To help its members troubleshoot staffing vacancies, WCRIS staff attended the Wisconsin Association of School Personnel Administrators (WASPA) Teacher Shortage Summit in Madison last week.
The conference was informative and an excellent opportunity for WCRIS to share its ideas and solutions with state and public and private school experts.
WCRIS distributed a handout at the conference that proposes ways to make teaching licensure more accessible, which would make more individuals available to teach. Notably, the second-side of the fact sheet features a visual representation of the countless steps teacher candidates must go through just to obtain a Provisional License. It was well-received and shared throughout the conference. Take a look at it here.
Here are four key findings from the conference:
- Most teachers will leave in the first 5 years of service.
Teachers who enter a school system after college graduation are very likely to leave the profession before 5 years. Many will never return to teaching.
There are currently not enough teachers in traditional preparation programs to backfill the teachers leaving the profession. Experts cite various driving factors for this shortage of would-be teachers. But until the teacher pipeline is patched, the shortage will continue.
- There is a desire for schools to “grow their own” teachers through mentoring and apprenticeship.
Wisconsin educators are interested in cultivating their own teacher pipeline at their schools or participating in a state apprenticeship program.
Currently, 26 states and Washington D.C. have a teacher apprenticeship program similar to those of traditional trade jobs. These programs create a pipeline for people to become teachers without going back to school, while being compensated for their “on-the-job” training in the classroom.
The Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development (DWD) is in support of an apprenticeship program, but the DPI has yet to express that same interest.
- Public schools share some of the same concerns of private schools.
There are fears of the shortage worsening and concern for the duties that staff have to shoulder to make-up for vacancies.
Public schools applauded the culture and values of private schools. They indicated that if public schools could foster a similar environment, they would be able to retain more teachers.
- There is a desire for systematic changes to the DPI license process.
Many of the attendees vented their frustrations with the current license system, specifically how it creates barriers to people entering the profession.
One of WCRIS’ solutions to this is permitting colleges and universities to assign state teaching licenses upon graduation without having to complete additional DPI steps, as is done in other states.
Instead of going through the exhaustive process of getting a Wisconsin license after graduation, graduates would get their license the day they satisfy requirements of their bachelor’s degree. This would allow them to immediately be able to apply for teaching positions without waiting on the DPI. This proposal was well-received.
Some of the attendees also realized – to their surprise – that people with doctorate or master’s degree are not immediately eligible for a teaching license. WCRIS is suggesting that licensure becomes more accessible to these professionals.
The DPI didn’t directly address licensure issues at the conference. Many attendees – and WCRIS members – have told WCRIS staff that teachers are waiting months for licensure renewals, applications or updates.
If you have feedback or ideas on how to improve the teacher licensure process in Wisconsin or want to share your experience with obtaining a license, please contact WCRIS.
