New License Law Shifts Focus

WEAC members from Wheatland discuss PI 34 implementation issues during a May meeting at the WEAC office. The group is engaging in professional development and mentor program planning for the 2003-04 school year. It is one of many such meetings taking place throughout the state as educators prepare for the impact of the new law.

By Joanne M. Haas

What began as a brainstorm more than a decade ago from some forward-thinking educators and former State Superintendent John Benson has evolved into Wisconsin’s new three-stage teacher licensing system. It provides teachers with networks of trained teams dedicated to nurturing individual professional growth and enrichment by using performance standards.

That’s not to say veteran teachers preferring license renewal by earning six credits in five years won’t have a place, too. In fact, the new law – PI 34 – treats each license renewal phase separately, allowing teachers already on the job the option of renewing under the new process, or by completing the traditional six credits of coursework from a college or university.

“I’d say we’re on the cutting edge in education,” said Peter Burke, director of teacher education, professional development and licensing at the state Department of Public Instruction. He said the new licensing system helps teachers better address the changing education needs of their local districts. “That is always the focus: How can we improve student performance?”

Student performance hinges upon teacher performance, which is why Wisconsin’s educator license system shifts from the course-accredited license renewal system to a skills- and knowledge-based orientation. Those holding lifetime licenses are not affected by the change, but are encouraged to offer their expertise as mentors or consider earning the 10-year renewable Master Educator license – the third or optional license in the three-tier system. The others are the Initial Educator, a non-renewable license held by new graduates; and the five-year renewable Professional Educator.

“It’s an ambitious model,” said Ron Jetty, who has served as WEAC’s teaching and learning consultant for the last four years. “But it is not reinventing what quality teaching is. The 10 standards provide a framework within which we can discuss quality teaching. Teachers will use the standards when setting their goals for professional growth.

“I think a lot of people think they’re going to have to substantially change or transform their practice,” Jetty said. “Instead, they should be thinking in terms of professional growth. ... Every teacher is in favor of professional growth. These standards give you an opportunity in which to grow.”

That’s what 30-year classroom veteran Bill Hartje likes.

“This is the idea of career-long growth generated by the teacher,” the Evansville High School English teachers said, adding most teachers already take it upon themselves to seek challenges aimed at improving their craft. “This makes it a more formalized, collaborative process.”

Hartje jokes he’s “so old that I have a lifetime license,” but it is Hartje’s three decades of proven classroom performance that made him a good addition to the 19-member Wisconsin Professional Standards Council, which advises the state superintendent on licensing issues and implementation of the 10 standards that are used as the basis for licensing and renewals.

“It changes the way that people are trained and the kinds of things that they do for professional growth after they are in the profession,” he said of PI 34.

Instead of requiring a teacher in training to take certain courses that may help him or her learn to become a good teacher, “it has been changed around to performance standards,” Hartje said. “Here are the things that you should know, and you have to demonstrate those things. ... We have clearly defined standards for what matters.

“Once you’re in, it’s a career-long investment,” Hartje said.
The first edge of the law – which is actually an administrative rule known as PI 34 – was cut in 2000, when the Legislature promulgated the rules Wisconsin colleges and universities used to change their teacher preparation programs. The benefits of these higher standards and expectations for classroom performance will be seen when the state’s first holders of the Initial Educator license enter the profession in the fall of 2004 and the spring of 2005.

The Initial Educator has three to five years to design and complete a personal professional development plan, also known as a PDP, to advance to the renewable Professional Educator license. That PDP is based upon the 10 standards.

School districts are required to provide each Initial Educator with a qualified mentor. A mentor may not serve on the professional development team of the Initial Educator he or she mentors.
Trainings and seminars have been under way to instruct districts about their new responsibilities under PI 34. These responsibilities, Burke said, include support and oversight components that may be done in collaboration with other districts.

“It will be up to the districts to decide funding,” Burke said. Wisconsin already had its teacher quality improvement plans in gear when the reauthorized federal Elementary and Secondary Education Act (sometimes called the “No Child Left Behind” Act) passed, thereby making the state eligible for three annual $1 million federal grants for this licensing program. Burke also said there are local dollars available under state requirements for professional development.

“Districts are now required to provide some support,” Hartje said of the mentors and support teams required to help new teachers. “In the past, it has been a voluntary thing. This organizes it and sets out more guidelines.”

WEAC is committed to seeking more state funding for mentoring. The 2003-05 WEAC Legislative Agenda states that WEAC believes mentoring is “one of the best ways to keep new teachers in the profession,” and adds: “The state should provide funds to pay for these mentoring services.”

The Professional Educator license can be renewed the current way of earning six credits or by designing a PDP based upon at least two of the 10 standards the teacher chooses to use to work toward growth. That plan is then evaluated by a three-member team of colleagues, who verify whether the plan was fulfilled.

“With the professional license, people are collaborating and working together,” Hartje said. “The big concept at those levels is reflection and how can we get better.”

Hartje said the council is encouraging all teachers who came through the system before 2004 to renew by using the PDP method.

Burke said veteran teachers often have a hard time finding courses they haven’t taken yet, or that provide meaningful, useful information.

For the 10-year Master Educator, Hartje said, there are two routes. One is to complete the certification process through the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards, and the other is to complete a similar process in Wisconsin. That process is still in the works. There is a fee of more than $2,000 to pursue national certification, he said, adding it takes about six months of planning. Teachers who earn the certification get additional state payments for their achievements.

For more information on PI 34, see the OnWEAC resource page on teacher licensing.

Posted May 14, 2003