GUIDELINES FOR PREPARING THE
SWAN BILL PORTFOLIO
FOR EVALUATION OF
WORK EXPERIENCE
Prepared by
Jane Twiss, Administrator
State Board of Examiners for Vocational Teachers
(Revised January 2006)
Introduction
The California State Board of Examiners for Vocational Teachers developed the "Application for Evaluation of Work Experience” ("Swan Bill") as the means by which they evaluate and recommend to the CSU campus in which you are enrolled units that may be used toward the Bachelor of Vocational Education (BVE) or, at California State University (CSULB), Bachelor of Science in Occupational Studies. Careful attention to the accurate preparation of the application is important! An inaccurately or poorly documented application may result in a request from the Board for resubmission of which could delay your graduation.
The purpose of this presentation is to help you understand:
1. The rationale for the "Swan Bill" application,
2. The role of the California State Board of Examiners for Vocational Teachers, and
3. The role of your instructor and/or academic advisor.
More specifically, the objective is for you to be able to prepare a "Swan Bill" application in accordance with the requirements of Section 89220, 89221, 89222, and 89223 of the California Education Code of 1976.
These guidelines are not designed to replace a personal meeting with your academic adviser, but rather to give you a detailed explanation of a fairly comprehensive document.
In reading these instructions and when reviewing an example application, if available, pay careful attention to the candidates’ explanations of related career experiences and required documentation. The Board requires clear and accurate descriptions with evidence supporting your statements.
Before your adviser and/or instructor can process and approve your "Swan Bill” for submission to the State Board of Examiners, each candidate must meet all of the following minimum qualifications:
1. Be a high school graduate or have a GED equivalency; and
2. Have a minimum of seven (7) years of full-time actual work experience in a trade or occupation which is the same as, or related to, both the vocational teaching credential and/or vocational teaching or training or five (5) years and an associate degree in a related field; and
3. Have a minimum of 1,620 hours of full time teaching/training experience in a vocational setting; or
4. Have a minimum of 1,000 hours of teaching experience in an approved trade extension class (e.g., training academy, work setting, community college, ROP, etc.). (Part-time teaching generally comes under this requirement.)
If you do not meet any of these qualifications, please contact your adviser immediately.
The "Swan Bill' application is divided into three sections:
1. Section A--Occupational experience,
2. Section B--Teaching experience related to occupational experience and your vocational teaching credential, and
3. Section C--Professional growth and development.
Occupational experience is divided into two categories: work experience and supervisory/managerial experience. This experience corresponds to the technical content courses a teacher education candidate would complete in other majors, e.g., technology education, public safety, computer science, business.
Teaching experience is treated as credit that is equivalent to student teaching. And finally, professional growth and development experience may be described as "continuing education," which is required or recommended in many professions.
A candidate may receive a Board recommendation for a maximum of 40 semesterunits or 60 quarter units, divided approximately as follows:
Semester Quarter
Units Units
1. Occupational experience 22 33
2. Teaching experience 10 15
3. Professional growth and development 8 12
Maximum Total 40 60
You are strongly urged to begin the application process early in your degree program; certainly you should gather, as soon as possible, the various documents supporting your application. You will probably find it best to make a photocopy of the application forms and then develop a handwritten rough draft of the application for your instructor's first review. If necessary, you can then make corrections and additions in preparation of the final document.
Development
Read carefully the first page of the application booklet. Please note that you should not send document originals (send only copies), and that there are only two submission dates per academic year: September 30 and March 31. Your application must be received in the State Board of Examiners for Vocational Teachers’ office prior to these two deadline dates. The Board will meet within one month of the submission dates and you will be notified of your recommended units within one month of the Board meeting.
Preliminary Information
The preliminary information includes the adviser's certification, evaluation of experience, and personal information.
Adviser's certification. You should fill-in the information on this page, but it should not be signed by your adviser until he/she has approved your final application for submission to the Board.
Evaluation of experience. Fill-in your name and vocational subject teaching field or fields as stated on your credential authorizing service as a vocational teacher. DO NOT CALCULATE ANY OF THE FORMULAS; THIS IS YOUR ADVISER'S RESPONSIBILITY ONCE YOUR FINAL MASTER COPY HAS BEEN APPROVED.
Personal information. This page is fairly self-explanatory. However, note that your principal, school director, chancellor, president, director of training, or training officer should be listed as your administrator. Teaching references include your dean, department chair, program coordinator, and colleagues who can verify your teaching and/or training experience. A copy of your teaching credential and other related licenses, such as a cosmetology instructor's license or registered nurse's certificate, should be placed behind the tab entitled “Credentials/Certificates” immediately following the Personal Information forms in the front of your portfolio. If your most recent credential has been approved, but not received from the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing, a letter from the coordinator of your designated subjects credentials program should be submitted verifying the status of your credential.
Section A: Work/Supervisory Experience - Sections A-1 and A-2
Sections A-1 and A-2 deal with your occupational experience. Specifically, Section A-1 is for work that is non-management, and Section A-2 is for supervisory/management experience. Be careful to list each separate job title as either work or supervisory experience – credit cannot be given in both sections. If necessary, make additional copies of these sheets. Be sure to provide a complete description of your major work duties. List your most recent employment first. Teaching and educational supervision and coordination are not counted as work or supervisor/management experience.
All employment experiences must be verified by one or more of the following methods:
1. A signed statement on letterhead stationery from the employer(s) verifying (a) length of employment, (b) number of hours if the employment was part-time, (c) your job title, and (d) a description of your responsibilities.
2. A notarized statement which you write verifying your job title, description of responsibilities, and length of time of employment. This option may only be used when (a) the employer is deceased, (b) the business is closed, or (c) if you are or were self-employed. Notarized resumes will be accepted pending receipt of other supportive data. You may need to include additional supportive documents such as W-2 forms, tax statements, or a letter from your bookkeeper, accountant, or attorney if you owned a business. Copies of letters submitted to obtain your teaching credential are usually appropriate.
If one letter is used to verify both work and supervisory/management experiences, then two copies of the letter must be made. One should be placed in Appendix A-1 and the other in Appendix A-2. Be sure to organize your supportive documents in the same order as you entered them in Sections A-1 and A-2 for work experience and supervisory/management experience.
NOTE! At this time you may want to review an example application if one is available.
Section B contains the forms for teaching experience. Section B-1 is the Teacher Rating Scale, and Sections B-2a and B-2b are forms to list full and/or part-time teaching experience.
Teacher rating scale-B-1. The "Teacher Rating Scale" must be completed by an administrator who has observed your teaching or training on a regular basis. This person may be your dean, program coordinator, department chair, or training director.
Teaching experience-B-2a and B-2b. Your teaching experience must be well documented, including verification of subjects taught, the total of student contact hours, and the
number of months at each institution. Verification letters are placed in Appendix B-2a for full time teaching and Appendix B-2b for part-time teaching. Letters must be organized in the same order as you entered your teaching experience on the forms. Be sure to separate full-time and part-time teaching, even if they occurred at the same institution at different times. Part-time teaching at one institution should be entered only once, even though there may have been periods of breaks in service.
NOTE! Firefighters receive hours of teaching or training credit as follows:
Police officers receive hours of teaching or training credit as follows:
Section C - Professional Development
In Section C-1, list all colleges and universities you have attended and place COPIES of all of your transcripts of post-secondary academic work. Military veterans may need to include their DD 214. On the forms, indicate the institutions, fields of study, units completed, degrees and/or diplomas received and dates attended. Place copies of all transcripts listed on the forms in Appendix C-1.
In Section C-2--"Professional Organizations," list areas of involvement in professional organizations in dealing with your teaching/training only. These include such organizations
as the Association for Career and Technical Education, the California Teachers Association, the American Federation of Teachers, the California Association of Health Career Educators, the fire or police training officer associations. The key criteria for listing here is that the organizations
are primarily concerned with your professional development as a teacher. Place proof of your membership and level of activity, e.g., member, secretary-treasurer, etc. in Appendix C-2.
In Section C-3—“Literature/Research” list brief descriptions of your scholarly and creative activities. This includes, but is not limited to, published articles and books, speeches, service as a consultant, and work on widely distributed curriculum projects. Developing your curriculum does not meet the preceding criteria unless it is a uniquely innovative effort. Provide clear proof of your activity in Appendix C-3. If you have written a large document, be sure that your adviser has reviewed the entire work and then include a sample, e.g., cover page and table of contents, in Appendix C-3.
In Section C.4--"Occupational Organizations," is presented and documented much the same as "Professional Organizations." However, it must be noted that "Occupational Organizations" are not concerned principally with education, but rather with the status of your technical field and the promotion of your technical occupation. Examples of these types of organizations include the American Nursing Association, the Society of Manufacturing Engineers, the California State Firefighters' Association, PORAC, and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers. Provide evidence of your level of involvement in Appendix C-4.
In Section, C-5 "Occupational Contacts," briefly list activities pertaining to remaining current in your technical field (i.e., contact with individuals, visitations, meetings). Write a brief description of the activity. List all journals, magazines you subscribe to and/or consistently read and make copies of the cover page for the appendix C-5 as verification. Put all supportive evidence in Appendix C-5.
In Section C-6--"Occupational Development," list all continuing education completed in the last five years. The instructions are self-explanatory, but candidates often fail to provide adequate documentation. Certificates of completion and letters are the more common methods of documentation. Public safety officers may include their POST print-out or personnel print-out showing all training classes attended. These are placed in Appendix C-6.
Conclusion
This presentation has been developed to assist you in the preparation of your "Swan Bill" application. As you prepare your "Swan Bill" portfolio, you may have to refer to various sections of this guide, examine examples of previously submitted applications, and consult with your instructor and/or adviser.
After you have completed a draft of your application, submit it to your instructor for his/her review. Once the draft is approved, you should complete the final copy and then resubmit it to your instructor or adviser for the calculations of estimated units and for final approval and signature.
Also, be sure you complete your certification statement on the second page.
Next, make a copy of the entire application for yourself and double check your documentation (including index tabs). It is strongly recommended that you put the final copy in a 3-ring binder and insert a copy of the cover page with your name on the front of the binder for ease in reviewing. Do not encase documents or forms in plastic as this makes the binder too bulky. Include the $250 money order or cashier’s check made out to CSULB Foundation and place it in an envelope in the proper place.
Finally, mail (Certified mail or courier service, e.g. Federal Express, is recommended) or bring the portfolio to:
State Board of Vocational Examiners
c/o Center for Career Studies
California State University, Long Beach
1250 Bellflower Blvd. – HS&D Building, Room 117
Long Beach, CA 90840
If you need further assistance or have questions regarding your portfolio, please contact
the Board Administrator, Jane Twiss @ (562) 985-4695 or by e-mail: jtwiss@csulb.edu
Note! You will receive a letter of notification of units recommended within 4-6 weeks after submission deadline. Your original Swan Bill will be returned to you under separate cover. For CSULB students, you may deliver your Swan Bill in person either through your advisor or directly to the Board Office located in HS&D, Room 117.