History of Wisconsin's New Teacher Licensing Process

The changes for rules governing teacher preparation and licensure in Wisconsin are a reflection of a national movement to strengthen the teaching profession. That movement, known nationally as the Interstate New Teacher Assessment and Support Consortium (INTASC), began in the late 1980s, and in 1992 ten standards for the preparation of teachers were published. These standards eventually became the foundation for the new DPI teacher preparation and licensure rules.

The effort to strengthen teacher preparation in Wisconsin began in 1993 when the Wisconsin Association of Colleges of Teacher Education (WACTE) recommended to the State Superintendent a set of six principles to guide teacher preparation and licensure in Wisconsin. In 1994, the State Superintendent appointed a task force of educators and citizens to make recommendations for changes in these areas. The resulting Task Force report embraced the principles proposed by WACTE and then proceeded to adapt the ten INTASC standards to the Wisconsin context.

The Task Force report, presented to the State Superintendent in 1995, offered an outline of a new vision of teacher preparation and a view of a maturing profession. A work group of educators and citizens further elaborated on the Task Force report and presented its work to the Superintendent in the spring of 1997.

For a period of 18 months, WEAC members and leaders discussed the Department of Public Instruction's (DPI) proposed licensure rules. In 1998, the WEAC Board of Directors (the elected representatives of WEAC's 88,000 members), spent a day discussing the potential impact the new rules might have on members and their students' learning. The WEAC Board chose to support the licensure rules with minor exceptions that the DPI addressed.

WEAC's support for the licensure rules was reaffirmed in three subsequent meetings. The rules were then discussed and debated at WEAC's Representative Assembly (RA) last April by 1,000 elected WEAC representatives. The RA sustained the Board's decision to support the licensure changes making it WEAC's official position.

The Senate Education Committee held two hearings, and the Assembly Education Committee held three hearings, on the teacher licensure rules in the fall of 1999. WEAC representatives testified in favor of the new rules at all five of the legislative hearings. Following the hearings, DPI made some minor changes to the rules based on feedback from the legislative committees, and then the committees approved the rules through a passive review process in mid-February 2000.

In mid-February 2000, DPI convened workgroups for each of the licensing categories to prepare for the implementation of the new rules. Workgroups have been established for the administrator, licensure based on equivalency/recruitment, program approval and assessment, and licensing stages (initial educator, professional development plan, & master educator) portions of the rules. There is also an advisory board examining the work of each group. These workgroups will complete their recommendations to the State Superintendent by 2004. WEAC has several representatives on every workgroup, as well as the advisory board, and will work on this new licensure process through implementation and beyond.

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