacher’s practice; and

the Proficient Teacher Accreditation Report.

When you are reviewing a teacher’s evidence and making a holistic judgement about their

practice in relation to the Standards, you need to consider whether:

the evidence demonstrates that the teacher’s practice meets the Standards for Proficient Teacher

there is evidence relating to at least one Standard Descriptor from each of the seven Standards

the teacher’s documentary evidence:

˗ is drawn directly from their day-to-day teaching practice

˗ is annotated to explain how it demonstrates their practice aligns with 2-4 Standard Descriptors

˗ reflects their engagement in a range of professional activities

˗ includes evidence of their impact on child/student learning

the supervisor’s Proficient Teacher Accreditation Report reflects their knowledge of the teacher’s work over time.

Documentary evidence and annotations

Summary of requirements for teachers

Choose 5-8 items of documentary evidence of practice to submit to inform the accreditation decision.

Ensure documentary evidence does not exceed 35 single-sided pages in total.

Annotate each selected item against 2-4 Standard Descriptors for Proficient Teacher.

De-identify any items, as necessary, to preserve confidentiality of children/students, colleagues, parents, community members etc.

Teachers have the option to have items authenticated by a colleague to confirm it is their own work (not mandatory but particularly valuable for casual teachers).

Evidence for every Standard Descriptor is not required.3

3 While documentary evidence for every Standard Descriptor is not required, supervisors and TAAs must be confident that a teacher’s practice meets all of the Standard Descriptors.

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Effective documentary evidence

Teachers should aim to include evidence from a number of the evidence categories outlined in

the Proficient Teacher Evidence Guides so that their evidence reflects the breadth of their

practice. The evidence categories are:

1. Learning and teaching programs

2. Observations of teaching children/students

3. Reflection and feedback on teaching practice

4. Assessment and reporting on child/student learning outcomes

5. Collaboration and communication

6. Professional learning

Evidence that is effective in demonstrating practice at Proficient Teacher can be defined by

specific characteristics (see Table 2).

TAAs can use this guide to inform judgements about whether the collection of documentary

evidence a teacher submits to finalise their accreditation at Proficient Teacher exhibits the

characteristics that effectively demonstrate practice at the Proficient Teacher level.

Table 2: Characteristics of effective documentary evidence

Characteristic Effective evidence Ineffective evidence

Accurate

reflection of

the Standard

Descriptors

Each item of documentary evidence

accurately reflects the practice described

in the selected Proficient

Teacher Standard Descriptors.

The documentary evidence does not

consistently reflect the practice of

the selected Standard Descriptor/s.

Examples The evidence illustrates the teacher’s

practice across the entirety of the selected

Standard Descriptors, ie the focus area

and the actions identified by the verbs in

each of the selected Standard Descriptors.

There is misalignment between the

practice demonstrated in the documentary

evidence and the practice described in the

selected Standard Descriptor/s.

Visible

demonstration

of teacher

practice

Application of the teacher’s practice at

Proficient Teacher is visible in each item of

documentary evidence. 

Application of practice is not visible in the

documentary evidence, eg

plans/lessons have not been

evaluated/analysed and there is no

evidence they have been implemented.

Examples Plans/lesson notes where the teacher has

evaluated the learning experience/lesson

based on the achievement of learning

goals could effectively show application of

the teacher’s practice.

Plans/lessons have not been

evaluated/analysed and there is no

evidence they have been implemented.

Impact on

child/student

learning

Examples of the teacher’s impact on

child/student learning are included in the

teacher’s collection of documentary

evidence.

There is little or no evidence of the impact

of the teacher’s practice on child/student

learning.

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Characteristic Effective evidence Ineffective evidence

Examples Work samples that include the teacher’s

feedback about the child/student

contributions or achievements relative to

their learning goals could show impact of

the teacher’s practice on child/student

learning.

There is no inclusion of assessment

information that demonstrates

child/student contributions or

achievements relative to their learning

goals.

Reflective

practice

Examples of professional reflection are

included in the teacher’s collection of

documentary evidence and/or the

annotation.

There are no examples of professional

reflection in the teacher’s documentary

evidence and/or the annotation. 

Examples A teacher’s reflections on the quality of

child/student engagement and learning

could demonstrate that the teacher has

reflected on their practice for

developmental purposes.

Plans for learning/lessons have not been

evaluated/analysed and there is no

evidence that the teacher has reflected on

their practice.

Annotations

Effective annotations explain how the teacher has used evidence to demonstrate the practice described in selected Standard Descriptors at the Proficient Teacher level.

A teacher’s annotations should be detailed enough that teachers outside their context can

clearly understand the evidence and practice. Effective annotations may also demonstrate a

teacher’s reflection on their practice.

Annotations should:

identify the 2-4 Standard Descriptors that the evidence relates to

provide the context for the evidence and explain how it has been used; how, what, who, when, why

explain how the evidence demonstrates the practice described in the selected Standard Descriptors

explain the impact of the teacher’s practice on child/student learning, relevant to the selected Standard Descriptors.

be between 100 and 500 words (teachers need to write 600-3000 characters in their NESA online account).

Ineffective annotations can be identified as discrete examples or combinations of the following:

a description of the learning environment context only

a paraphrasing of the Standard Descriptors

contain limited/no explanation of how the documentary evidence demonstrates the teacher’s practice aligns with the practice in the selected Standard Descriptors

a misalignment between the practice demonstrated by documentary evidence and the practice in the selected Standard Descriptors.

Observation report

In addition to the 5-8 items of annotated documentary evidence, teachers need to submit a

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report on an observation of their practice done by their supervisor.

Teachers may have their practice observed by other colleagues during their accreditation

timeframe, however, the observation report they submit to finalise accreditation must be done

by the supervisor writing the Proficient Teacher Accreditation Report.

The observation report should help you gain a clear understanding of the teacher’s practice in

action.

The observation report must include:

a record of the discussion between the supervisor and the teacher before the observation, including details of the negotiated and agreed lesson/teaching and learning experience to be observed

reference to the 2-4 Standard Descriptors the supervisor and the teacher have agreed will be the focus of the observation

a written account by the supervisor on the observation of the teacher’s practice, referencing the agreed Standard Descriptors

the teacher’s reflection on their teaching practice

the supervisor’s written feedback to the teacher following the observation.

An observation report template is available on NESA’s website. Using the template is optional,

however it may assist supervisors to ensure they meet the requirements for the observation, as

listed above.

Proficient Teacher Accreditation Report

The Proficient Teacher Accreditation Report is written by the teacher’s supervisor and provides

principals and TAAs with a description of how the teacher’s practice relates to each of the

seven Standards.4

The report should reflect the supervisor’s knowledge of the teacher’s work over time and give

you a clear understanding of the teacher’s practice in relation to the Standards.

The supervisor’s comments should be specific to the teacher rather than broad overview

statements. Supervisors do not need to refer specifically to a teacher’s documentary evidence,

however there should be a clear alignment between the supervisor’s evaluative comments

about the teacher’s practice and the quality of the teacher’s annotated evidence.

Teachers need to acknowledge having read their supervisor’s report before submitting it for an

attestation and accreditation decision. This requirement acknowledges the professional and

collegial nature of the relationship and gives the teacher an opportunity to read the supervisor’s

comments about their practice before the application is submitted. At this stage, teachers can

speak with their supervisor to request edits to the final report before they submit it.

Making the accreditation decision

Your accreditation decision must be based on whether or not a teacher has met all

requirements for accreditation at Proficient Teacher as outlined in the Proficient Teacher

Accreditation Policy.

4 A sample Proficient Teacher Accreditation Report is available on the NESA website.

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You have 28 calendar days from the date a teacher acknowledges their Proficient Teacher

Accreditation Report in which to make the accreditation decision.

If you are not the principal, you will refer to the principal’s attestation when making your

judgement and decision. Your TAA’s processes should include timeframes for principals or

equivalent for early childhood teachers and non-school/service based teachers5 to make their

attestation in enough time for you to make the accreditation decision by the end of the 28-day

period.

The 28-day period does not include public holidays, school holidays or employer shutdown

periods. For example, if a teacher in a school acknowledges their Proficient Teacher

Accreditation Report on the last day of a school term, the 28 days that the TAA has to make

the decision does not start until the first day of the following term.

After reviewing a teacher’s documentary evidence, observation report and Proficient Teacher Accreditation Report, you can decide that:

the teacher meets all the requirements for accreditation

the teacher does not meet one or more requirements for accreditation

you can’t confidently make a decision about whether or not the teacher meets all the requirements for accreditation, including after consulting any previous TAA/s.

Guiding questions

When accrediting a teacher at Proficient Teacher you are determining whether the teacher’s

practice is consistent with the practice described in the Standard Descriptors for Proficient

Teacher.

The following questions will help guide your judgements and decisions about accreditation at

Proficient Teacher. However, the collection of evidence submitted by a teacher may not

address them all.

Does the teacher:

create effective teaching and learning experiences?

know the unique backgrounds of children/students and adjust their teaching to meet individual needs and diverse cultural, social and linguistic characteristics?

develop safe, positive and productive learning environments where all children/students are encouraged to participate?

design and implement engaging teaching programs/learning experiences that meet curriculum, assessment and reporting requirements?

use feedback and assessment to analyse and support their children/students’ knowledge and understanding?

use a range of sources, including child/student results, to evaluate their teaching and to adjust their programs to better meet child/student needs?

work collaboratively as part of a team?

work with colleagues to identify, plan and evaluate their own professional learning

5 All TAAs need to have internal policies and procedures in place that enable an attestation to be made for teachers who work in contexts where there is no principal, or for teachers who are the principal.

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needs?

seek out and respond to advice about educational issues regarding their teaching practice?

communicate effectively with children/students, colleagues, parents/carers and community members and behave professionally and ethically in all forums?

Decisions not to accredit

If a teacher does not meet one or more of the requirements for accreditation at Proficient

Teacher as outlined in the Proficient Teacher Accreditation Policy, you may refuse to accredit

them.

If you cannot confidently make a judgement about whether or not a teacher meets all

requirements for accreditation at Proficient Teacher, you can decide that you are not able to

make a decision about their accreditation.

Refusal to accredit

Teachers should be given as much feedback as possible as early as possible, if there is a risk

you will refuse to accredit them.

Before you can record a decision to refuse to accredit a teacher you must give the teacher 28

days written notice of your intention to refuse to accredit them, including your reasons.

Giving the teacher 28 days warning allows the teacher to provide you with more information or

raise any issues relating to their accreditation that may impact the outcome. When you advise

the teacher of your intention, you may request that they amend or provide additional

documentation in support of their accreditation during the 28 days. At the end of the 28-day

notice period, if your judgement has not changed, you will record your decision not to accredit

the teacher.

You can only refuse to accredit a teacher if:

the teacher has completed at least 160 days of teaching;6

the supervisor has complied with your TAA’s internal policies and procedures7, including that:

˗ they have been provided with adequate supervision, feedback and support during their accreditation period; and

˗ they have been informed of Standard Descriptors they are not meeting and provided advice on how to address them;

you have contacted any other TAA/s, where relevant and following consent from the teacher, to assist you in making the accreditation decision;

the teacher has failed to amend or provide additional supporting documentary evidence that demonstrates they satisfy the requirements for accreditation at Proficient Teacher;

the teacher is unable to meet the requirements for accreditation at Proficient Teacher;

6 Not applicable to decisions about immediate accreditation for returning teachers – see the section in this guide on immediate accreditation at Proficient Teacher for returning teachers. 7 TAAs for non-government schools must refer to NESA’s Guidelines for the Regulation of Teacher Accreditation Authorities for Non-government Schools and Early Childhood Education Centres (the TAA Guidelines) for requirements in relation to internal policies and procedures.

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and

you have given the teacher 28 calendar days written warning of an intention to refuse their accreditation, including your reasons.

Once you have recorded your decision you must advise the teacher of your decision in writing,

including your reasons for the decision. If a teacher you have refused to accredit is at or near

the end of their timeframe, you should inform NESA.

Not able to make a decision

Before you can record that you are not able to make an accreditation decision for a teacher,

you should seek their consent to contact any previous TAA/s for more information that may

assist you in making a decision.

If the teacher has no previous TAA/s, or does not consent to you contacting them, or consulting

any other TAA/s does not help you to make a decision, you may record that you are not able to

make a decision.

You can only decide that you are unable to make a decision for a teacher if they have:

done fewer than 160 days of teaching during their accreditation period

not worked in the school/service for long enough to allow you to make a judgement about their practice, including following consultation with the teacher’s previous TAA/s, following consent from the teacher, where applicable.

You must record that you are not able to make a decision within 28 calendar days of the teacher’s acknowledgment of their Proficient Teacher Accreditation Report, including your reasons.

Implications for teachers

If you decide not to accredit a teacher, either because the teacher does not meet requirements

or you can’t confidently make a judgement, the teacher will remain accredited at

conditional/provisional until the end of their maximum accreditation timeframe.

Teachers in these cases may continue to work towards achieving Proficient Teacher with any

TAA. They may request an accreditation decision from any TAA any time after your decision to

not accredit them and before the end of their accreditation timeframe.

Teachers who do not gain accreditation at Proficient Teacher by the end of their maximum

timeframe will cease to be accredited. The ceasing process is managed by NESA.

Immediate Proficient Teacher accreditation decisions

You can decide to accredit an eligible, returning teacher at Proficient Teacher without

documentary evidence, an observation report and a Proficient Teacher Accreditation Report

if their practice meets the Standards for Proficient Teacher.

This option is only available to teachers with provisional accreditation who:

taught in a NSW school before 1 October 2004 or an early childhood service before 18 October 2016; or

have previously been accredited at Proficient Teacher or above in NSW.

Your accreditation decision for an eligible returning teacher must be based on whether or not

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the teacher’s practice meets the Standards for Proficient Teacher.

The application and decision process for immediate accreditation is currently offline.

Teachers can email NESA to confirm their eligibility and request an application form.

You must make a decision about immediate accreditation at Proficient Teacher and record

your decision within 28 calendar days of the returning teacher submitting their request.

If you submit a decision to immediately accredit a teacher at Proficient Teacher who is not

eligible, they will not be accredited at Proficient Teacher.

Your judgement about a returning teacher’s practice against the Standards will be made in

line with the requirements of your TAA’s internal procedures.

In addition to the guiding questions above, you should consider the following when making a

decision about immediate accreditation at Proficient Teacher for a returning teacher:

the teacher’s previous level of accreditation

the length of time away from teaching

the length of employment as a teacher before their absence

the nature of any employment undertaken during their absence from teaching in NSW, including employment as a teacher

any relevant further tertiary study completed during their absence

other appropriate professional or personal circumstances.

NESA online account (eTAMS)

Authorised Person dashboard

You complete all tasks related to accreditation decision making in your NESA online account.8

When a teacher submits their Proficient Teacher Accreditation Report after reading and

acknowledging it, an accreditation decision task will appear in your Authorised Person

dashboard in your NESA online account. You will also receive an email notification.

Other tasks related to the Proficient Teacher accreditation process, including assigning

supervisors, are also completed in your NESA online account. If you are responsible for

assigning supervisors, you will receive notifications to assign supervisors to conditionally and

provisionally accredited teachers who are linked to your school or service.

Please refer to the eTAMS Help page for instructions on how to make Proficient Teacher

accreditation decisions in your NESA online account.

8 Please note NESA will still accept Proficient Teacher applications completed following the offline process, however, all teachers are encouraged to finalise their accreditation following the online process.

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Glossary

Term Definition

annotation (of

documentary

evidence)

A written description by the teacher that explains how an item of documentary

evidence relates to the two to four Standard Descriptors identified, and how

the teacher has successfully integrated the identified Standard Descriptors in

their teaching practice.

approved early

childhood service

(service)

A centre-based early childhood education service, approved under the

Children (Education and Care Services) National Law NSW or the Children

(Education and Care Services) Supplementary Provisions Act 2011.

authentication (of

documentary

evidence)

Confirmation by a teacher’s colleague, who is accredited at Proficient Teacher

or above, that the documentary evidence is the teacher’s own work. The

teacher’s colleague is not confirming whether or not the teacher’s

documentary evidence meets the Standards. Teachers should ensure that

any authentication of their evidence is completed within a reasonable time of

the evidence being collected. A teacher’s evidence may be authenticated

electronically through their NESA online account or in hardcopy. Evidence

authenticated in hardcopy must be signed, dated and include the NESA

account number of the authenticator. Authentication of documentary evidence

occurs throughout a teacher’s accreditation period and before annotation.

Authorised

Delegate

An officer of the TAA, such as a member of the governing board of the TAA or

the chief executive officer, director or other executive role within the TAA, or a

position within the school or early childhood education centre, such as a

Principal (or equivalent), that has been delegated authority by the legal entity

of the TAA to exercise the functions of the TAA.

calendar days For the purposes of Proficient Teacher accreditation, any reference to

calendar days excludes school holidays and employer shutdown periods, as

applicable. If the last day of a specified number of calendar days is a

Saturday, Sunday or Public Holiday, the last day is calculated as the first

school/work day following.

casual teacher A teacher employed by a school/service/employer on a casual basis.

colleague A colleague is a teacher accredited at Proficient Teacher or above who works

in a professional capacity with a teacher and/or supervisor and who has an

understanding of the relevant context. Colleagues can also authenticate items

of documentary evidence for a teacher, see ‘authentication (of documentary

evidence)’

documentary

evidence

Primary evidence of the teacher’s practice that they produce in the course of

their work that illustrates practice at the Standard Descriptors for Proficient

Teacher.

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Term Definition

immediate

accreditation at

Proficient Teacher

The accreditation at Proficient Teacher of a ‘returning teacher’ at any point

during their provisional (re-)accreditation timeframe without the need to fulfil

the requirements set out in Section 4.2 of the Proficient Teacher Accreditation

Policy.

NESA online

account (eTAMS)

A teacher’s accreditation record and profile in NESA’s online teacher

accreditation database, the electronic Teacher Accreditation Management

System (eTAMS).

observation report A report written by a supervisor after doing an observation of practice for a

teacher who is working towards accreditation at Proficient Teacher.

principal The most senior member of the teaching staff of a school, with responsibility

for the effective and efficient day-to-day operations of the school, including

compliance with the Education Act 1990.

professional

activities

The activities that teachers undertake in the course of their teaching practice

in relation to the Standards’ three domains of Professional Knowledge,

Professional Practice and Professional Engagement.

professional

development

Processes, activities and experiences that provide opportunities to extend

teacher learning and support accreditation against the Standards.

Proficient Teacher

Accreditation

Report

The report that a supervisor writes when a provisionally or conditionally

accredited teacher is finalising their accreditation at Proficient Teacher. It is a

description of how a teacher’s practice holistically meets the 7 Standards.

returning teacher A teacher who has previously been accredited at Proficient, Highly

Accomplished or Lead Teacher, or is eligible to be accredited at Proficient

Teacher and has had more than five years away from teaching in NSW.

Standard

Descriptors

The organisers within the Standards that describe professional knowledge,

practice and engagement at four career stages – Graduate, Proficient, Highly

Accomplished and Lead.

the Standards the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers

supervisor For the purposes of Proficient Teacher accreditation, the term supervisor

refers to a teacher who has been delegated in line with the TAA’s procedures

to support a provisionally/conditionally accredited teacher to develop their

practice against the Standards and to fulfil the roles and responsibilities

described in Section 10.2 of the Proficient Teacher Accreditation Policy.

Supervisors must be accredited at Proficient Teacher or above. It is not

required that a teacher undertaking the supervision as described in this Policy

hold a formal supervisory or management role.

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Term Definition

Teacher

Accreditation

Authority (TAA)

A person or body authorised to accredit teachers at specified levels of

accreditation, in accordance with Part 4 of the Teacher Accreditation Act

2004.

In government schools the TAA is the principal.

In Catholic systemic schools the TAA is an officer appointed by the Diocese.

In most independent schools the TAA is the principal.

For most early childhood teachers, NESA is the TAA. (NESA is not the TAA

for early childhood teachers employed in a service operated by a school).

verification (of

documentary

evidence)

Confirmation by the supervisor that the teacher’s annotated documentary

evidence addresses the Standard Descriptor/s identified. Verification of

evidence serves also to confirm that the evidence is the teacher’s own work.