Wyoming Education
Association Professional Standards and Practices Platform
The Professional Standards and Practices
Platform reflects the Strategic Priorities of the
Wyoming Education Association within a Quality Schools framework.
The WEA believes that every student
deserves access to the best quality education, today and in the future, so that
the individual student’s current and future needs are met, and so that each may
reach her or his highest potential. To
achieve that access, it is imperative that every
Priority
1 – Student Achievement
A. Curriculum, Instruction and Assessment
1. Assessment
The WEA believes high quality assessment,
directly aligned to the curriculum, is an integral component in the provision
of a quality education for all students. We therefore support a system of
assessments designed locally, directly correlated to specific student
expectations, and aligned with state standards. Furthermore, when professional
staff participation beyond the defined workday is required, we urge local
districts to provide adequate compensation.
2. Standards
Based Education
The WEA
supports standards-based curricula. The WEA therefore encourages all school districts to provide ongoing training, support and funds necessary
to manage a standards-based classroom.
Furthermore, the WEA believes the curriculum should not be limited to
the teaching and assessing of the standards.
We therefore encourage districts to allow time for exploration and
enhancement within the curriculum.
3.
High School Diploma
The WEA supports the concept that every
student should have the opportunity to earn a high school diploma. We believe that a high school diploma is a
means by which students are given opportunities. We therefore support the issuing of the high
school diploma to each student who demonstrates mastery of the
4. Early Childhood
Programs and Screening
The WEA believes the
foundation for student success and achievement is laid in early childhood. We therefore believe
that pre-kindergarten, full-day kindergarten and pre-first grade
early-childhood education programs and readiness screenings should be mandatory and fully
funded within the public school system. We further believe early childhood education
should include appropriate developmental curricula for all children.
5. “Seamless”
Education
The WEA believes that
the educational needs of students can best be served through a well-articulated
program at all levels that facilitates student progress from level to level,
pre-kindergarten through higher education.
The WEA further
believes that this “seamless” education can best be provided when it is driven
by students’ needs rather than cost, focuses on
providing the highest quality education, provides equal access, and involves
all aspects of the educational community (school districts, community colleges,
university) in its development.
6. Standardized Testing
The WEA believes the
integrity of school curriculum is threatened by attempts to restructure the
curriculum to focus primarily on concepts included in standardized tests.
The WEA strongly
opposes the use of group standardized intelligence, aptitude, and achievement
tests to:
A. compare
student or teacher success
B. determine
individual school quality
C. evaluate school
district programs
or
D. act as
determinants in school funding issues.
Furthermore, the WEA
adamantly opposes the use of such test results to determine salaries and/or
additional compensation plans for employees.
7. Instructional Time
The WEA believes that instructional time should be sacrosanct. The WEA
therefore encourages the state department of education and the Wyoming
Legislature to reduce the time students spend taking standardized tests.
8. Diversity
The WEA believes that
a commitment to improving educational opportunities through a variety of
proactive approaches and strategies must be pursued to reverse negative
educational trends such as the achievement gaps
among different groups of students.
9.
Substance Abuse by Students
The WEA recognizes that
substance abuse by students in the state of Wyoming is a serious social problem. We therefore encourage state and local school
boards to support development of prevention and intervention programs that
effectively address the problem of substance abuse.
10.
The WEA believes that
professional educators must address an integral relationship between health and
learning.
The WEA believes that
a healthy child is a teachable child and supports establishing a comprehensive
health care curriculum in every school within the state. The WEA advocates a standards-based program
that provides both health-related instruction and services within the context
of a healthy school environment.
11. Keeping Career and Technical (Vocational)
Programs Current
The WEA urges
districts to extend, expand and improve career and technical programs through state-of-the-art
instructional equipment and revision of curriculum.
12. Support for Fine Arts
The WEA recognizes
the importance of the arts in a well-rounded curriculum. The WEA urges the State of
13. Commitment to Special Needs Populations
The WEA supports
appropriate and quality educational training and employment
opportunities for individuals with special needs. The WEA advocates programs to
ensure appropriate inclusion of students with disabilities in the regular
classroom. These programs should enable students to
prepare for post-secondary opportunities.
14. Hathaway Scholarship
Program
The WEA supports
appropriate and quality post-secondary educational opportunities for all
15. Maintenance of a Well-Rounded Curriculum
The WEA recognizes
the importance of a well-rounded curriculum to provide students the opportunity
to reach their fullest potential. The WEA therefore strongly encourages school
districts to adequately and appropriately support all curricular areas for all
students.
B. Community/Parent
Involvement
1. Parent/Teacher Conferences
The WEA believes that parental involvement in
public education is vital and increased parent/teacher communication increases
a student’s success. We therefore
believe that parent/teacher conference days should be counted as teacher/pupil
contact days with a minimum of two such days per school year.
2. Parental Involvement and Support
The WEA
believes in strong parental support in providing a positive educational
environment in the home as well as addressing current problems of education
relative to discipline, absenteeism, vandalism and violence in schools. The WEA also encourages efforts to promote and maintain parental
support and positive parent involvement in the public schools. We therefore encourage districts to include
time within the contract for teachers to communicate with parents regarding
student progress.
3. Student Employment
The WEA recognizes
that K-12 students are learners who need time to study and time to grow,
socially, personally, and intellectually.
To allow these young individuals an opportunity to develop their
potential, the WEA believes that:
A. employed students should be
discouraged from working more than twelve hours during the school week;
B. employers should be discouraged from
using student employees after the hour of 9:00 p.m., Sunday through Thursday;
C. educators working
with students in work-experience programs should monitor and work closely with
employers to plan work hours that allow for both learning and employment.
4. Students at Risk – Educational Disincentives
under Welfare Law for Adult
Students
The WEA supports public policy measures which
provide educational incentives and which expand educational opportunities to
our adult populations. The WEA believes
that a parent’s enhanced educational opportunity not only improves the
socio-economic well-being of the family but also encourages and fosters the
educational development and esteem of the child and that of the whole family
system. We therefore oppose those measures that serve to restrict and undermine access to
education of low-income adults, particularly single parents, displaced homemakers and other nontraditional
students.
C. School Organization
1. Student/Teacher Ratio
The WEA believes that
student/teacher ratios should reflect the number of students per each
certificated/licensed individual who is directly responsible for actual
instruction in a classroom.
Furthermore, smaller class sizes directly
impact classroom instruction and enhance student learning. We therefore support class size limits at every level P-16.
Furthermore, the WEA
encourages all school districts to provide a ratio of students with
disabilities in regular education classes that is appropriate for effective
learning.
2. Increased School Year with Increased Staff
Compensation
The WEA believes that
increased teacher/pupil contact days are necessary to sustain educational
growth. We further believe that any
increase in teacher/pupil contact days must be accompanied by increased staff compensation based
upon each individual’s contracted daily rate of pay (as a minimum).
3. Increased
Staff Compensation for Increased Length of Day
The WEA
believes that increased teacher/pupil contact hours are sometimes necessary to
sustain educational growth and/or meet program needs. We further believe that any increase in
teacher hours must be accompanied by increased staff compensation based upon an hourly rate of
pay as adjusted for an individual’s contracted salary.
4. Students at Risk
The WEA believes that
all students have the right to obtain a high school education. We therefore encourage school districts to
implement policies that outline procedures for
the purposes of both identifying
and establishing intervention programs for students at risk.
5. Safe Schools
The WEA urges all
school districts to establish policies and procedures in order to ensure that
schools remain safe environments for teaching and learning.
6. Collaborative Educational Programs
The WEA believes that
secondary and college students should receive the highest quality education at
each academic level and that the role and function and standards of academic
expectation of each of these public educational systems should be respected and
maintained.
The WEA
opposes reducing staff at all educational levels, including higher education,
through the use of distance learning programs and concurrent enrollment
courses. The WEA encourages
collaboration and cooperation between faculties at all levels.
7. Vacation Activity Schedule
The WEA believes that students should have time off from athletic
practices, contests and other scheduled school activities during school
vacations to spend time with families.
8. Student Organizations
The WEA recognizes the need for student
organizations, which will improve student leadership and personal
competencies. We therefore urge local support of student
organizations at both state and local levels.
Priority
2 – Staff Quality
A. Curriculum, Instruction and Assessment
1. Professional Teaching Standards Board
The WEA believes that teachers,
administrators and other participating professional educators need to maintain
authority in determining standards for the profession and believes that
2.
Teaching Licensure
The WEA advocates rigorous state standards
for entry into the teaching profession. The Association asserts that a teaching
license should signify that an individual entering the teaching profession is
competent to teach.
A teaching license must be recognized as
the primary requirement for employment in every public and private school (P-16).
No license should be issued by
3. Professional
Education Requirement The WEA believes the
professional education requirement must be maintained in order to qualify for a
teaching certificate. We furthermore believe that competence will be enhanced
by requiring teacher training institutions to
provide the prospective teacher with a minimum of a one-semester student
teaching experience in order to earn program approval from the PTSB.
4. Licensing
Standards for Certificated Support Professionals
The
WEA believes certification regulations should require practical experience as a part of the
preparation for certificated support professionals who perform services for the
classroom unit.
5. Educational
Leadership (Administrative) Licensure
The WEA advocates rigorous state standards
for entry into educational leadership. The Association asserts that an
educational leadership license should signify that an individual entering
educational administration is competent to provide instructional leadership,
evaluate and assess effective teaching and learning, hire qualified education
personnel, and manage financial responsibilities.
An educational leadership license must be
recognized as the primary requirement for employment in every public and
private school (P-16). No license should be issued by the
6.
Early Childhood Certification
The WEA believes that early childhood
programs must be staffed by trained and certified/licensed personnel, including
teachers, administrators and qualified support staff. We support early
childhood teacher preparation programs that will lead to credentials consistent
with educational standards in the State of
7. Maintenance
of Standards
The
WEA believes that reduction of teacher certification standards decreases the
quality of education for all students. All students deserve a fully certified
teacher for all courses. We therefore believe that all teachers should be
certified in the subject area to which they are assigned.
We further believe that the employment of
teachers holding “non-degreed area permits” must not be used as a means,
directly or indirectly, to reduce the certificated teaching staff.
8. National Board Certification
The WEA believes that
the process of continuous professional development improves the quality of
instruction. The WEA therefore encourages continued support for educators
seeking National Board Certification.
9. Cooperative
Leadership
The WEA believes that a cooperative
relationship among the WEA, the Wyoming Department of Education and school
districts will promote quality instruction in all classrooms in
10. Teacher
Proficiency
The WEA believes that a teacher needs to
have proficient skills in communication, technology and computation as well as
specific subject content and pedagogy. We therefore encourage the University of Wyoming College of
Education to maintain entrance requirements that have been established for
acceptance into the teacher education program.
11. Public
Education Experience
The WEA believes that to ensure quality
education in
12. Requirements
for Substitute Teachers
The WEA
believes the PTSB should maintain the present
requirements for applicants desiring a substitute permit. These requirements
include a minimum of 65 credit hours plus five additional credit hours in five
years for renewal or 24 hours of training in such areas as communication skills
and interpersonal relations, lesson planning, classroom management, and use of
technology, plus ten hours of observation in classrooms of experienced
teachers. All school districts are
encouraged to work with
13.
Teaching Styles and Models
The WEA recognizes
the value of teaching models as a means of promoting educational
excellence. We further recognize that
there are numerous effective teaching styles and models. We therefore reject the practice of the
implementation of a single instructional model as the sole style of instruction
at the school or district level.
14. Alternative Delivery Systems
The WEA reaffirms its belief that it is
the right of every student to have a certificated teacher in the classroom on a
daily basis. We recognize that with the
development of the telecommunications industry, alternative forms of delivering
instruction will increase. We therefore
believe traditional educational approaches such as shared staffing must be
fully explored before such alternative systems should be used. Such systems should be used only in strict
accordance with the rules and regulations adopted by the PTSB.
15. Evaluation and Standards
The WEA believes that
evaluation of teachers should be used to improve standards-based teaching. All administrators
should be trained in standards-based teaching and evaluation.
16. Teacher Examinations
The WEA believes that responsibility for
beginning teacher examinations for competencies should be a function of
teacher preparation institutions and, therefore, should be a part of all
institutional endorsements provided for candidates who successfully complete
programs. We believe that fair and
adequate evaluation systems should be in place and utilized. The Professional Teaching Standards Board has
established criterion for recertification.
We therefore strongly oppose competency testing as a sole recertification requirement.
17. Quality Education
The WEA recognizes
the need for education to work with the changing world rather than in response
to it. A quality general education
requires continual updating of all programs in order to meet both current and
future needs. We believe both students
and staff should be able to access, to interact with, and to learn from ever
changing technologies. We therefore
believe these needs would best be met by:
A. consistent assessment of, and response
to, education’s ever changing role;
B. development of pertinent curricula;
C. evaluation and necessary
replacement/upgrading of equipment and text;
D. availability of quality teacher
training programs on current and future educational techniques and trends;
E. continued commitment to excellence in
professional development and student achievement;
F. exploration and implementation of
interdisciplinary approaches to education;
G. continuous teacher training for
professional support, improvement of instruction, and opportunities to explore,
research and implement best practice; and
H. time for reflection,
visitation, in-service education, and preparation for new programs.
18. Selection of Instructional Materials and
Processes
The WEA believes
educators should adopt criteria for selection and development of instructional
materials and processes.
B. School Organization
1. Teacher
Education Program Approval The WEA believes that
the teacher education program in
2. Hiring Practices
The WEA believes the
highest standards of professionalism should be reflected in hiring practices. We therefore support hiring practices that
include:
A. securing certificated and classified
personnel whose education, training, licensing and/or experience appropriately
meet the requirements of each position available;
B. focusing on teaching assignments
rather than extracurricular assignments;
C. giving a priority to voluntary,
in-district transfers, prior to hiring outside of the district;
D. protecting students from abuse
by investigating thoroughly the credentials and personal references of every
applicant; and
E. employing qualified persons of
diversity at all levels using fair competition for all applicants.
We do not support using state or federal
financial reimbursement as the primary criterion for hiring and/or assigning
personnel.
3. Paraeducators/Instructional Assistants
The WEA believes that paraeducators/
instructional assistants should be used to assist the educator in effective
instruction and should not be utilized as a
means to provide decreased pupil/teacher
ratio.
4.
The WEA believes that mentor programs are
a means of enhancing the professional expertise of employees. The Association also believes that the
planning, implementation, and evaluation of such programs must be negotiated or
cooperatively developed and maintained by the school district and the local
affiliate.
The Association further believes that the
duties and responsibilities of all parties must be clearly defined and
uniformly administered. Mentors must be
selected through a defined process with articulated criteria, be properly
trained and compensated, and be provided with adequate time to fulfill their
responsibilities. The state or local
authority has the obligation to provide hold-harmless protection.
The Association further believes that any
documentation that results from the mentoring process must be confidential and
the sole property of the person mentored, and must not be included in the
participant’s personnel file.
5.
Peer Mentoring and Support Programs
The WEA believes that high standards
within the teaching profession and continuous improvement in professional
practices are cornerstones of the profession.
The primary purpose of any peer
mentoring/support program should be to provide “mentoring” – to improve professional
practice, retain promising teachers, and build professional knowledge to
improve student success. A local
association may, at its option, also decide to include a “review” component in
the program – involving the evaluation of performance. If a local association takes either position,
the component should:
A.
be developed through collective bargaining or
through a joint association/school district agreement in non-bargaining locals;
B.
be governed by a board composed of an equal
number or a majority of representatives appointed by the local association;
C.
acknowledge that the school district makes the final decision to retain
or seek non-renewal or termination, but that recommendations forwarded by the
joint governing body are routinely accepted and acted upon by the district;
D.
ensure that only teachers who are deemed by their peers to be highly
skilled practitioners are selected for the role of mentor teacher, that the mentor teacher’s subject area is the same
as or closely related to that of the participating teacher, and that the mentor teacher is chosen by the program
governing body with the
approval of the participating teacher involved;
E.
seek mentor
teachers who reflect the diverse population of the teaching staff;
F.
provide that mentor teachers are properly compensated and provided adequate
time to fulfill their responsibilities;
G.
provide that mentor teachers receive extensive and ongoing training in
mentoring/coaching skills, district initiatives and resources, and current
education instructional methods;
H.
establish guidelines for the referral of
teachers as well as safeguards to prevent unwarranted referrals;
I.
establish and convey to all mentoring and participating teachers clear rules on allowable uses
of documents, products, and communications arising from the program;
J.
require extensive documentation based on
ongoing assessments of each participant;
K.
require that rigorous and extensive assistance be provided over an
appropriate period of time to help the participating teacher attain the
requisite standard of proficiency before any effort to counsel the
participating teacher out of the profession is made or a recommendation to
initiate non-renewal or termination proceedings is issued;
L.
ensure due process protection and duty of fair representation
procedures; and
M.
guarantee that participating teachers, mentor teachers, and teachers who sit on governing bodies do
not lose their Association membership or bargaining unit status by virtue of
their participation in the program.
6. Instructional Facilitators
The WEA believes that high standards within
the teaching profession and continuous improvement in professional practices
are cornerstones of the profession.
Instructional facilitators, working daily with classroom teachers, can
help improve instructional strategies and therefore help improve student
achievement.
The Association further believes that the
duties and responsibilities of all parties must be clearly defined and
uniformly administered. Instructional Facilitators
must be selected through a defined process with articulated criteria, be
properly trained and compensated, and be provided with adequate time to fulfill
their responsibilities.
The Association also believes that the
role of Instructional Facilitators is to serve as advisory resources to
classroom teachers. Instructional
facilitators consult with teachers on a one-to-one or team basis to analyze
student assessment and performance data, identify areas of student need, adapt
instruction using appropriate learning strategies, and implement classroom
organization management practices.
The WEA further believes that
Instructional Facilitators shall not perform administrative supervision,
evaluation, or personnel recommendations.
7. Utilization of Substitutes
The WEA believes that
capable substitutes in classrooms help to ensure orderly progress and
educational accountability in the short-term absence of regular classroom teachers. We therefore urge districts to assign substitute teachers based on
qualifications, suitability of assignments and performance capabilities.
C. Staff Development
1. Paraeducators/ Instructional Assistants
The WEA encourages all school districts to provide
appropriate training and supervision for all paraeducators to support their
involvement as part of the team of regular and special educators.
In addition, WEA encourages local
districts to work with the
2. Professional
Learning Community Partnerships
The WEA believes that Professional Learning
Communities are a means by
which schools and universities can accomplish four purposes: to provide optimal education for children and
youth, to prepare future educators, to provide professional development and to
conduct inquiry/research. We therefore urge the Wyoming School University
Partnership to develop and implement
Professional Learning Communities throughout the state.
3. Teacher Evaluation Courses
The WEA believes that evaluation of school
personnel provides opportunity for professional growth and improvement in
instruction. We therefore encourage the
University of Wyoming and Wyoming Community Colleges to
provide appropriate course offerings in up-to-date, equitable and fair
evaluation procedures.
4. Staff Development
The WEA recognizes
the need for continued staff development and believes that local associations
in cooperation with educational leaders should:
A. initiate quality in-service programs
designed to meet staff-identified needs at the district, building and
professional levels;
B.
seek the cooperation of colleges in initiating postgraduate courses,
and/or federally financed programs, which meet current needs of staff; and
C.
promote supportive partnerships with the
business community.
Furthermore, we encourage districts to design
staff development that is based on input from affected personnel.
5. HIV and/or Blood Borne Pathogens
The WEA recognizes
the responsibility of schools to respond to the crisis of sexually transmitted
and/or blood borne pathogen diseases in
today’s society.
We therefore
encourage development of appropriate and comprehensive local school board policies regarding these diseases.
These policies,
developed at the local school, college and university levels should include:
A. in-depth training for school personnel
including Universal Precaution Training;
B. the development of admission practices
for school-age children diagnosed with HIV and/or blood borne pathogen diseases;
C. intervention and assistance programs
for employees who contract HIV and/or a blood borne pathogen disease during their employment;
D. detailed/defined methods for handling
body fluids and contaminated materials, including Universal Precaution
Training;
E. the establishment of education
programs which teach tolerance; and
F. the
establishment of education programs which teach understanding and prevention options (abstinence and
medically accepted protective devices including an ongoing program of
instruction of the proper use of such protective devices, beginning in the
upper elementary grades).
6. Substance Abuse Education
The WEA recognizes the impact of substance
abuse on our students and their families. We therefore encourage local school
districts to develop and implement staff training that will enable our members
to help students and their families surmount the challenges caused by substance
abuse.
Priority
3 – School System Capacity
A. Curriculum, Instruction and Assessment
Curriculum and Policy
Collaboration
The WEA believes that student differences
and needs should be considered when curricula, student standards and graduation
requirements are developed and implemented. We therefore support district and individual school site
collaboration on curriculum and policy development and changes.
B. Community/Parent Involvement
1. School
Consolidation
The WEA recognizes
the significance of local control of and community involvement in local
schools. The issue of school
consolidation has an impact on all school districts in the state. The WEA believes that any school district
consolidation must include:
A. consideration of the impact on
students;
B. involvement of the local community
impacted;
C. involvement of professional educators;
and
D. consideration of financial
ramifications.
2. Evaluation of Schools
The WEA believes in the concept of
evaluating public school facilities and programs. We encourage the Wyoming School
Facilities Commission to increase the number of K-12
classroom teachers and staff as an integral part of the evaluation process, and to release commission reports for public
discussion.
C. School Organization
1. School
Accreditation Rules and Regulations Processes
The WEA supports the school accreditation
rules and regulations processes approved by the Wyoming State Board of
Education. We encourage all members to actively participate in the development,
implementation and evaluation of district policies established to meet
accreditation rules and regulations processes. Furthermore, we urge local
districts to provide teachers with optional extended contracts to implement and
develop state required assessments, standards, graduation requirements and
accreditation processes.
2. Site-Based Decision Making
The WEA believes that education employees
have a right to share in, and
be compensated for, formulating educational policies and in making decisions
affecting their educational service both in the profession and in their school
system.
PRIORITY
4 – PUBLIC SUPPORT
A. Community/Parent Involvement
Coalition
The WEA supports coalitions to develop the
future of education in
B. School Organization
cooperation
with Wyoming Department of Education
The WEA believes the
Wyoming Department of Education should be adequately staffed with qualified
professionals. We encourage the Wyoming
Legislature to appropriately finance the Wyoming Department of Education to
provide a broad program of services to Wyoming schools. The WEA will work cooperatively with the
Wyoming Department of Education to deliver those services to