MTI Staff have received many phone calls regarding the background check requirement to renew a “Lifetime License.”  All teachers with a Lifetime License will be required to complete a background check every five years.  Per DPI –

“Educators who have a Lifetime license and have not completed a background check with DPI on or after 01/01/2015 will be required to complete a background check with DPI before June 30, 2019.”  DPI was supposed to send an email to any educator who is required to perform this background check before June 30, 2019, however, if you have not received an email but are want to know when your last background check was complete, you can use the following resources below:

2017-2019 State Budget Licensure Changes

Here are the most popular Latest Licensing News blog posts about lifetime license background checks:

  1. Tools to help to determine if you need to submit a background check application
  1. Background Check to Maintain Lifetime License Available 01/02/2019
  2. Lifetime license update

The 2017-19 Wisconsin state budget made major changes to teacher licensing in Wisconsin, and for the last several months the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction has been rewriting the rules to match the new laws. WEAC’s licensure specialist has put together a Frequently Asked Questions document to address the questions union members are asking about these changes.


Teacher Licensing Questions – June 30

As June 30 fast approaches, MTI has received inquiries about the new teacher licensing rules that went into effect with the most recent biennial budget. DPI has a blog on their licensing page that contains the most up-to-date information about teacher licensing and you can sign up to receive alerts when information is updated: Latest Licensing News, http://dpi.wi.gov/tepdl/news.  If your license is set to expire on June 30, 2018 you do not have to submit credits or a PDP for renewal.  Professional Educator licenses will be automatically converted to a Lifetime License with no additional renewal requirements except a conduct and competency review every five years.  Educators with a current professional or master educator license that was supposed to expire in 2018 will likely need to complete a background check sometime in 2018.   DPI is currently developing an application to allow educators with a lifetime license to submit a background check for renewal.  When this process has been fully defined an application will be made available and directions will be posted to the Latest Licensing News blog.  You will also receive an email from DPI alerting you to any updated licensing requirements.  Most initial licenses have been automatically converted to provisional licenses.  Initial licenses that have been converted to “Provisional Licenses” have been changed to expire on June 30, 2020.  All license conversions will be reflected in the online License Lookup on the DPI website.

The Teacher Education, Professional Development and Licensing team at DPI is working on making license changes as directed by this budget.  Educators will not need to complete any steps to obtain the new license for which they are eligible.

License Renewal Resources

The recently passed 2017 – 2019 Wisconsin state budget contains major changes to licensure rules.  DPI is working to review the changes and how this will affect licenses going forward.  Please review DPI’s Latest Licensing News blog for updates on changes in law.    You can read about these changes in Wisconsin Legislature Act 59.  Specific licensure language can be found on pages 298-302 of Act 59.

Other License Renewal Resources

Educator Effectiveness – State Mandated Teacher Evaluation Process

DPI Educator Effectiveness Home Page

MMSD Educator Effectiveness Information for Special Education Teachers

DPI Teacher Evaluation Process Manual 2014-2015

The Danielson Framework – Evaluation Tool

Outcomes Measures – Evaluation Pie Chart

Student Learning Objectives (SLO’s)

SLO and Outcome Summary Process & Scoring Guide

MMSD Student Learning Objective Process & Scoring Guide

Examples of Relevant Teacher Artifacts

Other online resources