Wisconsin Improvement Program
Teaching Internships

Program Overview

The Wisconsin Improvement Program (WIP) is a consortium of teacher preparation institutions and the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction (DPI). The purpose of WIP is to promote and encourage the education and professional development of teachers throughout their career. Promising teacher interns are placed in school districts with experienced and welcoming cooperating teachers for a full semester. The internship program offers pre-service teachers a chance to enter the profession as licensed teachers with an intern license.

School districts benefit from the teacher internship program. Services include:

• professional development opportunities for cooperating school personnel and interns
  
• collaborative instructional planning and problem-solving
  
• opportunity to recruit highly qualified future educators
  
• support for differentiated instruction and progress monitoring in the classroom
  
• opportunity to increase parent communication and involvement

Wisconsin Improvement Program Handbook       WIP Powerpoint Presentation

Steps in the WIP Teacher Internship Process

NOTE: Internship requests for spring 2010 are no longer being accepted. We expect to begin accepting requests for fall 2010 in March, 2010.

Step 1: School districts submit an online Internship Request application to DPI. A mailed-in signature page is required before approval.

Step 2: The WIP Director reviews the district Internship Request application, advises school districts on modifications of their request when needed, and approves requests meeting WIP criteria (see WIP handbook). School districts must log back into the Internship Request application to determine if the request has been approved.

Step 3: WIP campuses review approved internship requests using the Internship Request Query to identify appropriate placements for interns.

Step 4: School districts with an approved Internship Request work with WIP campuses to interview potential interns.

Step 5: Students who are assigned an approved intern placement submit the online Intern License Application using a password provided by the WIP campus.

Step 6: WIP Campuses use the Internship Placement Query to confirm the intern has applied for a license in the appropriate intern placement.

Application for Support of Professional Development Funds

The PI-1692 form is used by interns, districts, and/or campuses to obtain pre-approval for WIP professional development fund requests (up to $225 per intern). The PI-1692 form should be submitted to DPI at least 30 days prior to a requested activity and the activity must show a direct benefit to the intern(s) involved.

PI-1692
PI-1692 - fillable

For questions about this information, contact Beverly F. Cann (608) 267-9263

Last updated on 1/6/2010 2:08:04 PM