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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.
This new framework for teacher education and licensure provides us with an excellent opportunity to strengthen our state workforce of professional educators. Wisconsin needs to invest in mentoring and professional development in order for us to keep pace with other states that are making these critical investments.
Legislative HistoryAn exciting teacher licensure process has been implemented in Wisconsin. This process was accomplished through the adoption of administrative rules known as PI 34.
The process, developed with the direct involvement of Wisconsin's educators:
. Includes a three-tier system of licensure for initial, professional and master level teachers as well as establishing 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.
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.
2005 Wisconsin Act 25, the biennial budget act, established a new mentoring categorical aid grant program to fund each district's mentoring expenditures, up to $375 per initial educator employed by the district. This $1,350,000 investment funds grants beginning in the 2006-07 school year.
WEAC PositionHigh 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 one of the most important factors in retaining new teachers is appropriate support and mentoring. But with the revenue caps, schools do not have the funding or the flexibility to implement effective mentoring programs. We can invest in research-based mentoring programs to use state funds most effectively. The state should provide schools with the funds needed for such programs.
. The licensure system under PI 34 enables education professionals to take charge of their careers. It also ensures 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 law for teacher preparation and licensing.
Additional Information
Contact Deb Sybell, WEAC Legislative Program Coordinator, at 800-362-8034 ext. 227 or by e- mail at sybelld@weac.org with any reactions, comments or questions.
Posted May 4, 2006