WI DWD Teacher Apprenticeship

Overview

To address Wisconsin’s teacher shortage, WI Department of Workforce Development (DWD) – Bureau of Apprenticeship Standards (BAS) recently sought to develop a Teacher Apprentice Pilot Program. Traditionally, teachers are licensed to enter the classroom after completing a 4-year bachelor’s teacher preparation program. They do not always gain experience in the classroom outside of a semester long student teaching requirement. The BAS proposed building on the 4-year model by having the teachers apprentice work as a paraprofessional in a classroom setting throughout their education while gaining familiarity with established DPI guidelines for teacher competencies. While apprenticeships are common in other professions, this model would represent a first of its kind approach to teacher preparation in WI. Because WI BAS has worked closely with WIDS to develop many apprenticeships, they knew WIDS was perfect to partner with to develop a Teacher Apprenticeship Playbook that Wisconsin school districts could use to consider, develop and eventually implement this new apprenticeship model.

The Challenge

Developing the pilot apprenticeship program would involve collaboration among multiple state agencies, including the WI Department of Public Instruction, 2- and 4-year colleges and universities, and WI school districts willing to launch the pilot program. In addition, the program would need to meet BAS regulatory requirements and adhere to Wisconsin’s teacher licensing state statutes. The ‘earn while you learn’ model challenged all involved stakeholders, particularly the school districts which would need to craft a model for on-the-job training for apprentice teachers.  

The WIDS Solution

To aid all stakeholders in designing a new model, WIDS collaborated with the BAS to develop the Teacher Apprenticeship Playbook resource to serve as a comprehensive guide for school districts to develop and implement a teacher apprenticeship program. Because this resource was vastly different from others produced by BAS, WIDS provided a Learning Design Consultant who was also a WI licensed teacher. The consultant facilitated cooperation between stakeholders, ensured all stakeholders understood the playbook’s purpose, researched other state and national teacher apprentice program resources through an educator’s lens, and moved all stakeholders toward consensus. 

Nick Abbott, Senior Program and Policy Analyst at the BAS, and Project Manager for the Teacher Apprenticeship Program Pilot, shared his thoughts on WIDS’s impact on the project: “WIDS connected me with a consultant who was previously a teacher and also worked in school administration at both the school (K-12) and college levels, somebody who really speaks the language (of education) but also knows apprenticeship models and how they work.” According to Nick, “This was an immediate benefit to our efforts because she (the WIDS consultant) acted as a bridge many times, helping stakeholders understand each other as well as redirecting the group(s) so we stayed focused.”

The Result

WIDS’s involvement was instrumental in producing the first-ever Teacher Apprenticeship Playbook and helping Wisconsin prepare to roll out its Teacher Apprentice Pilot Program during for the 2024-2025 academic year and beyond.

Nick says, “Our resulting work product has been well received, and we have since decided to build further on our efforts with continuing our partnership with WIDS.” The goal is that the pilot program will lead to broader implementation of the apprenticeship. Nick said, “Our (apprenticeship) training model continues to grow in WI, and WIDS has always been a great partner.” He also notes how critical WIDS was to the program’s success: “Developing a new Teacher Apprenticeship program in WI was not easy, but having WIDS support during the development is a big part of why we were and are continuing to be successful.”