Educator Certification System (ECS) Entitlement Certificate Application and Registration

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1 Educator Certification System (ECS) Entitlement Certificate Application and Registration September 1, 2006

2 Introduction... 3 Access to ECS... 3 Apply for Entitlement Certificate... 5 Register Issued Entitlement Certificate Professional Development /1/2006 Page 2

Introduction The Illinois State Board of Education s Online Teacher Information System (OTIS), Certificate Renewal Tracking System (CeRTS) have been merged together to form the new Educator s

3 Introduction The Illinois State Board of Education s Online Teacher Information System (OTIS), Certificate Renewal Tracking System (CeRTS) have been merged together to form the new Educator s Certification System (ECS). ECS is a web-based system that allows educators and district administrators access to certification data from ISBE s Teacher Certification Information System (TCIS). The ECS web site consists of two portals, or doorways to certification data: District administrators can view certification data that is considered public information; that is issued educator credentials. ECS also allows educators to create private accounts and have access to all of their TCIS data, apply for certificates and endorsements, register and renew their certificates, and apply for NCLB HOUSSE HQ status. ECS accepts only credit cards as payment for application services, Discover, American Express, Visa and MasterCard cards. Access to ECS ECS can be accessed on any computer with internet access and an internet browser at 7/1/2006 Page 3

4 Refer to the General System Documentation under the ECS User Manuals menu for instructions on setting up an account and for general system functionality. 7/1/2006 Page 4

5 ECS Summary Screen All previous OTIS functionality has been transferred to ECS and has not been changed. You will find menu items for various services and data viewing on the left and Frequently Asked Questions and customized links and notes in the remaining portion of the Summary Screen. If you have been recently awarded an entitlement certificate by completing an approved teacher education program you will have displayed in your FAQ/Summary screen a message stating You have an entitlement certificate waiting for your application ATTENTION. Apply for Entitlement Certificate To apply for this entitlement certificate click on the message link and the following screen will appear with your entitlement certificate listed. 7/1/2006 Page 5

If your certificate is not yet ready for application and you think it should be contact your institution.

6 The Entitlement Complete column must display YES in order for you to apply for your certificate. If your certificate does not appear on this screen, or the Entitlement Complete column statues NO then your certificate is not yet ready for application. If your certificate is not yet ready for application and you think it should be contact your institution. Alternatively you can click on the Applications menu item and then on the Apply for Entitlement Certificate menu item. Keep in mind if you did not have a FAQ/Summary message displayed on your Home page your certificate is not yet ready for application. If you are enrolled in an IL approved teacher or administrator program do not attempt to apply for a certificate through transcript evaluation. You will be sent a deficiency letter stating that you must wait for your institution to entitle you and your $30 fee will be surrendered. 7/1/2006 Page 6

The first step of the application wizard will ask you to confirm your identity: Before

7 Start the application process for your entitlement certificate by clicking on the Apply Online link, as shown above. The first step of the application wizard will ask you to confirm your identity: Before the application process continues ECS will match your entitlement certificate and approved program against testing requirements. 7/1/2006 Page 7

If you have not passed one or more of the required ICTS exams a screen will be displayed informing you that your certificate will not be issued because it is deficient.

8 If you have not passed one or more of the required ICTS exams a screen will be displayed informing you that your certificate will not be issued because it is deficient. This step will ask you if you want to continue with the application process and receive a deficiency letter or cancel the application process and re-apply at a later time when you have passed the required exams. 7/1/2006 Page 8

9 If you have passed all the required exams the application process will proceed with the first step requesting you to verify your address information. It is important that this address is correct as it is the address to which your certificate will be mailed. 7/1/2006 Page 9

10 Step 2 of the application wizard asks you your citizenship status. If you are not an U.S. citizen you will need to apply for your certificate in person at a regional office of education due to additional documentation being required. 7/1/2006 Page 10

11 Steps 3-8 are a series of background questions that you are required to answer. Answer each of the six background questions and click on the Next button to continue through to each question. 7/1/2006 Page 11

12 Step 9 is only presented when the type of certificate being entitled is a Special K-12 Type 10 certificate. If this is the case, step 9 will ask you if you want to split the Type 10 certificate into an Elementary K-9 Type 03 and Secondary 6-12 Type 09 certificates. 7/1/2006 Page 12

13 Step 10 asks you to enter your credit card information 7/1/2006 Page 13

14 The final step asks you to confirm all the information you have entered and to electronically sign the certificate application 7/1/2006 Page 14

15 To submit your entitlement application click on the Yes All information is correct button and click on the Submit button. ECS will link to the credit card processing vendor and upon successful payment a screen will be displayed showing the status of your certificate. Print this screen for your records. Register Issued Entitlement Certificate To register your newly issued entitlement certificate click on the Register/Renew menu item. 7/1/2006 Page 15

16 Then click on the Register/Renew Certificates link below the list of your certificates. Follow the steps of the eleven-step wizard. The first two steps will once again ask you to verify your identity and address information. The third step asks you to select the region where you want to register your certificate. This region should be the regional you will be teaching in or if not teaching the region where you live. 7/1/2006 Page 16

17 Several of the remaining registration/renewal steps will be skipped for newly issued entitlement certificates. These skipped steps are used to ask renewal questions on existing certificates. Step 10 will ask you to enter your credit card information. 7/1/2006 Page 17

18 Step 11 will once again ask you to verify the information entered and electronically sign the registration application 7/1/2006 Page 18

19 You can now see that the certificate has been registered. Remember to register your certificate in all regions where it will be used; only one fee is required for the entire state, so if you now register this certificate in other regions there will be no additional charges for registration. Professional Development Educators can now enter their professional development activities in ECS. Please refer to the Initial Certificate Renewal Manual under the ECS User Manuals menu in ECS. 7/1/2006 Page 19

Educator Certification System (ECS) General System Information

Educator Certification System (ECS) General System Information September 1, 2006 Introduction... 3 Access to ECS... 3 Already Have a Previous OTIS or CeRTS Account?... 4 New Account Setup... 4 Reset Exiting