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Appleton physical education teacher Ron Hanson uses advanced technology to monitor his students’ progress. Here he works with students at Horizons Elementary School.
By Joanne M. Haas
The first three Wisconsin educators to renew their licenses using Professional Development Plans say the process – though challenging – is invigorating and rewarding. Creating Professional Development Plans makes sense, is worth the effort and is not as cumbersome as feared, said Elizabeth Brooks of Verona, Tom Fritsche of Antigo and Ron Hanson of Appleton. 
Elizabeth Brooks | 
Tom Fritsche | They are the first three to renew their five-year licenses by completing the plans instead of following the traditional process of earning six college credits. The new option is offered through the state’s new teacher licensing law known as PI 34. That’s not to say there were no problems or confusion that demanded patience and persistence. However, the three teachers agree the glitches they encountered have been solved, meaning those who follow should find relatively smooth sailing. “The message that needs to be sent is that it is not that daunting,” said Brooks, a 1st-grade teacher in Verona. Brooks said she agreed to be her school’s “guinea pig” and use her ongoing literacy library project for her renewal plan. Brooks decided to use the plan after going through some training about the process with several district colleagues who are also training to be reviewers of others’ Professional Development Plans. This meant she could assemble her review team, as required by PI 34, from amongst her co-workers. Fritsche of Antigo credits his 25 years as a school psychologist as key in his ability to work through the problems typically found by first-time users. “I’m a pretty get-it-done person – and a little on the anal side,” Fritsche said with a laugh. “Next time around, it will be a lot better.” Fritsche said his peers will not encounter many of the challenges he faced because he was among the first to renew his license as a pupil services professional. As with anything, there are growing pains with a new process – and Fritsche found he was front and center. “It was like driving in the rain with no wipers on,” he said. Like Brooks and Fritsche, Hanson, an Appleton elementary physical education teacher, used his ongoing work as the focus of his Professional Development Plan. “I think it is a great idea, and it is very much in line with what we should be doing,” Hanson said. The evolution of PI 34
About 10 years in the making, Wisconsin’s PI 34 three-tier licensing system for educators redefines the process from the course-accredited renewal system to a skills and knowledge process. However, teachers and pupil services professionals who were initially licensed before 2004 and who want to renew their licenses may still use the previous method of earning six college credits. Those with lifetime licenses face no new requirements due to the license law change, but those now graduating from college as new teachers must renew their licenses with Professional Development Plans as detailed in PI 34. Professional Development Plan goals must address at least two of the state’s standards (10 for teachers and seven for pupil services professionals and administrators) used as the foundation for licensing and renewals. The teacher also must assemble a three-member review team made up of trained colleagues. The review team works with the educator while the project is under way and eventually decides whether the teacher has successfully completed the plan, which is used for license renewal from the Department of Public Instruction. Getting credit where credit is due
Hanson, who is on the cutting edge of physical education instruction in Appleton, used his ongoing work in developing a healthy kids initiative to renew his license. He returned to teaching physical education after working as a guidance counselor for about 14 years. He now works with 450 kids in one building and goes to another building to work with children who are new to this country – primarily Hmong- and Spanish-speaking students. Hanson said the confusion he found at the start of the Professional Development Plan process involved deciphering whether the document should be written with a forward perspective or with a look backward. His review team was key in helping him define his focus. Hanson showed in his plan how he uses technology daily in his instruction. Completing the plan “allowed me to take all the work I had been doing and get some credit for it,” he said, and that is something renewing a license through college credits does not afford. “When you’re a professional and developing (projects), you’re on the cutting edge. This is the stuff that is in the developmental stages,” he said, adding it is appropriate to have the state recognize and reward that work. Hanson’s project involves creating online files to track a child’s physical education activities and progress from kindergarten through 12th grade. “You can’t take classes on how to integrate technology. We haven’t reached that stage yet. Maybe in the future,” he said. Hanson advises others to work on their plans in a standard word processing format. That makes it much easier to work with copy as it is revised. Upon completion, the final project can be copied into the state format, making it possible to more easily add pages or other materials, he said. “There seems to be quite a bit of freedom in how you want to do it,” he said of the final product. “And I thought the support level was wonderful,” Hanson said of his review team and staff from his local Cooperative Educational Service Agency, CESA #6. Persistence pays off
Fritsche, who is a school psychologist at five Antigo elementary schools, said his 25 years of experience in education helped him overcome the system’s early glitches. Next time, he said, he’s sure things will go much more smoothly. Fritsche read about the Professional Development Plan years ago and called the Department of Public Instruction to learn more. What followed were months that evolved into years waiting to hear what he, as a school psychologist, should do to renew his license this way. At first, he said, DPI told him, “We don’t have any specifics together yet.” He was advised to keep checking back, which he did every six months. “It wasn’t until the third year into my license that they (DPI staff) had started to publicize some framework on the Web site.” Then, things got a bit worse before they got better. He was told he no longer could do the development plan, and then told he could. But he continued to have difficulty finding reviewers. He learned about a CESA program with reviewers, but it carried a fee. Eventually he found reviewers, thanks to a list later posted on the DPI Web site at http://dpi.wi.gov/tepdl. Now that the DPI has posted the framework and reviewer list on its Web site, and teachers can find support on OnWEAC (see sidebar below), Fritsche said: “It is not that difficult of a thing to do.” And like the other teachers, Fritsche said the psychology work detailed in his plan is “part of my job anyway.” Plan impacts students
Brooks, of Verona, had little if any real problems with the Professional Development Plan process since her district has trained reviewers as well as administrators who support the system. Brooks, a 1st-grade teacher, has also been involved with the school’s PI 34 flex group that discussed how the intricacies of the new licensing system would impact teachers. After some thought, she decided to renew her license by completing the plan she was learning so much about. “My license is up in June, so why not try this out,” she said. Also, her ongoing work at that time – creating a literacy library used by the students daily – seemed the perfect topic for the plan. “I was fortunate in that our administrator was tuned into it and I had some colleagues right with me in the process,” she said. “They had been with me. (So I said) I’ll be the guinea pig – I’ll be the first person.” She has no regrets. “It seems to make sense to get credit (for something) relevant to my daily teaching instead of taking college credits,” she said. Her project was already under way. What was extra work for Brooks was the documentation and reflection required by the Professional Development Plan. “It was good and it kept me on track,” she said, noting the required reflection forced her to consider how the work was impacting her students. “It made me accountable to the plan.” Brooks said there definitely will be a next time. “It made me a better teacher and it helped our students’ learning,” she said. “And that’s what we are all about.” -------------------------------------------------------------------- Do your PI 34 work online with QEI WEAC members can go online to sort out information about the state’s new teacher licensing law known as PI 34, and to conveniently complete the law’s professional development requirements and opportunities. And you can do it all at no cost. Quality Educator Interactive (QEI) is easily accessible from the OnWEAC Home Page at www.weac.org. Find the link under “Quick Clicks.” Among other things, teachers accessing this online service are able to securely and confidentially store license renewal projects, resumes and transcripts using an electronic system developed by WEAC and its Professional Development Academy, the UW System, UW Extension, and the Association of Wisconsin School Administrators. You will find the databases you need to fulfill your PI 34 requirements in one place. The QEI site: - Contains the DPI-approved PDP template as well as related DPI directions and review checklists for each PDP section.
- Houses a statewide Professional Development Team database.
- Contains a searchable database of professional development
opportunities that is searchable in the following ways: opportunity type, PI 34 standard, subject, credit type, delivery method, provider, and CESA district. - Contains professional growth information for educators that is excerpted from “Enhanced Personal Practice: A framework for Teaching” by Charlotte Danielson (used with permission).
Resource page on teacher licensing Posted May 26, 2006 |