Purdue University North Central will be the site of an open forum on Tuesday, Oct. 20 from noon - 1 p.m. in Library-Student-Faculty Building Assembly Hall room 02 to discuss the proposed changes for teacher and education licensure in Indiana.
At issue is the Indiana Department of Education proposal known as the Rules for Educator Preparation and Accountability (REPA). This forum is appropriate for university students studying to become teachers, educators including faculty and administrators, parents and anyone who has an interest in education in the state of Indiana.
The Indiana Department of Education will take public comment on this issue until Oct. 30.
"REPA proposes major changes that will create far-reaching changes for teacher education at PNC and throughout the state. This ultimately will impact our state's children and families. We could potentially have people being licensed to teach without adequate knowledge of how children learn," said Dr. Cynthia Fontaine, chair of the PNC Department of Education.
REPA would significantly alter how the PNC Department of Education is structured, how it delivers its coursework and how teachers are licensed. It would also affect teacher candidates who are about to graduate as well as current teachers renewing their licenses.
Other aspects of REPA will be explained and discussed at this forum.
Further information by be obtained by visiting the Indiana Department of Education website at http://www.doe.in.gov/. Comments may be added by clicking on, "Comment on REPA here." This site also has the full REPA document available. The document may also be requested from the Indiana Department of Education, 151 West Ohio Street and Legislative Services Agency, One North Capitol, Suite 325, Indianapolis, Ind.