Creative Teacher Education Institute

Creative Teacher Education Institute (CTEI) is an online professional development provider for teachers. It sells graduate-level professional development and continuing in-service education courses that educators use for academic advancement, salary steps and license and certificate renewal. The home page names it a NYSED-Approved CTLE (Continuing Teacher and Leader Education) Sponsor and a PDE-Approved Act 48 Provider, and the footer gives its CTLE sponsor number for New York State as #23231 and an address in Ronkonkoma, NY. The site describes the team as "a team of NYS Teachers sharing our best practice with other teachers", and courses run in Moodle Classrooms, an online classroom with forums, chat rooms, wikis, video conference and email to the instructor.

The reader here is a working K-12 teacher or administrator who needs credit hours or graduate units, not a course creator. The entry also sits in the continuing education category, because what CTEI sells is credit: in-service units, graduate-level units through a university partner, NYC P and A+ credit and LAUSD salary points.

Course structure and time commitment

The institute's New York page sets one structure for every course. Students have "a mandated 45 hours of online class time" to complete the assignments. Each course has a minimum of ten assignments, and the page puts each one at 4 and a half hours of classroom time. Assignment work draws on research from internet resources, articles and books, instructor-driven lesson plans, video, podcasting and slideshows, depending on the course.

Graduate courses are graded with an academic letter grade rubric posted on each course site, and in-service courses are assessed pass/fail. Every student contributes to weekly forums and discussion boards, and the page says participation in the classroom forum is required once a week. A course hours log can be downloaded from the website; the instructor can verify it and the teacher can hand it to an administrator who asks for it.

Assignments follow a format each instructor posts on the course website, and all documents are uploaded to Moodle. Student assignments and activity reports can be made available to administrators on prior request, which matters for a district that wants evidence of the work behind the credit. Courses follow a published timeline on the website and in a downloadable catalog, and the page says students must meet the requirements within that period. Registration runs online, and the site also offers mail-in registration forms.

Faculty and instruction

The page describes the faculty as "highly trained NYS Permanently Certified Teachers working in NYS classrooms every day". They build and teach the online courses, including the pedagogical and communication strategies needed in a virtual classroom, and the site calls them experts in their area of education and in technology. The home page adds that the courses are written by an "experienced group of certified teachers" still working in schools, and pitches the result as material teachers can take straight into their own classrooms: "We write and facilitate real lessons that can be effectively used every day for your curriculum needs."

Instructors check that students do their own work through assignment follow-ups, the forum, video and email contact. Students must cite every resource used in their assignments, and the page says course materials and assignments change over time to avoid plagiarism. The featured courses on the home page name their instructors: Richard Faber teaches Understanding Growth Mindset, Janice McLachlan teaches Welcoming Diversity and Including Immigrant Students in the K-12 Classroom, and Jason Stevenson teaches Answering the Question "Why?" in Science.

Credit types and university partners

CTEI sells several kinds of credit, and the New York page spells out what each one gets the teacher.

In-service professional development units. These are awarded for completing the coursework, and the student receives "duplicate official certificates of completion" from CTEI after the course end date, with what the page calls the institute's NYS approved seal. The page states plainly that these hours "are not applicable to a degree program" and that in-service students do not receive a university transcript.

Graduate level professional development units. The home page says graduate courses are offered in partnership with the University of the Pacific, accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges, and Adams State University, accredited by the Higher Learning Commission. For University of the Pacific units, the page says the course appears on a university transcript for academic credit and the student gets a grade report from the university and can request an official transcript. It also says these credits "are not applicable to any degree program at University of Pacific, but may be transferable to another college upon approval". The menu also lists Andrews University, and the Welcoming Diversity course is tagged with it.

NYC P credit and A+ courses. Through the NYC Department of Education's After School Professional Development Program (ASPDP), the page says teachers receive P and A+ credit toward salary differential advancement and CTLE hours on courses from the approved list.

LAUSD salary points. A partnership with the Los Angeles Unified School District gives LAUSD-approved salary points toward salary advancement, again for courses on an approved list.

The site recommends district approval before enrolling "as tuition is nonrefundable".

Prices and example courses

Courses are sold through a shop on the site, organized by month, subject and instructor. The three featured courses on the home page show the pricing:

• Understanding Growth Mindset: $199.00 to $215.00, 3 graduate level or in-service credits, 45 hours.
• Welcoming Diversity and Including Immigrant Students in the K-12 Classroom: $199.00 to $265.00, graduate level or in-service credits, 45 hours.
• Answering the Question "Why?" in Science: $265.00, 3 graduate level or in-service credits, 45 hours.

The range on the first two reflects product variants, chosen on each course page. The Welcoming Diversity listing carries a BOGO offer for in-service and graduate level: register for any course and get that course for $100 off. The menu also links a Special Discounts page.

Standards, memberships and approvals

The learning design is based on Next Generation and Common Core Learning Standards, instructional technology and the National Educational Technology Standards, and instructor materials follow NYSED-approved curriculum, pedagogy and methods. The institute lists memberships in the National Staff Development Council/Learning Forward, the New York Staff Development Council/NYS Learning Forward and the New York State Council for Computers and Technology in Education, and names NYSUT, NEA, AFT, UFT and Teachers without Borders among the organizations it belongs to. It describes itself as a NYS incorporated institution. The home page also calls CTEI "the leader of teacher's professional development online courses", which is the institute's own claim.

Support and evaluation

The page says distance learners get academic advisement, technical support and information services through the website or by email to creativeteachered@gmail.com. The site footer also lists customersupport@creativeteachered.org and two phone numbers, (866) 675-1060 and (631) 676-3529. Orientation resources are on the website and offered at registration.

At the end of each course, students evaluate the institution and the instructor, and surveys and discussion boards feed what the page calls continuous program growth. Any administrator can request further documentation about the programs. The home page carries testimonials from teachers named Suzanne, Marissa and Emily; one writes, "I will forever be changed as an educator because of it."

Where it serves

The footer lists the states it serves: New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, California, Colorado, Indiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire and Pennsylvania, with professional development course hours offered for CA, CO, CT, IN, MA, ME, MD, MO, PA, NH, NJ, NY and NV. Within New York it names NYC, Suffolk County, Nassau County, Queens, Brooklyn, Bronx, Staten Island and Westchester.

Who it suits

CTEI suits a New York teacher who needs CTLE hours, a NYC DOE teacher chasing P or A+ credit for a salary differential, an LAUSD teacher collecting salary points, or a Pennsylvania teacher logging Act 48 hours. It also suits a teacher in one of the listed states who wants three graduate-level units on a University of the Pacific transcript for salary advancement, and is happy with a 45-hour, ten-assignment online course built around classroom-ready lessons.

It is a weaker fit for someone who wants credits toward a degree: the in-service hours do not apply to one, and the University of the Pacific units do not count toward a degree there, transfer elsewhere being subject to approval. Because tuition is nonrefundable, a teacher should get district approval first, as the site itself advises. Course creators and training teams looking for a platform to build their own courses are not the audience; this is a credit provider using Moodle, not a platform for hire.