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 Plan 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.
| 1111(h)(1)(C)(ix) | 1111(h)(2)(C) | 1111(g)(1)(B) |
|
(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. |
(2) Annual local educational agency report cards (C) Minimum requirements 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... |
(g) Other plan provisions |
This plan details the state's approach to achieving the objective of improving access to excellent educators. This plan represents targeted 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
-
Coming December 2025
- 2023-24 Reports and Data
-
Statewide Data
- 2022-23 Reports and Data
-
Statewide Data
- 2021-22 Reports and Data
-
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
-
Coming Summer 2025.
- Plans to Address 2022-23 Identifications
-
Submit questions and comments about this information to the Licensing Online Help Desk. Information is also available regarding who is employed in school districts, an educator's license status, and an overview of licensing.