Professional Standards Boards would be established by Federal agencies to assure uniform application, throughout an organization, of qualification standards in the selection, determination of pay rates, and promotion of teachers. The PSB's would identify and evaluate the level of development and competence of individual teachers and determine commensurate rates of pay. Their evaluations would take into account such factors as those contributing to professional growth (e.g., kind, extent and quality of education and experience); and such factors as give evidence of capability as a teacher. Final approving authority rests with management. Benchmark Position Descriptions Benchmark position descriptions would be utilized for the evaluation of teacher positions. The information on benchmark descriptions appearing above for attorneys, health occupations, and research and development scientists and engineers is also applicable to the teaching profession. Benchmark descriptions would be particularly useful in assuring a general relationship between the teacher's level of competence and the level of duties and responsibilities assigned to the individual. Evaluation System Positions in the Protective Occupations This system applies to Federal nonsupervisory positions of guards, policemen, firefighters, Deputy U. S. Marshals, and Sky Marshals. When under the General Schedule, these positions are now classified in such series as the Fire Protection and Prevention Series, GS-081, the U. S. Marshal Series, GS-082, the Police Series, GS-083, and the Guard Series, GS-085. Nonsupervisory Levels A whole job ranking system has been designed for the evaluation of positions in the protectiv occupations. Four skill levels are provided, exclusive of purely trainee positions. Differences in levels are based on variations in job requirements, difficulty of work, responsibility, personal relationships, and work environment. In constructing skill levels, positions of private in the U. S. Park Police force and the Executive Protective Service were determined to be comparable in level with privates in the police departments of major cities. Positions of privates in the police and fire departments in Federal installations were placed one skill level below the level of privates in the U. S. Park Police force. All other protective positions are evaluated in relation to this determination. Benchmark Position Descriptions Benchmark position descriptions covering jobs in the protective occupations will be issued by the U. S. Civil Service Commission and individual Federal agencies. Those issued by the Commission will be sufficiently general to apply to all agencies, or organizational units within an agency, employing the particular category of personnel. Federal agencies will supplement these benchmark descriptions, as needed. This system applies to Foreign Service Officers, Foreign Affairs Specialists, Foreign Service Reserve Officers, Foreign Service Information Officers, and Foreign Service Staff employees in the Department of State, the U. S. Information Agency, the Agency for International Development, and segments of other Federal agencies. Levels of FSO Eight levels of Foreign Service Officer now exist. Individuals move from one level to another on the basis of competitive merit as determined by Selection Boards. Level 8 is used very sparingly as the entrance level for the Foreign Service. It is recommended that Level 7 be used to bring recent college graduages into the Foreign Service, and that Level 8 be discontinued. The remaining levels would be placed in the Coordinated Job Evaluation Plan as follows: FSO Levels 1 and 2 would be the equivalent of positions in the Federal Executive Service; FSO Levels 3 through 7 would be the equivalent of APTES Levels I through V. Levels of FSS Ten levels of Foreign Service Staff positions now exist. It is recommended that FSS positions be evaluated under the Clerical, Office Machine Operation, and Technician Evaluation System (COMOT), or the Administrative, Professional, and Technological Evaluation System (APTES), whichever is appropriate. Each FSS position would be evaluated individually and placed in the appropriate COMOT or APTES skill level. Levels of FSRO, FSIO and FAS The Foreign Service System now includes positions designated as Foreign Service Reserve Officer (FSRO), Foreign Service Information Officer (FSIO), and Foreign Affairs Specialist (FAS). Incumbents of these positions are now treated in basically the same manner as Foreign Service Officers, as described above. The recommendations for placing FSO positions into APTES and FES would apply in an identical manner to the FSIO and FAS categories under discussion. The Task Force recommends that FSRO be eliminated and FSO (limited) appointments be granted on a non-renewable basis for the duration of the particular assignment. Selection Boards The Department of State has a system of Selection Boards, used to rank Foreign Service personnel for promotion purposes. These Boards would continue in effect under the Task Force proposals, and would rank personnel in terms of personal competence. Benchmark Position Descriptions The Department of State and other agencies engaged in foreign affairs would issue benchmark position descriptions for key jobs in their organizations. These descriptions would be used in determining relationships between level of personal competence and level of assignment. Action could then be taken to identify misassignments and initiate any corrective measures deemed appropriate. The U. S. Civil Service Commission would approve the evaluation of benchmark descriptions to assure equity with other professional positions. 43 |