Centre for Teacher Accreditation

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Centre for Teacher Accreditation (CENTA) is an India-based organization that offers a Certification of competencies for teachers. It is a social enterprise that intends to use CENTA Certificates as a means by which teacher professional growth is catalysed. Further, these certificates are used to connect teachers to better opportunities. Individual schools and school chains have begun to use CENTA certification as a signal of teacher quality. The Certification is based on CENTA standards, developed as a competency framework for teachers.

CENTA conducts a national competition called the Teaching Professionals' Olympiad in the month of December every year. This is an objective test for teachers, and is held across India. It also conducts practical assessments, which are available in different subject tracks and levels based on teaching experience. The founders of CENTA are Ramya Venkataraman and Anjali Jain. Former founder Nalini Haridas remains an active advisor. The Advisory Board of CENTA includes Ashish Dhawan, Chairman of Central Square Foundation, Bahram Vakil, Founding Partner, AZB & Partners, Michael Fernandes, Partner, LeapFrog Investments, Sridhar Rajagopalan, Chairman, Educational Initiatives India Pvt. Ltd., Dr. Ganesh Natarajan, Founder, 5F World and Chairman, NASSCOM Foundation, and Dr. James Tooley, Professor of Education Policy, Newcastle University, UK.

Video Centre for Teacher Accreditation

Founders

Ramya Venkataraman is Founder & CEO of Centre for Teacher Accreditation (CENTA). Prior to this, Ramya was with McKinsey & Company for close to 16 years, including as Leader of the Education Practice, which she built, and in multiple other industry sectors/geographies in the first 10 years. Ramya was recently elected an Ashoka Fellow in recognition of her leadership and continued contributions to the education space. She earlier received a Global Entrepreneurship Award from McKinsey, was profiled by a Professor from the Institute of Education, UK, for system level impact. Ramya holds a B.Tech from IIT Delhi and an MBA from IIM Calcutta, and has received awards for leadership at both institutes.

Anjali Jain is the co-founder of Centre for Teacher Accreditation (CENTA). She has almost 20 years of business development and operations experience across IT, pharma and skill development/ education, in India, Europe and South East Asia. She is an alumnus of IIM Calcutta and Punjab Engineering College, Chandigarh.

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CENTA Standards

The CENTA Standards form the basis for the CENTA Certificates and Teaching Professionals' Olympiad (TPO). The CENTA Standards are a set of expectations for teachers at different stages of their career. The CENTA Standards correspond to the three Levels of the CENTA Certificates: L1 for new teachers, L2 for experienced teachers (say, with 3 to 10 years of experience) and L3 for senior teachers (say, with 10+ years of teaching experience).

The CENTA Standards main cover three sets of Competencies: (1) Technical Competencies (specific to teaching as a profession); (2) Core Competencies (fundamental to an individual and relevant across professions); (3) Professional Competencies (relevant for effective interactions in the teacher's professional environment). Additionally, the Standards also have a section on mindsets.

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The CENTA Certificate and Micro-Credentials

CENTA Certification is a certification for grade 1 to 12 teachers (including full-time, supplementary and voluntary teachers and aspiring teachers such as B.Ed students, professional fellows in Education) based on the rigorously developed CENTA Standards. The CENTA Certification intends to recognize outstanding teachers, therefore opening up a range of potential opportunities for them. Further, it will help the teacher reflect upon his/her professional growth.

CENTA Certificate currently consists of five Micro-Credentials, namely Subject Expertise, Content Development, Student Assessment & Remediation, Classroom Communication and Professional Competencies. These Micro-Credentials can be taken independently and at the candidate's own pace (subject to timeline criteria). Each of first four CENTA Micro-Credentials are relevant for specific roles/opportunities. All five Micro-Credentials, when completed successfully, add up to the CENTA Certification. Additional specialist Micro-Credentials will be added over time; for example, Technology in Education, Diversity & Inclusion.

Levels and Subject-grade combinations

CENTA Certification is available at three levels, corresponding to the experience levels of teachers: Level 1 (L1): New Teacher (typically less than 3 years of experience), Level 2 (L2): Experienced Teacher (typically 3 to 10 years of experience), and Level 3 (L3): Senior Teacher (typically more than 10 years of experience).

The Certification and Micro-Credentials are currently available in 14 subject-grade combinations whose syllabus is board agnostic: Primary (Language, Maths, EVS) in English, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu mediums, Middle School English, Middle School Maths, Middle School Science, Middle School Social Studies and High School English, High School Maths, High School Biology, High School Physics, High School Chemistry and High School Economics. More subjects will be added over time.

Certification Process

The Certification process is fully technology supported, enabling the submissions to be done online from anywhere. The Assessment is undertaken by a panel of experts. The process involves two kinds of assessments:

1. Candidates need to submit ePortfolio Submissions (such as lesson plan, classroom videos, student portfolio, assessment portfolio), and video interview (specific to certain Micro-Credentials only)

2. Candidates need to take a proctored assessment involving objective and subjective questions. This is proctored remotely online using audio-visual equipment; in case of specific batches of candidates, proctoring at a local centre is available as an option.

Key takeaways

CENTA Certification and Micro-Credential: CENTA Micro-Credential can be earned by achieving the cut-off scores. CENTA Certification can be earned by scoring an aggregate cut-off in all five Micro-Credentials.

Confidential Performance Report: A confidential performance report (shared only to the candidate) provides scores with strength and development areas in competencies assessed. This can be used for specific inputs into professional development.

Professional Development Linkages: Access to information for addressing specific professional development needs: Online content, Online courses and Training entities

Recognition and Career Opportunities: Access to a range of benefits including career opportunities, rewards and recognition

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CENTA Teaching Professionals' Olympiad

CENTA Teaching Professionals' Olympiad (TPO) is the first-of-its-kind national competition to reward, recognize and celebrate teachers in India, and can contribute scores to the CENTA Certification. TPO is based on the CENTA Standards, a set of well-defined competencies for teachers. TPO covers a subset of the CENTA Standards and interested candidates can go through the practical assessment post the TPO to attain the CENTA Certification/Micro-Credentials.

TPO is held on second Saturday of December every year. The next Olympiad is scheduled to be held on December 9, 2017 at 28 locations in India and one centre in Dubai.

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Awards and Recognition

• 'Honoring Omidyar Network's Women Entrepreneurs Changing Education , Omidyar Network (March 15, 2018)
• 'Chalk and Challenges' , a book co-authored by CENTA TPO 2015 and 2016 winners with facilitation from Central Square Foundation, was given to National Award for Teachers recipients felicitated by Vice President Shri Venkaiah Naidu. (September 5, 2017)
• 'Top 60 Social Enterprises' to watch for in Asia in 2017 , DBS-NUS Social Venture Challenge Asia (June 19, 2017)
• Member, Global Alliance on Teachers, Varkey Foundation, (Mar 13, 2016)
• Member, FICCI School Education committee
• Knowledge Partner, NITI Aayog (July 2017)
• Ramya Venkataraman, Founder & CEO, CENTA, elected as Ashoka Fellow (global network of social entrepreneurs) as part of 2016 cohort.
• Ramya Venkataraman, Founder & CEO, CENTA, Invitee, Teacher Education Task Force, Union Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India

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References

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Further reading

• Ramya Venkataraman (January 17, 2018), "Market forces can be powerful in driving social change", India Development Review (IDR)
• Ramya Venkataraman (Oct 10, 2017), "Making teaching an aspirational career", Education World India
• Ramya Venkataraman (Sep 20, 2017), "Motivating the motivator", Deccan Herald
• Ramya Venkataraman (Sep 20, 2017), "Why Market-Driven Teacher Certification is the Need of the hour", Entrepreneur India
• Ramya Venkataraman (Sep 14, 2015), "Recognising excellence in the teaching profession", The Hindu 
• Nalini Haridas (Aug 31, 2015), "Framing success in teaching", The Hindu 

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External links

• "Two teachers bag two-week masterclass at Oxford". Business Standard. Retrieved 2018-04-09.
• "Meet the principal from Hyderabad who has topped an exam for teachers". EdExLive. Retrieved 2018-02-14.
• "Assam teachers shine at national-level meet". Times of India. Retrieved 2018-02-05.
• "18 NE teachers win Olympiad". The Telegraph. Retrieved 2018-02-02.
• "BEd students take up MOOCs, new programmes and workshops to stay updated". Hindustan Times. Retrieved 2018-01-27.
• "Tutors shine at Olympiad". The Telegraph. Retrieved 2017-12-29.
• "8,000 take CENTA Olympiad". The Hindu. Retrieved 2017-12-11.
• "'Get ready for CENTA's Teaching Professional's Olympiad". The Hindu. Retrieved 2017-11-11.
• "'Dell Aarambh' partners CENTA to empower teachers". The Hill Times. Retrieved 2017-11-09.
• "CENTA announces the third edition of the Teaching Professionals' Olympiad". The Hindu. Retrieved 2017-11-09.
• "Registration for CENTA Teaching Professionals Olympiad closes on November 12". The Hindu. Retrieved 2017-11-07.
• "Dell Aarambh partners with CENTA to empower teachers". IANS.. Retrieved 2017-11-04.
• "Oxford University Press partners with CENTA for the Teaching Professionals' Olympiad". MENAFN.. Retrieved 2017-10-06.
• "Oxford University Press partners with CENTA to conduct Teaching Professionals' Olympiad". India Today. Retrieved 2017-10-05.
• "The tech dimension". The Hindu. Retrieved 2017-10-04.
• "Curriculum revamp to transform teaching". The Hindu. Retrieved 2017-10-04.
• "Olympiad for teachers". The Hindu. Retrieved 2017-09-07.
• "CENTA TPO Teaching Professionals' Olympiad 2017". Mota Chasma. Retrieved 2017.
• "Calling teachers countrywide". The Hindu. Retrieved 2017-09-01.
• "CENTA to conduct Teaching Professional's Olympiad on December 3". The Indian Express. Retrieved 2017-05-18. 
• "Centre for Teacher Accreditation announces second edition of Teaching Professionals' Olympiad". The Hindu. Retrieved 2017-05-18. 
• "India education: Gap in quality between government and public schools is troubling | The National". Thenational.ae. 2016-09-17. Retrieved 2017-05-18. 

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