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Staff Training for Effective Management (STEM)

Staff Training for Effective Management (STEM) is a professional development program designed for educational support personnel. The STEM program is sponsored by the Texas Educational Support Staff Association, Inc. (TESA). The program was developed in cooperation with the Texas Education Agency, Texas Association of School Administrators, Texas Elementary Principals and Supervisors Association, Texas Association of Secondary School Principals, Texas Public Community/Junior College Association, University of Texas, and other professional educational associations. The original program was funded through an ECIA, Chapter 2, Section 577 grant.

Program Structure

The STEM program is designed to enhance technical and job-specific skills for educational support personnel. Sessions are hosted by local school districts, colleges, and educational service centers. Certificates of attendance are presented at the end of each STEM session. The TESA Central Office cannot maintain STEM records for nonmembers.

While the program is designed to establish a firm foundation of information and to continue to build on that foundation, participants may take the classes in any order and progress toward Certified Educational Office Professional (CEOP) certification.

Three Six-Hour Sessions
  • Managing Change
    • Deals with administrator/secretary management team
    • Educational terminology
    • Learning modalities
    • Process of change
    • School climate
  • Rationale - Effective support staff personnel should know the language and background of policies and rules unique to education.
  • Effective Office Practices
    • Organization/records management
    • Office techniques
    • Composition
    • Mechanics of business writing
    • Effective written communication
    • Formatting letters/memos
    • Postal regulations
  • Rationale - Educational office personnel should demonstrate skills in both general office procedures and written communications.
  • Basic Communication
    • Overview of communication process, establishing a basic understanding of verbal and non-verbal components.
  • Rationale - Effective communication skills are essential for all educational support personnel and administrators.
Two Six-Hour Sessions
  • Interpersonal Communication
    • Focuses on the listening process
    • Responding
    • Providing Feedback
Tesa's Three-Hour Course "professional Growth Plan"
  • Personal and professional assessment
  • Goal Setting
  • Profile for Success (Formerly Effective Communication in Organizations)
    • Personal Profil (DISC)
    • Analyzing strongest behavioral tendency and communication style
    • Recognizing behavioral tendencies and communication styles of others
    • Recognizing strengths and weaknesses and blending to be most successful
Choose Nine-Hours Of Training From The Following Classes Developed By Tesa.

Current TESA courses include:

  • 3 hours
    • Assertiveness Training
    • Customer Service
    • Dialogue of Diversity
    • Leadership Training & Team Building
    • Professional Image
    • Rules for Spelling and Proofreading
    • Stress Management
    • Telephone Skills
    • Time Management
  • 6 hours
    • Agenda for Personal and Organizational Improvement
    • Business Grammar and Letter Writing
    • Conflict Management

TESA conducts an ongoing assessment of professional development requests and future sessions will be developed to meet those needs. For detailed descriptions of the above courses, please refer to TESA's website at www.tesatexas.org

**A Minimum Of 18 Clock-Hours Of Self-Directed Study**
Meeting The Following Criteria:
  • At least 3 hours in length
  • In a classroom setting
  • Job Related
  • Taught by a qualified instructor

Courses selected by the participant must be on one job-related subject taught in a classroom setting by a qualified instructor (e.g. a college credit course, continuing education course, seminar, or TESA course not already used). To apply non-TESA training toward CEOP credit, a participant must submit a course documentation form with verification for each course.

**May include TESA classes not taken for credit in the last three (3) years.

Certification

Certified Educational Office Professional (CEOP) certificates will be awarded to TESA members in good standing upon successful completion of program requirements and submission of the one-time certification fee of $20.00. The Certification Application form can be found on the TESA website at www.tesatexas.org under forms.

To receive your Certified Educational Office Professional certification you must:

  • Complete the required clock-hours of coursework
  • Submit a certification application and fee
  • Be a current member of TESA TESA Central Office cannot maintain STEM records for non-members.

You will need to submit documentation for any coursework completed prior to becoming a TESA member.

Certification Update

Annual update of CEOP certification consists of six clock-hours of course study per year for those CEOP recipients who wish to keep their CEOP certification current. This coursework must be completed between August 1 and July 31 of each year to meet requirements for that year. Documentation must be submitted within 30 days of the close of the year (by August 31) to receive credit. Coursework taken prior to completion of CEOP Program cannot be used for certification update.

Requirements for certification update are:

  • Current and continuous membership in TESA (annual dues are $35.00).
  • Six clock-hours of job-related course study per year (August 1 - July 31), beginning with August 1 following completion of CEOP. A course is eligible for certification update if it is taken after the completion of CEOP requirements and is a minimum of three clock-hours on one job-related subject taught in a classroom setting by a qualified instructor (e.g. a college credit course, continuing education course, seminar, or TESA course not used in Phase III). Participants may attend and receive certification update credit for any STEM class if it has been three or more years since credit was given for the class. In order to apply non-TESA training toward certification update credit, a participant must submit a course documentation form with verification. For that form, please refer to TESA's website at www.tesatexas.org

In the event that certification participation and/or TESA membership lapses, participants may reactivate their status by submitting TESA membership dues for the current year and completing six clock-hours of required course work. Certification credit will not be awarded for any lapsed year(s).

For additional information regarding the STEM program please see their website at www.tesatexas.org