State Efficiencies: Busting the Licensure Backlog & Program Approval NASDTEC Annual Conference June 9, 2015 Brian Devine

Spring 2013: Our challenge 9,500 individuals waiting to hear from ESE & 10,000+ applications awaiting review.

We responded: We dug in 1.Convened an “backlog busting” internal working group 2.Analyzed data 3.Proposed solutions 4.Brought in INSPIRE, an external consulting group ($200/month for 4 months) 5.Reviewed INSPIRE’s ideas (they confirmed our recommendations) 6.Implemented ideas Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education 3

Formula for improvement 1. Increase number of applications we evaluate per month. 2. Decrease number of applications. 3. Increase the rate that an application is licensed upon review. Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education 4

Increase number of applications we evaluate  Solutions: Redeploy staff  Solution: Work toward clear targets (what would it take to bust the backlog by a certain date?)  Solution: Very limited overtime Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education 5

Monthly targets: 6,384 evals Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education 6

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8 Monthly targets since busting the backlog

Decrease applications & Increase Licensure rate  Increase the percentage of licenses issued (right now, average is less than 30%, so about 70% of applications reviewed do not get licensed).  Solutions:  Alter the way some of the applications are triggered for a review  Adjust some policies and procedures Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education 9

Time Taken to Issue Licenses Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education 10

Other Licensure work in 2014  Renewed over 52,000 licenses for over 34,000 educators.  Issued over 13,000 SEI Endorsements  Answered over 29,000 calls to the Licensure Call Center (received over 38,000)  Entered over 74,000 documents into ELAR: 8,262 were uploaded. Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education 11

Data as of May, 2015  Backlog: What backlog! Application turnaround had generally been less than two weeks since 10/31/14;  199,225 applications reviewed in Since 6/1/13 & a new record of over 101,000 in  Issued a record 26,507 in 2014 and over 8,000 thus far in Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education 12

Where did we go from busting the backlog?  Maintain a rapid turnaround time - <2 weeks during none peak periods.  Expanded Call Center hours  Redesigned Website  Reformatting documents for consistent look & feel  Redesigning & restructuring evaluation letters  An overall focus on quality & consistency Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education 13

Prep Backlog: In April 2013…  Accountability & Approval (Reviews):  5 reviews from 2009 and 2011 without finalized reports  Numerous new programs put forth awaiting review  31 Leadership Programs pending approval, set to expire in August – reviews had not begun  Assistances & Support:  Technical questions answered infrequently and inconsistently – sometimes with a turnaround rate of more than a month (or sometimes not at all)  Field has very low/limited confidence in ESE  Specialists feeling overburdened, unfocused and totally reactive “can’t get ahead”  issue for long- term retention

Root Cause Analysis: Reviews  Identified several aspects of the existing process that were a drag on time:  Finding qualified reviewers on an as needed basis  Providing constructive feedback on various iterations of submissions  Retaining reviewers & training them to effectively wade through page submissions  Editing and revising the quality of written reports – ensuring that they accurately reflect the standards and evidence collected  New reviews could come in at any time – hard to plan for

Root Cause Analysis: Assistance  Identified several factors that were preventing timely, high-quality, consistent support:  Regulatory language and guidance not always easy to interpret  Guidance documents were not easily accessible – in content or format  Inquiries come in unexpectedly and are hard to plan for (some take 5 minutes, some can take 2 hours to resolve) – take other work way off track  Often need manager/director weigh in in order to move forward – created bottleneck, lead to further delays

Actions Taken: Reviews  Created a window (Feb 1 – May 31) each year for new program submissions.  Accepting new submissions during a defined period of time means we can control and anticipate the flow of reviews  Review programs ONLY if need is demonstrated  Simple process - Needs Assessment (500 words or less)  Planned cycle of recruitment, selection and training for a cohort of reviewers  Structured, focused submission – specific prompts and word limits  No longer:  Provide feedback on quality of submissions prior to review  Use syllabi as the crux of the review process  Time consuming, no guarantee/assurance of results

Actions Taken: Assistance  All inquiries come through single, central repository  Weekly technical assistance meetings with the entire team, including management  Creates structure to guarantee responses are turnaround in a week or less  Ensures that responses are consistent and accurate  Created a preparation-specific licensure liaison to help expedite licensure inquiries and ensure consistency across the two departments  Published additional set of one-page/quick reference advisories for commonly asked questions  Conduct annual Field Feedback Survey to assess Ed Prep’s own efficacy

Results: Review & Assistance  On the 2014 Field Feedback Survey:  83% of our field stated that information/answers provided by ESE are always or usually “timely” and “consistent throughout Ed Prep”  100% of review deadlines have been met  Backlog of programs awaiting reviews or reports no longer exists  No longer review programs without demonstrated need.  In the cohort of review, 1/3 (n=158) programs expired (all zero-completer/low- enrollment where need was not demonstrated)

MA Prep Resources  Needs Assessment Advisory  Review Toolkit  Worksheets for structured submission  Field Feedback Report & Response  Contact Information:  Meagan Comb

Thanks for your time! Questions, Discussion, Conversation