Despite what they may have been told, current teachers who study Indiana’s proposed rules for educator preparation and licensing (REPA) will be very happy with the recommendations. While egregious misconceptions about the proposed revisions are rampant in the education establishment, in truth the REPA proposal will have no negative or burdensome effects on current teachers.
I’d like to clear up some of the most common misunderstandings.
First, the changes will not cause any teachers to lose their licenses or their jobs. All currently licensed educators will be licensed to teach the same grade levels and content areas under the REPA, and license endorsements for current teachers will transfer to their new licenses. The REPA will not eliminate licenses for school psychologists, speech-language pathologists, counselors or social workers. Teachers won’t be required to go back to school or pass “relicensing tests” to keep their licenses.
The aspects of the REPA that will affect current teachers increase freedom and flexibility. The REPA will allow teachers to add endorsements to their licenses by passing the PRAXIS II exam in each endorsement area. Those who know teachers understand that educators spend countless hours in professional development trainings and in-service opportunities. Current rules make it difficult for teachers to count this continuing education toward renewing their licenses. Consequently, most teachers renew their licenses by earning six credit hours of university or college credit every five years. That can get expensive, potentially costing a teacher thousands of dollars over the course of a career. The REPA proposal gives teachers the option to pursue college credit at their own expense or count the professional development and in-service opportunities they already acquire.
For teachers who hold Accomplished Practitioner licenses, the REPA will allow them to renew every 10 years, instead of every five years as required by the current licensing system.
For new teachers, the REPA will not eliminate pedagogy requirements for teaching candidates, as some have suggested. The changes aim to strike a better balance between content and pedagogy as well as to focus on that pedagogical training that is most essential. Under the REPA proposal, all teaching candidates will be required to complete nine weeks of student teaching — without exception.
Like many Hoosiers, I strongly support efforts to transition career-changing professionals into education. Within five years, one quarter of Indiana’s math and science teachers will be eligible for retirement. Last year only 7 percent of new teaching licenses were issued in math, and six percent were issued in science.
Despite the impending shortage of great math and science teachers, new alternative licensing programs are not a part of the proposal in its updated form.
The changes merely allow for review of new alternative programs at some later date to determine if they are a good option for preparing Indiana’s teachers. Indiana students can benefit greatly from experienced professionals who transition to careers in education, and we should support programs that encourage professionals in other fields to become teachers.
Another benefit of the proposed rule is that it ensures Indiana’s teachers will meet the mandated requirements of the Highly Qualified Teacher provision within the federal Elementary and Secondary Education Act, which calls for advanced content-area training for middle and secondary teachers.
Finally, I want to stress the department’s openness in this rule-changing process.
We will continue to listen to and address meaningful concerns. Our goal is to develop the best teacher licensing regulations to improve K-12 education.
I urge teachers, parents and other interested persons to visit the department’s REPA Web site www.doe.in.gov/REPA to see for themselves what these changes will and won’t do.
— Tony Bennett,
State Superintendent
of Public Instruction
Flashpoint
FLASHPOINT: Misconceptions abound on teacher licensing proposal
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FLASHPOINT: Is this really the best we can do?
As you know if you pay attention to national affairs, the United States faces a perfect fiscal storm at the end of this year.
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FLASHPOINT:Bipartisan vs. Nonpartisan
During the primary election season there was much discussion regarding whether bipartisanship is a positive or negative attribute as it relates to the work of the United States Congress.
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FLASHPOINT: School libraries essential for reading achievement
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FLASHPOINT: Lugar warns of 'unrelenting partisan mindset'
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FLASHPOINT: Is money a problem in politics? Depends on where you sit
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FLASHPOINT: ‘Private’ clubs should be exempt from smoking bans
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FLASHPOINT: Downtown developers should share more details on project
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FLASHPOINT: Be careful when making accusations of ‘racism’
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FLASHPOINT: Historic hotel demolition was shameful day for Terre Haute
In an April 13 article on the potential demolition of historic buildings at Fifth and Wabash for student housing, Mike Ellis says, “I love the old historic buildings and have always had a passion to see them saved and restored. I was an opponent of seeing the Terre Haute House come down and the new hotel go up,” he said. “I have been proven wrong with what that would do for Terre Haute.”
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FLASHPOINT: Notes on saving structural history
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FLASHPOINT: Can anyone hear the call from Farrington's Grove
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FLASHPOINT: We have the power to co-exist without violence or prejudice
Innumerable forces in our lives, and throughout our society, seem to have convinced us that immediacy is best. We have to do it now. We have to have it now. We must go there now. We need it now!
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FLASHPOINT: Issue surrounding Florida shooting fueled by race
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FLASHPOINT: Indiana — open for business
With the 2012 legislative session in the rearview mirror, the two-year work of the 117th General Assembly elected in November of 2010 is complete.
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FLASHPOINT: The Constitutional challenge to the Affordable Care Act
On March 26, the United States Supreme Court will begin three days of hearings with six hours of oral argument on the constitutional challenge filed by Indiana and 25 other states against certain sections of the federal health care law: the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, often referred to as “Obamacare.” This historic lawsuit will explore the limits of the power of Congress under the U.S. Constitution.
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FLASHPOINT: The burning questions of ‘Fahrenheit 451’
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FLASHPOINT: Wonderful place to be during a very hard time
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FLASHPOINT: America’s energy brings America jobs
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FLASHPOINT: Change coming to the Indiana Statehouse
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FLASHPOINT: White House rejects Keystone XL: Sad day for U.S. workers
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FLASHPOINT: Graduation rates are up; great news for Indiana
As Hoosiers celebrate the conclusion of a truly remarkable Super Bowl experience, there is even more good news that should fill us with pride.
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FLASHPOINT: Tech trail leading us into a dense, digital forest
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FLASHPOINT: Republicans enable war on middle class, unions
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FLASHPOINT: Howey ignores truth to advance his agenda
Brian Howey’s Jan. 8 column about the U.S. Senate race proves once again that he will not allow the facts or journalistic ethics to get in the way of attacking Richard Mourdock and promoting his chosen candidate, Dick Lugar.
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FLASHPOINT: Putting fairness first
This time of year, with chords of Auld Lang Syne still ringing in our ears, it’s not uncommon or unnatural to think of days gone by as being more desirable than the era we live in today.
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FLASHPOINT: What really motivates right-to-work proposal?
You may have heard about the upcoming “right-to-work” legislation before our lawmakers in the next session of “law making.”
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FLASHPOINT: The right-to-work debate: ‘Devil at Our Doorstep’
As the 2012 Indiana Legislative Assembly convenes, January will represent a tipping point for all Hoosiers’ individual freedoms as politicians and Big Labor draw battle lines to determine if Indiana will become the 23rd right-to-work state.
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FLASHPOINT: State’s House Democrats will offer alternative for job creation
As the leaders of single-party control in state government outline their agendas for the 2012 session of the Indiana General Assembly, it is easy to be cynical about their intentions in the months to come.
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FLASHPOINT: Community colleges must lead way in reshaping higher education
In the 1970s, I began what was three decades in the automotive industry. ... Today, in my position as president of Ivy Tech Community College of Indiana, I see higher education confronted with some of these same challenges.
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FLASHPOINT: There’s little right about ‘right to work’ proposal
The danger contained in these three simple words – “Right to Work” — is that they sound so innocent.
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FLASHPOINT: Is this really the best we can do?
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