Hiring Policy
Substitute License(s): Wisconsin offers a Five-year Substitute License for both short-term and long-term substitute assignments. The state also offers a Three-Year Short Term Substitute Permit. The Five-year Substitute License is available to teachers with current or expired licenses. The Three-Year Short Term Substitute Permit requires a bachelor's degree and requires the district administrator to declare, "that an emergency exists in the district due to the lack of qualified substitute teachers and requests that a permit be issued by the department."
Length of Assignment: Wisconsin permits holders of a Five-Year Substitute License to teach in a short-term assignment for any subject regardless of the area of their existing license. A short-term assignment is no longer than 45 days. A teacher can substitute teach in the area of their license for a long-term assignment that is greater than 45 days. Wisconsin also permits holders of a Short-Term Permit to teach for up to 45 days in the same assignment.
Evaluation of Long-Term Substitutes: Wisconsin requires holders of the Five-Year Substitute License to be evaluated under the state's evaluation system.
Distinguish requirements for short-term and long-term substitutes.
Wisconsin should distinguish requirements for short-term and long-term substitutes so that it can ensure that its requirements are appropriate for the needs of these teachers. The state's long-term substitute requirements should be rigorous (e.g., that all long-term substitutes have current or expired licenses) to help ensure that teachers who are spending extended periods of time with students are prepared to do so.
Limit the number of consecutive days a short-term substitute can teach in the same classroom.
Wisconsin should limit the number of consecutive days a short-term substitute can teach in the same classroom without completing additional requirements or obtaining a long-term substitute license. The maximum number of days should be no more than 10 percent of the length of the school year. Wisconsin's policy of allowing substitute teachers to teach 45 consecutive days in the same classroom may be detrimental to instructional quality and daily productivity.
Require long-term substitute teachers to be evaluated.
Wisconsin should maintain standards for substitute teacher quality and accountability for all substitutes, but especially for long-term substitutes who are expected to stand in for licensed teachers for extended periods of time. Wisconsin can help ensure that substitute teachers are held to high standards and have access to the supports necessary to improve their practice by requiring evaluations—
which it may find appropriate to modify from its standard, state-required
teacher evaluations— of long-term substitutes.
Wisconsin was helpful in providing NCTQ with facts necessary for this analysis. The state also indicated that when a district requests a three-year short-term substitute permit, it must provide the teacher training in:
1. Basic district and school policies and procedures.
2. Age appropriate teaching strategies.
3. Discipline, conflict resolution and classroom management techniques.
4. Health and safety issues, including handling medical emergencies.
5. Techniques for starting a class.
6. The culture of schools and the profession.
7. Working with lesson plans.
8. Working with children with special needs, including confidentiality issues.
Research finds that teacher absences negatively affect student achievement and growth.[1] While some of this is attributable to the disruption of regular classroom practices and instruction,[2] it may also be attributable to substitute teacher quality. The gap in instructional quality and daily productivity when a regular teacher is replaced by a substitute teacher is significant.[3] However, absences covered by substitutes licensed by the state are not as detrimental to student achievement as those covered by non-licensed substitutes.[4] Some research hypothesizes that the low-skill level and mobility of substitute teachers may contribute to the reduction in instructional focus and quality and that even when substitute teachers are good instructors, they may be unable to effectively implement a teacher of record's long-term instructional strategies.[5] Parents, teachers, principals, and students have concerns about substitute teachers' quality and qualifications.[6] States should maintain rigorous standards for substitute teacher quality and accountability for all substitutes, but especially for long-term substitutes who are expected to stand in for teachers for long stretches of time.