Professional development and mentoring
Background
To ensure a great school staff for years to come, we need to be realistic
about the challenges confronting the education profession and implement
an aggressive strategy to recruit and retain the best and brightest
to the profession. Part of the solution for meeting these challenges
includes adopting changes in how educators are trained and licensed
as they enter and grow in the profession.
Legislative history
An exciting new teacher licensure process is being implemented in Wisconsin.
This process has been accomplished through the adoption of a new administrative
rule known as PI 34.
The new process, developed with the direct involvement of Wisconsin's
educators:
- Includes a new three-tier system of licensure for initial, professional
and master level teachers as well as comprehensive mentoring programs
for initial educators.
- Increases professional development opportunities.
- Sets up a locally controlled process to manage the certification
process that puts educators in charge of their own skill development.
- Assists educators in creating a self-improvement program.
- The rules apply to the college class that began its teacher preparation
in the fall of 2000. The first Initial Educator License will be granted
following graduation and certification in the spring-summer of 2004
(assuming a traditional four-year college experience). An Initial
Educator License expiring in 2009 would be issued to these graduates.
- Teachers holding a renewable license that expires between July
1, 2000, and June 30, 2008, will renew their licenses under present
rules. Currently licensed teachers may continue to renew their licenses
by completing 6 semester credits of professional development or by
completing a professional development plan beginning July 1, 2004.
As part of the process of earning a license, a candidate must design
and complete a personal professional development plan (PDP) that demonstrates
the “knowledge, skills, and dispositions” identified in
the 10 Wisconsin Teacher Standards. A teacher’s PDP will reference
two or more standards as the focus for professional development work.
The 10 Standards represent the first time Wisconsin has defined the
characteristics of good teachers. They identify the components and define
the qualities of best professional practice.
WEAC position
High standards in the profession can only be maintained through recruiting
into the profession and retaining the most capable individuals available
in our society. WEAC believes PI 34 gives educators the opportunity
to design renewal paths appropriate to students' needs and their own
goals for professional development.
WEAC supports full funding for the mentoring and professional development
initiatives required in PI 34. This includes the creation of categorical
grants for mentors and professional development teams at the local level.
Talking points
- It is a well-established principle in education circles that mentoring
works. But with the revenue caps, schools do not have the funding
or the flexibility to implement effective mentoring programs. The
state should provide schools with the funds needed for these kinds
of programs.
- The new licensure system enables education professionals to take
charge of their careers. It will also ensure that students in Wisconsin's
public schools are taught by educators who work to continuously improve
their teaching abilities.
- Today’s college students studying to join the ranks of Wisconsin’s
elementary and secondary teachers will lead their classrooms as licensed
professionals equipped with broader visions of their roles, greater
understanding of their strengths and weaknesses, and a deeper appreciation
of the school-community relationship. That’s the aim of PI 34,
Wisconsin’s new state law for teacher preparation and licensing.
Still in the implementation phase on nearly all levels, the law officially
took hold in 2000 when the Legislature promulgated rules requiring
higher education institutions to rework all professional education
programs to include performance-based assessments and other requirements,
including testing for content knowledge.
Additional information
Contact Bob Burke at WEAC at 800-362-8034 ext. 254 or by e-mail at burkeb@weac.org
with any reactions, comments or questions.
Posted March 30, 2004
