Wisconsin Equitable Access Plan
The Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction (DPI) submitted to the U.S. Department of Education the Teacher Equitable Access Plan for Wisconsin that has been developed to address the long-term needs for improving equitable access to great teachers and leaders in Wisconsin.
Wisconsin’s plan complies with the requirement in Section 1111(h)(1)(C)(ix) and (2)(C) and 1111(g)(1)(B) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) that each state’s Title I, Part A plan include information on the specific steps that the SEA will take to ensure that students from low-income families and students of color are not taught at higher rates than other children by inexperienced, unqualified, or out-of-field teachers, and the measures that the agency will use to evaluate and publicly report the progress of the agency with respect to such steps.
This plan details our approach to achieving our objective of improving access to excellent educators for our state’s students of color and low-income youth. This plan represents targeted strategies to eliminate disproportionalities based on a detailed analysis of teacher qualifications in Wisconsin. View the Teacher Equitable Access Plan for 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.
As a part of ESSA, all districts that receive Title I funding, are required to address in their local plan how they will ensure that low-income students and students of color are not disproportionately taught by new and out-of-field teachers. 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.
| Year | Reports and Data |
|---|---|
| 2023-24 | Coming December 2024. |
| 2022-23 |
|
| 2021-22 |
|
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 inequity identified. School districts may submit a plan that identifies how they will address identified inequities 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 living in poverty and students of color 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 EE 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
The first, and most important part is about placement of students and teachers. What steps can schools take? Action steps may include:
- training principals on class placement, impact, and research.
- reviewing 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.
- changing or modifying hiring practices to address inequities.
Additional action may include mitigating the effects of placement with inexperienced, ineffective, our out-of-field teacher and may include:
- add extra mentoring for new teachers.
- provide extra professional development for new teachers.
- ensure that new teachers have professional learning on how to use the curricular materials chosen by the district.
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.