Hearings Scheduled on Proposed Changes in Teacher Licensing

Announcement from the Department of Public Instruction

March 8, 1999
UW - Green Bay
6:00 - 8:00 p.m.
University Union Building
Nicolet Drive
Phoenix Room B

March 8, 1999
UW - LaCrosse
6:00 - 8:00 p.m.
Cartwright Center
1725 State Street
Room Valhalla B

March 8, 1999
UW - Milwaukee
6:00 - 8:00 p.m. University Union
2200 E. Kenwood Boulevard
Wisconsin East Room

March 9, 1999
UW - Superior
6:00 - 8:00 p.m.
Rothwell Student Center
Corner of 16th and Catlin Avenue
Ballroom

March 10, 1999
Madison
6:00 - 8:00 p.m. GEF 3 Building
125 South Webster Street
Room 041

March 16, 1999
UW - Oshkosh
6:00 - 8:00 p.m.
Clow Building
Algoma Boulevard
Room 101

March 17, 1999
Rice Lake - UW Barron County
6:00 - 8:00 p.m.
Fine Arts Building
1800 College Drive Theater

March 18, 1999
Menomonie - UW Stout
6:00 - 8:00 p.m. Memorial Student Center
302 10th Avenue
Ballroom A

March 23, 1999
UW - Stevens Point
6:00 - 8:00 p.m.
College of Professional Studies Building
1901 4th Avenue
Room 116

The hearing sites are fully accessible to people with disabilities. If you require reasonable accommodation to access any meeting, please call Peter Burke, Director, Teacher Education, Licensing and Placement, at (608) 266-1879 or leave a message with the Teletypewriter (TTY) at (608) 267-2427 at least 10 days prior to the hearing date. Reasonable accommodation includes materials prepared in an alternative format, as provided under the Americans with Disabilities Act.

For a copy of the proposed rule and the fiscal estimate, please contact Mr. Burke or Lori Slauson, Administrative Rules Coordinator, Department of Public Instruction, 125 South Webster Street, P.O. Box 7841, Madison, WI 53707. Written comments on the proposed rules received at the above address no later than March 26, 1999, will be given the same consideration as testimony presented at the hearing. Comments submitted via email will not be accepted as formal testimony.

The national movement to develop standards for both PK-12 schools and higher education and the demand for greater accountability of teachers and students to demonstrate what they know and are able to do are primary forces behind the creation of the new Chapter PI 3, Wisconsin Administrative Code.

In 1993, a study of how Wisconsin teachers are licensed was conducted. Many concerns were identified about the great number of rules and regulations that individuals and colleges had to comply with in the licensing process. In order to study the issue further, a task force was appointed in 1994 to study and debate what the licensing system for Wisconsin should be for the next century.

This task force issued a report in 1995 that called for sweeping changes in how teachers were licensed. The central focus of the recommended changes was a shift to a performance-based approach to licensing. Rather than counting on the fact that students in college completed the requisite coursework, it was suggested that there be a measure of performance to substantiate that the candidates for a license had the knowledge and skills needed to succeed.

The task force report made three major recommendations:

1. Develop performance-based professional education programs and continuous professional development based upon a set of standards.
2. Change the structure of licensing to have three stages or tiers - beginning, professional, and master.
3. Change the categories of licensing to better match what was happening in the curriculum and instructional patterns in schools.

These recommendations were taken to the field in 1995-96 through a series of discussion meetings across the state. There was a very positive response to the broad recommendations, and while few people attended the meetings, those who did were excited about the plan to upgrade the licensing structure.

With this positive response as a foundation, three work groups were appointed in 1996-97 and charged with the task of moving the recommendations forward. The work groups issued the Final Report of the Work Groups on Teacher Assessment, License Stages and License Categories. As a result of the report, the rules propose the following for all professional education licenses issued by the department:

Standards and Assessments:

The proposed rules require student competency in the basic skills of reading, writing, speaking, listening, mathematics, and media and technology as a standard for admission into an education program. The rules also specify standards in which teachers, pupil services, and administrators must demonstrate knowledge and skills before a license may be received or renewed. Standardized tests approved by the state superintendent will be used to assess content knowledge.

License and Career Stages:

The rules specify three license stages in which an individual may be certified:

· Initial educator license. At this level a candidate must have completed a performance-based system of preparation following the standards. During the first 3-5 years of holding this license, a beginning educator will design and complete a personal professional development plan relating to the educator standards. The plan will be evaluated by a three-person team. This team will include a professional colleague, an administrator, and a representative from higher education.

The key component of the initial educator license stage will be the assignment of a mentor who will volunteer for the assignment and receive training for the role. The mentor will be given release time for mentoring activities. The mentor will be a professional colleague who is not in the evaluative role. Mentors will be a resource for the beginning educator to observe, confer, provide advice and assistance in the design and implementation of the professional development plan, and act as a liaison between the beginning educator and the community.

· Professional educator license. After successfully moving through the initial educator stage and meeting goals in their professional development plan, educators would be able to renew their license as a professional educator. This license will be a five-year, renewable license. To renew a license, the professional educator must design a professional development plan relating to the educator standards. The plan will be evaluated by a three-person team of colleagues consisting of three teachers, three pupil service professionals or three administrators, as appropriate. Upon meeting the goals in the plan, the license shall be renewed.

· Master educator license. The master educator license is a voluntary license that will be accessible to individuals who hold a professional educator license and who submit a portfolio of authentic work for review by a three-person team consisting of educators who have the same or similar job responsibilities, have been trained by the department, and have been nominated by professional organizations. The master license would be effective for 10 years and may be renewed by submitting an updated portfolio.

License Levels:

The rules change the “levels” in which licenses are issued. Currently, licenses are awarded by grade levels such as 1 - 6 or 9 - 12. The rules move from a grade level to a student developmental-level license, such as early childhood, middle childhood through early adolescence, early adolescence through adolescence, and early childhood through adolescence. The estimated ages for these levels would be birth - 8 for early childhood, 6 - 13 for middle childhood through early adolescence, 10 - 21 for early adolescence through adolescence, and a wide range of ages for early childhood through adolescence.

Categories:

The rules also create broad-based categories of licenses at the secondary level and in special education. Comprehensive licenses would be available in categories such as language arts, science, and social studies. A comprehensive special education license will be issued to beginning teachers rather than a disability-specific (LD, ED, CD) license. This means that a specialty such as LD or ED could be attained during the initial license stage. The specialty area would depend on the placement of the teacher.

Other License Areas:

The rules also specify requirements for licenses issued in pupil services categories, which remain mostly the same as current rule requirements; administration categories, which remain mostly the same as current rule requirements; supplementary categories, which are licenses that may be issued to an applicant who already holds another DPI license (these categories will also be available at the three new stages of licensing); and additional licenses, which may be issued to applicants who are employed in school districts in positions in which completion of an approved program with an institutional endorsement from a college or university is not required.

License Revocation:

The rules specify procedures relating to license revocation.

Applicability:

Currently licensed teachers may continue to renew their licenses by completing 6 semester credits of professional development or by completing a professional development plan under this rule’s proposal.

The initial educator and professional educator license stages in subchapter V and new license levels and categories in subchapter VII will be available July 1, 2004.

The master educator license in subchapter V will be available July 1, 2004, except for those individuals who have successfully completed the national board of teaching standards examination. These individuals may receive a master educator license effective July 1, 2000.

Institutions are required to have performance-based programs in place for students completing programs after August 31, 2004.

Posted February 17, 1999