Distribution of Teachers

Wisconsin's Plan to Address the Distribution of Qualified Teachers

The Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction (DPI) submitted to the U.S. Department of Education its Teacher Equitable Access Plan for Wisconsin to address the distribution of qualified teachers and school leaders in Wisconsin. Wisconsin’s plan complies with the requirements in Section 1111(h)(1)(C)(ix) and (2)(C) and 1111(g)(1)(B) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA). The plan addresses the requirements as noted below along with the measures that the agency will use to evaluate and publicly report progress.

111(h)(1)(C)(ix)
(h) Reports
(1) Annual State report card
(C) Minimum requirements--Each State report card required under this subsection shall include the following information:

(ix) The professional qualifications of teachers in the State, including information (that shall be presented in the aggregate and disaggregated by high-poverty compared to low-poverty schools) on the number and percentage of—

(I) inexperienced teachers, principals, and other school leaders;

(II) teachers teaching with emergency or provisional credentials; and

(III) teachers who are not teaching in the subject or field for which the teacher is certified or licensed.

1111(h)(2)(C)
(2) Annual local educational agency report cards

The State educational agency shall ensure that each local educational agency collects appropriate data and includes in the local educational agency's annual report the information described in paragraph (1)(C), disaggregated in the same manner as required under such paragraph..

1111(g)(1)(B)
(g) Other plan provisions

(1) Descriptions
Each State plan shall describe—

(B) how low-income and minority children enrolled in schools assisted under this part are not served at disproportionate rates by ineffective, out-of-field, or inexperienced teachers, and the measures the State educational agency will use to evaluate and publicly report the progress of the State educational agency with respect to such description (except that nothing in this subparagraph shall be construed as requiring a State to develop or implement a teacher, principal, or other school leader evaluation system);

*Note that inexperienced teachers as referenced are defined as possessing fewer than three years of experience teaching in their subject area prior to the report year.

The aforementioned plan details the state's approach to achieving the objective of improving access to excellent educators and is focused on strategies to eliminate disproportionalities based on a detailed analysis of teacher qualifications in Wisconsin. Information on specific educators and the license they hold can be accessed at DPI's license lookup and information on all staff employed in public schools can be accessed in the DPI all staff report.

Every year, DPI will upload individual district reports into SAFE for school districts to assist with their data analysis. Districts are encouraged to take into account local data (such as effectiveness, attendance, or other data) in their analysis. The reports from DPI will include information about which schools are identified, how the data was used, and what the district needs to do in their ESSA plan. Below is a sample district report, the technical guide for these reports, and the available data. Beginning in the fall of 2024 local school district plans will also be made available as required under the DPI's approved federal plan.

2024-25 Reports and Data

Sample Report Technical Guide

Statewide Data

2023-24 Reports and Data

Sample Report Technical Guide

Statewide Data

2022-23 Reports and Data

Sample Report Technical Guide

Statewide Data

2021-22 Reports and Data

Sample Report Technical Guide

Statewide Data

What do school districts and schools need to do?

Identified Title I schools and districts are required under Wisconsin's state plan to create a plan as to how they will address the disproportionality identified. School districts may submit a plan that identifies how they will address this across all identified schools in the district. The Department of Public Instruction, under its approved federal plan is required to publish those plans.

Schools and districts should begin by answering the question, “How do you ensure that students are not disproportionately taught by new, out of field, or ineffective teachers?” DPI has provided some information in individual school reports to help you answer that question. You should also use your own local data, such as educator effectiveness data, attendance data, teachers on improvement plans, value added data, etc. to answer the above question and build your plan as to how you will address the assignment of students.

Plans and Action Steps

What steps can schools take? Action steps may include:

training principals on class placement, impact, and research;
reviewing student and teacher placements;
reviewing licensure status of assigned educators (e.g. appropriately licensed for the subject or licensure tier);
creating student profiles that follow a student over time so that people are looking at the placements year over year; and
changing or modifying hiring practices.

Additional action may include mitigating the effects of placement with inexperienced, ineffective, our out-of-field teacher and could include adding extra mentoring for new teachers; providing extra professional development for new teachers; ensuring new teachers have professional learning on how to use the curricular materials chosen by the district.

School District and Charter School Submissions

Identified school districts and charter schools submitted their plans as posted below. (Please reach out to the Licensing Online Help Desk if an accessible or translated version of a document is needed.)

Plans to Address 2023-24 Identifications

Abbotsford District Plan

Adams-Friendship Area District Plan

Adeline Montessori Plan

Appleton District Plan

Arcadia District Plan

Ashland District Plan

Barron District Plan

Bayfield District Plan

Beloit District Plan

Bowler District Plan

Brown Deer District Plan