Archived Licensure Framework Documents

For Consideration June 16, 1999

RECOMMENDED FRAMEWORK FOR INITIAL LICENSURE OF PROFESSIONAL EDUCATORS IN THE STATE OF INDIANA
SUBMITTED BY THE LICENSURE COMMITTEE OF THE INDIANA PROFESSIONAL STANDARDS BOARD

TABLE OF CONTENTS

PREFACE
INTRODUCTION
RECOMMENDED FRAMEWORK FOR INITIAL LICENSURE
DEFINITIONS

PREFACE

The original Charge and the revised Charge (see Appendix D) given to the Licensure Framework Committee by the Indiana Professional Standards Board (IPSB) required the committee to:

recommend a Framework for licensing professional educators;
test the Framework against the IPSB standards for preparation and licensure; and
test the Framework for real world applicability.

Additional desirable outcomes for the Framework would be to reduce the number of available licenses, and to streamline the licensure process.

This Draft Framework is based on several factors:

explicit parameters set by the IPSB;
expert testimony;
recommendations of advisory groups;
feedback from IPSB focus groups;
feedback from the Indiana Association of Colleges for Teacher Education and from institutions of higher education;
letters from the public; and
the IPSB-approved standards developed to date (which can be viewed under "Standards" at the IPSB Web Site: www.doe.in.gov/dps).

Members of the Licensure Committee have taken their charge seriously and have found the process over the last two years to be extremely rewarding professionally. In considering the suggestions received throughout the dissemination and editing process, the Licensure Committee continuously reflected on what is best for all learners at all levels.

Licensure Committee members would like to express their sincere appreciation to the IPSB and to all of the stakeholders for the privilege of serving the profession by preparing a new Licensure Framework for Indiana educators.

INTRODUCTION

It is essential to remember that the IPSB teacher education reform project is designed around performance-based standards. A key concept to recall as this Framework is reviewed and implemented: "The Standards Are The Standards," which means that only those qualified to teach in a particular area will be able to meet the standards.

The IPSB has adopted 17 sets of standards, 13 of which pertain to content areas and four of which relate to developmental levels. (IPSB Web Site: www.doe.in.gov/dps)

Content area standards fall into three categories: instructional, corresponding to subjects taught in schools, such as math, social studies, science, etc.; administrative, such as building level and district administration; and school services, such as counselor, nurse, and social worker.

The developmental levels, for licensing purposes, need a P-12 connection and should respect school configurations at the local level, while ensuring that educators will be thoroughly prepared for the developmental levels which they will teach. The four developmental levels correspond to schools as follows:

Early Childhood: based on the IPSB Early Childhood Standards, this developmental level covers teaching in a preschool and/or in the primary grades of an elementary school.
Middle Childhood: based on the IPSB Middle Childhood Standards, this developmental level covers teaching in the intermediate grades of an elementary school.
Early Adolescence: based on the IPSB Early Adolescence Standards, this developmental level covers teaching in schools designated as middle schools or junior high schools.
Adolescence/Young Adulthood: based on the IPSB Adolescence/Young Adulthood Standards, this developmental level covers teaching in high schools.

The Licensure Committee recommends a single Professional Educator License. It will indicate the type of license: Initial Practitioner, Proficient Practitioner, or Accomplished Practitioner. It will be evidence of demonstrated proficiency in one or more content standards, and one or more developmental level standards. However, instead of listing developmental level(s) on the license, it will state school setting(s) for which the educator is licensed. (The exception would be the administrative licenses, where all developmental levels are already covered in the content standards for administrators.)

There will be five school settings:

PRESCHOOL, ELEMENTARY:
PRIMARY, ELEMENTARY:
INTERMEDIATE,
MIDDLE SCHOOL / JUNIOR HIGH,
AND HIGH SCHOOL

corresponding to developmental levels as described in the chart below. There are four reasons for using the term "school setting" on the license:

The age level/range overlaps originally attached to the developmental levels, defined by the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS), were meant for experienced educators. The IPSB definitions reflect initial licensure in Indiana.
School corporations maintain grade level configurations that logically serve their needs. Therefore, to serve this need, the development level competencies reflected in the school setting designations on the license should be flexible enough to reflect each school corporation's organizational pattern. Similarly, each school corporation should determine the developmental level(s) an educator in that district should hold based on its local school configuration.
These definitions allow school districts to make appropriate decisions on staffing based on school configurations.
Should school configurations change, this idea could be amended and updated through the IPSB plan to keep the educator preparation system current.

The following pages detail the various licensing categories, the school settings and content areas which will appear on the license for an educator licensed in each.

Note that this Framework reflects how a newly issued license will appear. This recommendation does not cover situations which are likely to arise, such as an educator holding a license under the present licensing system (Rules 46-47) who wishes to add a content area or school setting under the new system. These transition questions are yet to be addressed.

RECOMMENDED FRAMEWORK FOR INITIAL LICENSURE

The Licensure Committee recommends that there be only one license: an Indiana Professional Educator License. It would bear the appropriate signatures, seals, issue and expiration dates, license number, etc. The license would indicate the type of license: Initial (used herein), Proficient Practitioner, or Accomplished Practitioner.

The license would reflect the standards for which the educator has demonstrated competence and completion of a degree program. The license would list the school setting(s) and content areas for which the educator has demonstrated proficiency.

The content areas reflect those for which Indiana has adopted standards, including administrative and school services areas.

The five school settings correspond to the standards for teachers of the four developmental levels, as shown in the following chart.

I. RELATIONSHIP OF SCHOOL SETTINGS, DEVELOPMENTAL LEVELS, AND CORRESPONDING CONTENT AREAS

School Setting(s) that will appear on a license
_________________

Developmental Level

Standards Required by School Setting(s)

__________________

Content Standards Applicable to School Setting(s)
__________________

PRESCHOOL Early Childhood * See Below

ELEMENTARY:

PRIMARY

Early Childhood Generalist Standards for Early and Middle Childhood, or
Specific Content

ELEMENTARY:

INTERMEDIATE

Middle Childhood Generalist Standards for Early and Middle Childhood, or
Specific Content

MIDDLE SCHOOL/ JUNIOR HIGH Early Adolescence Early Adolescence
Generalist or Specific Content

HIGH SCHOOL Adolescence/ Young Adulthood Specific Content

* As of April 1999, no one IPSB content standard defines the teaching competence required in the Preschool school setting. However, the Comprehensive Standards Document Advisory Group (CSDAG) has identified content standards appropriate to the Preschool school setting within the existing IPSB instructional content standards. CSDAG has shared with the Licensure Committee a document summarizing these content standards and will report a recommendation about this licensing issue to the IPSB in June 1999.

II. CONTENT AREA CATEGORIES

There will be three categories of content areas: Instructional, Administrative, and School Services.

A. INSTRUCTIONAL (listed in alphabetical order)

(1) CAREER/TECHNICAL EDUCATION
Content: Based on the present content Standards for Teachers of
Vocational Education, the license will state the following: [specific content area(s), based on national standards] Comment: This area was initially referred to as Vocational Education, then Vocational/Career Education. The Indiana Association of Area Vocational Directors and recommends the name Career/Technical Education.
Comment: The licensure recommendation reflects the standards that have been developed to date and their correlation to national standards in the specialty areas. Examples of the specialty areas for which national standards currently exist include: Agriculture Education, Auto Body, Auto Service, Business/Marketing (vocational), Construction, Family & Consumer Sciences, Health Occupations, Printing, and Technology Education.

(2) ENGLISH AS A NEW LANGUAGE
Content: Based on the content Standards for Teachers of English as a New Language, the license will state the following: English as a New Language Comment: The teacher of English as a New Language was formerly known as the teacher of English as a second language (ESL).

(3) EXCEPTIONAL NEEDS
Content: Based on the content Standards for Teachers of Exceptional Needs, the license must state Mild Intervention and may additionally state one or more of the following:

Intense Intervention
Visually Impaired
Hearing Impaired

Comment: The content standards for Mild and Intense Intervention are based on levels of service needed rather than on discrete categories. All candidates for Exceptional Needs licensure must demonstrate proficiency in the Mild Intervention content standards.

(4) FINE ARTS
Content: Based on the content Standards for Teachers of Fine Arts, the license will state one or more of the following:

Visual Arts
Vocal and General Music
Instrumental and General Music
Theater Arts
Dance

Comment: The standards clearly define each of the fine arts (music, visual arts, theater arts and dance) as a discrete discipline.

(5) FOREIGN LANGUAGE
Content: Based on the content Standards for Teachers of Foreign Language Education, the license will state the following: Specific Language(s)

(6) GENERALIST: Early Childhood
School Setting: Preschool
Developmental Level: Early Childhood
Content: Based on content standards appropriate to Preschool school setting within existing IPSB instructional content standards, the license will state: Preschool Generalist Comment: Early Childhood and Middle Childhood teacher(s) need a broad base of knowledge across content areas.

(7) GENERALIST: Early Childhood and Middle Childhood
School Settings: Elementary: Primary, and Elementary: Intermediate.
Developmental Levels: Early Childhood (Elementary: Primary focus) and
Middle Childhood
Content: Based on the Generalist Standards for Teachers of Early Childhood and Middle Childhood, the license will state one or more of the following:

Elementary: Primary Generalist
Elementary: Intermediate Generalist

Comment: Early Childhood and Middle Childhood teacher(s) need a broad base of knowledge across content areas.

(8) GENERALIST: Early Adolescence
School Setting: Middle School/Junior High
Developmental Level(s): Early Adolescence
Content: Based on the content Standards for Early Adolescence Teachers, the license will state the two content areas met as part of the standards:

Early Adolescence Generalist:
[content area 1.]
[content area 2.]

Comment: The Early Adolescence Developmental Level with a notation of Generalist requires two content fields selected from the four core areas (Language Arts; Mathematics; Science; and/or Social Studies). The holder of the Generalist content field will be eligible to teach in each of the two areas included within the candidate's program of studies. The two core areas will be noted on the license in brackets([ ]). The content of the core areas must fulfill the content standards which are developmentally appropriate for teaching Early Adolescence students.
Comment: It will be possible to obtain a license to teach in the middle school setting with a single content area, but not as an Early Adolescence Generalist. Any of the content areas could be matched with a school setting of middle school, or with multiple school settings. This option will be useful to institutions with specialty instructional programs in non "core" areas, such as Physical Education, Music, Art, and Library Services in responding to marketplace realities.

(9) HEALTH/PHYSICAL EDUCATION
Content: Based on the content Standards for Teachers of Health/Physical
Education, the license will state one or both of the following:

Health
Physical Education

Comment: The standards clearly define health and physical education as discrete disciplines.

(10) LANGUAGE ARTS
Content: Based on the content Standards for Teachers of Language Arts,
the license will state: Language Arts Comment: The standards are comprehensive, encompassing reading, writing, speaking, listening, viewing and enactment.

(11) LIBRARY/MEDIA
Content: Based on the content Standards for Teachers of
Library/Media, the license will state:
Library/Media

(12) MATHEMATICS
Content: Based on the content Standards for Teachers of Mathematics, the license will state: Mathematics

(13) SCIENCE
Content: Based on the content Standards for Teachers of Science, the license will state one or more of the following:

Life Sciences
Physical Sciences
Earth/Space Sciences

Comment: The standards clearly define life, physical, and earth/space sciences as discrete areas.

(14) SOCIAL STUDIES
Content: Based on the content Standards for Teachers of Social Studies, the license will state three or more of the following:

Economics

Geographical Perspectives

Government and Citizenship

Historical Perspectives

Psychology

Sociology

Comment: The standards are comprehensive, encompassing: civic ideals, current events, economics, geographical perspectives, government and citizenship, historical perspectives, psychology, sociology, and world cultures. Candidates for Social Studies licensure must complete preparation in each of these nine strands within the standards, with concentrated preparation in at least three content areas selected from the following: economics, geographical perspectives, historical perspectives, government and citizenship, psychology, and sociology. Candidates will be licensed to teach in each area of concentration. Civic ideals and practices, current events, and world cultures are an integral part of each content area.

B. ADMINISTRATIVE

There are two types of administrative license: District Administrator and Building Level Administrator. For each, the license will state "All Schools" under school setting, because the standards ensure that administrators will be well versed in curriculum, pedagogy, and student characteristics of all developmental levels. A minimum qualifying degree for all administrative licenses is a master's degree.

(1) DISTRICT ADMINISTRATOR
School Setting: All Schools
Developmental Level(s): All
Content: Based on the draft content Standards for District Administrators, the license will state one or more of the following:

Superintendent

Exceptional Needs Director
Career/Technical Education Director

Curriculum and Instruction Director

Comment: The standards ensure that administrators will be well-versed in the curriculum, pedagogy, and student characteristics of all of the developmental levels. Upon enrolling in a preparation program for district administrator, all candidates would have to hold the minimum of a Proficient Practitioner License. Further, an exceptional needs director candidate would have to hold a license in exceptional needs and a career/technical education director candidate would have to hold a license in career/technical education. It is understood the term "superintendent" encompasses associate superintendent, assistant superintendent, and deputy superintendent and requires at least a specialist's degree. A Curriculum and Instruction Director would have to hold an Accomplished Practitioner's License. Note that positions of personnel director, business manager, school services director, and facilities and grounds director are not addressed here. These areas do not require a Professional Educator License for employment.
Note: Standards for District Administrators are in draft form and have not yet been approved by the IPSB. This recommendation for licensure is based on the Draft Standards for District Administrators as of April 7, 1999.

(2) BUILDING LEVEL ADMINISTRATOR
School Setting: All schools
Developmental Level(s): All
Content: Based on the content Standards for Building Level Administrators, the license will state:
Building Level Administrator Comment: The standards ensure that administrators will be well-versed in the curriculum, pedagogy, and student characteristics of the developmental level or levels for the school in which they serve.

C. SCHOOL SERVICES

A recommendation for specific licensing areas under this category will be made to the IPSB Executive Committee in June 1999 by the School Services Advisory Group.

DEFINITIONS

PROFESSIONAL EDUCATOR LICENSE

The Professional Educator License is the document issued by the Indiana Professional Standards Board that grants permission for an individual to enter the education profession in Indiana. This professional educator license affirms that the candidate has completed a bachelor's degree or higher (Occupational Specialist(s) are exempt from meeting the bachelor's degree; however, ideally they should have an associate degree or the equivalent) and has met the INTASC standards and the Indiana standards for the school setting(s) and content area(s) pertinent to the areas listed on the license.

CERTIFICATE

A certificate is a document issued jointly by the IPSB and another entity that authorizes the individual to teach in a content area not licensed by the IPSB. As a prerequisite, the individual must possess a valid Indiana Professional Educator License. The certificate recognizes that the individual meets the standards of an IPSB-recognized state and/or national professional organization. Note that the certificate is a separate credential, not listed on the license.

PERMIT

A permit is a limited-duration, non-renewable document issued by the IPSB that allows an individual to do particular work. As a prerequisite, the individual must have completed course work or a degree program or possess occupational experiences. The permit recognizes that the individual is committed to becoming licensed or certified. A permit holder will be assigned a licensed teacher as a mentor. Note that the permit is not a license.