The leaders of Wisconsin's education sectors -- John Benson
(Department of Public Instruction) and Katharine
Lyall (University of Wisconsin System), along with
Edward Chin (Wisconsin
Technical College System) and Rolf Wegenke (Wisconsin
Association of Independent Colleges and Universities)
-- joined together to organize the Wisconsin PK-16
Leadership Council. This voluntary initiative includes
leaders of Wisconsin's state government, state agencies,
education sectors, professional associations, as well
as business and industry. The Council's mission is
to foster collaboration that will enhance learning
and learning opportunities throughout the state so
that all students are prepared to live in and contribute
to a vibrant 21st Century society. The work of the
Council is funded in part by an supplemental award
made by the U.S. Department of Education to the Wisconsin
Department of Public Instruction and the UW System
under
the Title
II Teacher Quality Enhancement Grant Program.
Grant will provide leadership support for educator
licensing reform in Wisconsin
by Debra A. Bougie
DPI Communications Specialist
(2000)
Wisconsin recently received a federal Teacher Quality
supplemental grant of $113,375 to support leadership
and collaboration efforts to continue reforms of teacher
education and licensing in the state.
"Wisconsin embarked on a monumental change in the
way it trains and licenses teachers with the adoption
of new administrative rules earlier this year," said
State Superintendent John T. Benson. "On the heels
of legislative approval of PI 34, the Department of
Public Instruction and University of Wisconsin System
recognized the need for leadership and oversight for
this massive teacher education reform effort. We jointly
applied for and received this grant, available for
two years, to form a PK-16 Leadership Council to shape
policy and objectives for educator training and licensing
reform. While much work is already being done to reform
education, Wisconsin currently lacks the unifying
structure to include the numerous stakeholders who
will contribute to the success of our teacher training
and licensing reform efforts," Benson explained.
The PK-16 Leadership Council will include representatives
for the governor and the Legislature, University of
Wisconsin System, Department of Public Instruction,
Wisconsin Technical College System, the Wisconsin
Association of Independent Colleges and Universities,
other education-related organizations, and business
and manufacturing groups. The council will determine
broad policy and program objectives as well as oversee
the work of an implementation committee that will
execute PK-16 Leadership Council objectives.
The goals of the PK-16 Leadership Council include
- building a statewide network for increased collaboration,
information sharing, and cooperation;
- increasing student readiness to succeed in postsecondary
education by improving the quality of PK-12 teacher
preparation and professional development;
- and
aligning high academic standards for PK-12 students
with postsecondary education.
UW
System Interim Senior Vice President for Academic
Affairs Gary Thibodeau stated that, "One of the goals
of the PK-16 Leadership Council will be to create
the expectation and support the infrastructure that
ensures that all higher education faculty share in
the responsibility for preparing prospective teachers."
Council activities will include
- building
on current teacher reform initiatives and studying
policy issues that impact the PK-16 system;
- preparing
and publicly disseminating position papers to address
these policy issues;
- using
position papers as a foundation for individual boards
and agencies to make programmatic and policy changes
at institutional and agency levels consistent with
the common goals of educational reform and improvement;
and
- completing
the alignment of standards-based high school curriculum
and postsecondary curriculum, including an evaluation
of postsecondary admission and placement policies
and how they may be adapted to recognize changes
in the PK-12 curriculum.
Additionally,
the grant will support creating four academies, based
at UW System institutions and private colleges and
universities that prepare teachers, to provide models
and frameworks to continue the work of teacher quality
improvement and curriculum alignment beyond the life
of the grant. Those academies will be composed of
PK-12 educators and higher education faculty from
schools of education as well as letters and science.
The academies will disseminate material for use by
other institutions to help them replicate the process
in the future. In the second year of the grant, leaders
from the four model academies will conduct regional
workshops and work with all of the state's teacher
preparation programs to adapt and implement those
models and frameworks at the individual institutions.
Last year, the DPI received a $1.5 million federal
Teacher Enhancement Grant to support the state's teacher
reform efforts. The grant allows the DPI to further
the peer review and mentoring concept; design assessments
for pre-service teacher preparation, including a required
content test; develop protocols for team reviews of
initial teachers for the purpose of approving advancement
to the professional license; and research and write
teacher content standards consistent with the Wisconsin
Model Academic Standards adopted for students in 1998.
"This new supplemental grant provides a leadership
component that will enhance Wisconsin's educator reform
efforts," Benson said.
source: http://www.dpi.state.wi.us/edforum/ef0407_2.html
