10 Standards 'Rock' Education
By Joanne M. Haas
The state’s new teacher licensing law is so far-reaching
that Kathy Larson compares it to an earthquake sending positive shockwaves
through the professional culture of teaching.
If that’s so, it’s the state’s 10
Teaching Standards that are at the epicenter of this trembler.
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| Kathy Larson |
These standards serve as the foundation for changing
the way teachers view their profession, assess their qualifications
and define their accomplishments.
The standards represent such a sea change in the way
teachers approach their profession that Larson is almost beside herself
with excitement over their potential impact.
“I’ve never been more energized since I
left the classroom,” said Larson, who is heading a pilot project
testing the implementation of the new licensing law, known as PI 34.
“The standards provide the foundation to ask,
‘What am I doing and how are the students responding to that? They
(10 teaching standards) allow us to scrutinize our own behavior, intentions
and beliefs about children and how they learn best.”
The standards are the basis for how teachers will
earn and renew their licenses.
PI 34 creates three categories of teacher licenses: Initial Educator,
Professional Educator and Master Educator. 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.
“We are really trying to change our professional
culture to embrace growth,” said Larson, a longtime teacher who
works for Cooperative Educational Service Agency (CESA) 2 in southern
Wisconsin.
The standards – which the DPI describes as a
“framework of best practices in teaching and learning” –
are the core of PI 34, which was approved in 2000.
‘Powerful stuff’
Just how powerful can the 10 standards be when put into use? Consider
the cases of two of the 166 volunteer participants representing rural,
urban and suburban districts in the roughly year-long ongoing pilot
PI 34 project headed by Larson.
One high school teacher had something of an epiphany
about his disposition after analyzing his performance in the context
of the standards. According to Larson, the teacher said: “I realized
I’m an arrogant educator. I realized I’m arrogant with the
kids, and I don’t want to be that way anymore.”
“Talk about a testimonial!” Larson said.
On the other side was the teacher who realized his
enthusiasm for nurturing his professional growth – using the 10
Standards and PI 34’s performance assessment process – barely
registered a blip on the Richter scale compared to the all-out excitement
of those around him.
“The gentleman left after reflecting on whether
he held a passion for teaching, whether he could find the dispositions
to continue his work in the classroom and be the best for the kids,”
Larson said of the man who had about five years of experience. “(He)
wanted to return to farming, which is the occupation he loved. He was
happy to discover that he would return to something that gave him greater
joy.”
‘Respond to the kids’
Larson said prior to the development of the 10 Standards, teaching practices
were based on an individual teacher’s preferences, not on any notion
of a shared vision within the educational community.
“My mission is to see if teachers can embrace
these as a foundation for their own learning, but to do so collaboratively
based on the needs of the student population,” Larson said. “They
really are a tool for professional growth and development. I like that
because at the heart of what we do as teachers is model our own learning.
“Teachers need to learn to be the best they can
be so students can learn to be the best they can be. It is a reciprocal
process.”
Larson did not have a hand in writing the 10 standards,
but her own teaching experience mirrors their purpose. Larson taught
middle school students with emotional disabilities for 18 years before
joining CESA 2 about 13 years ago.
“My evolution as a teacher was not on what I
knew, but on my performance,” she said. “Their (students’)
learning was at the heart of the performance.”
Larson participated in one of the task forces that
helped create PI 34. Each task force, she said, tackled “a lot
of questions and debate about how to measure professional growth, and
how the standards propel teachers forward.”
Larson’s goal, or “passion” as she
terms it, is to see all 426 school districts embrace PI 34 and the 10
Standards. Such a thorough adoption, as Larson sees it, would generate
a genuine change in the public education culture from the way teachers
weigh their abilities and performances to help all students, to how
they connect with colleagues and how they connect with the greater community.
And, instead of focusing on someone’s weaknesses, the targets would
be to enhance the teacher’s strengths, interests and abilities
while also recognizing the key role of disposition.
PI 34 represents change, but change is constant in
education. As the culture of education changes, so must the culture
of the teaching profession, Larson said.
“The children we are getting are not the way we were. We need to
do something different,” she said.
State Master Educator process
still in the works
Resource page on teacher licensing
Posted November 25, 2003