On June 9th, 2017, the Illinois State Board of Education hosted a Teacher Leader Stakeholder Group meeting. Professionals and experts from the field joined together to begin the first of four meetings this summer in licensure requirements will be re-examined for the Teacher Leader endorsement, focusing on a competency-based model. At this first meeting, members listened to a presentation by Katherine Bassett, a national expert in the teacher leader field, on some of the work of NNSTOY (National Network of State Teachers of the Year), and had discussion about what is happening in other states regarding teacher leader competencies . The Teacher Leader Model Standards were used as a jumping board for a larger conversation around what the teacher leader competency recommendations will look like.
Three more meetings will take place over the next three months in which the conversation and review will continue, and final recommendation will be submitted to ISBE in September of 2017.