Rhode Island Professional Teaching Standards (RIPTS)
	Adopted October 2007

Ensuring that ALL Rhode Island children learn and perform at high levels requires excellence in teaching. Becoming an excellent teacher is a developmental process. Beginning teachers bring a variety of academic, social, and cultural experiences to their classrooms. As they learn more about their students, their schools, and their communities, they are able to take their developing practice from a solid foundation to higher levels of expertise. For teachers to become experts, they must begin with an awareness of the types of knowledge and understandings necessary to develop as professionals. Achieving, and then maintaining, excellence as a teacher requires a life-long commitment to professional development.

The Rhode Island Professional Teaching Standards were developed by a committee of teachers, administrators, and teacher educators from across the state to create a vision of teaching excellence. The Professional Teaching Standards articulate what excellent teachers do to promote learning both within themselves and their students.

Teachers must have an in-depth understanding of their content in order to bring the Rhode Island Professional Teaching Standards to life. The Professional Teaching Standards, however, are teaching, rather than content standards.

The eleven standards are presented below. Each standard is supported by several indicators which illustrate the types of understandings that comprise that standard. The indicators are meant to explain the standard and convey the thinking of the drafting committee. Committee members agree that as we continue in the development of a standards-based system, assessments need to be developed which will define acceptable performance for beginning teachers. Institutions of higher education evaluate teacher education programs in light of these standards and develop appropriate assessments of teacher candidates that will provide evidence that these standards have been met.

Rhode Island Professional Teaching Standards

Standard 1.Teachers create learning experience using a broad base of general knowledge that reflects an understanding of the nature of the communities in which we live.

Standard 2. Teachers have a deep content knowledge base sufficient to create learning experiences that reflect an understanding of central concepts, vocabulary, structures, and tools of inquiry of the disciplines/content areas they teach.

Standard 3. Teachers create instructional opportunities that reflect an understanding of how children learn and develop.

Standard 4. Teachers create instructional opportunities that reflect a respect for the diversity of learners and an understanding of how students differ in their approaches to learning.

Standard 5. Teachers create instructional opportunities to encourage all students' development of critical thinking, problem solving, performance skills, and literacy across content areas.

Standard 6. Teachers create a supportive learning environment that encourages appropriate standards of behavior, positive social interaction, active engagement in learning, and self-motivation.

Standard 7. Teachers work collaboratively with all school personnel, families and the broader community to create a professional learning community and environment that supports the improvement of teaching, learning and student achievement.

Standard 8. Teachers use effective communication as the vehicle through which students explore, conjecture, discuss, and investigate new ideas.

Standard 9. Teachers use appropriate formal and informal assessment strategies with individuals and groups of students to determine the impact of instruction in learning, to provide feedback, and to plan future instruction.

Standard 10. Teachers reflect on their practice and assume responsibility for their own professional development by actively seeking and participating in opportunities to learn and grow as professionals.

Standard 11. Teachers maintain professional standards guided by legal and ethical principles.

Standard 1: Teachers create learning experiences using a broad base of general knowledge that reflects an understanding of the nature of the communities in which we live.

Teachers...

• reflect a variety of academic, social, and cultural experiences in their teaching
• use a broad content knowledge base sufficient to create interdisciplinary learning experiences designed to ensure that all students achieve state standards for content and achievement
• exhibit a commitment to learning about the changes in their disciplines and in our world that models a commitment to lifelong learning for students
• facilitate student involvement in the school and wider communities

Standard 2: Teachers have a deep content knowledge base sufficient to create learning experiences that reflect an understanding of central concepts, vocabulary, structures, and tools of inquiry of the disciplines/content areas they teach.

Teachers...

• know their discipline/content areas and understand how knowledge in their discipline/content area is created, organized, and linked to other disciplines, and applied beyond the school setting
• design instruction that addresses the core skills, concepts, and ideas of the disciplines/content areas to help students meet Rhode Island's learning standards
• select appropriate instructional materials and resources (including technological resources) based on their comprehensiveness, accuracy, and usefulness for representing particular ideas and concepts in the discipline/content areas
• engage students in a variety of explanations and multiple representations of concepts, including analogies, metaphors, experiments, demonstrations, and illustrations, that help all students develop conceptual understanding
• represent and use differing viewpoints, theories, and methods of inquiry when teaching concepts and encourage all students to see, question, and interpret concepts from a variety of perspectives

Standard 3: Teachers create instructional opportunities that reflect an understanding of how children learn and develop.

Teachers...

• understand how students use their prior knowledge to construct knowledge, acquire skills, develop habits of mind, and acquire positive dispositions toward learning
• design instruction that meets the current cognitive, social, and personal needs of their students
• create age-appropriate lessons and activities that meet the variety of developmental levels of students within a class

Standard 4: Teachers create instructional opportunities that reflect a respect for the diversity of learners and an understanding of how students differ in their approaches to learning.

Teachers...

• design instruction that accommodates individual differences (e.g., stage of development, learning style, English language acquisition, cultural background, learning disability) in approaches to learning
• use their understanding of students (e.g., individual interests, prior learning, cultural background, native language, and experiences) to create connections between the subject matter and student experiences
• seek information about the impact of students' specific challenges to learning or disabilities on classroom performance, and work with specialists to develop alternative instructional strategies to meet the needs of these students where appropriate
• make appropriate accommodations and modifications for individual students who have identified learning differences or needs in an Individualized Educational Plan (IEP), 504 Accommodation Plan, Personal Literacy Plans (PLP's) or other approved school-based individualized learning plans (ILP's)

Standard 5: Teachers create instructional opportunities to encourage all students' development of critical thinking, problem solving, performance skills, and literacy across content areas.

Teachers...

• design lessons that extend beyond factual recall and challenge students to develop higher level cognitive skills
• pose questions that encourage students to view, analyze, and interpret ideas from multiple perspectives
• make instructional decisions about when to provide information, when to clarify, when to pose a question, and when to let a student struggle to try to solve a problem
• engage students in generating knowledge, testing hypotheses, and exploring methods of inquiry and standards of evidence
• use tasks that engage students in exploration, discovery, and hands-on activities

Standard 6: Teachers create a supportive learning environment that encourages appropriate standards of behavior, positive social interaction, active engagement in learning, and self-motivation.

Teachers...

• use principles of effective classroom management to establish classrooms in which clear rules and standards of behavior are maintained
• establish a safe, secure and nurturing learning environment that supports the active engagement of all students
• provide and structure the time necessary to explore important concepts and ideas
• help students establish a classroom environment characterized by mutual respect and intellectual risk-taking
• create learning groups in which all students learn to work collaboratively and independently
• communicate clear expectations for achievement that allow all students to take responsibility for their own learning

Standard 7: Teachers work collaboratively with all school personnel, families and the broader community to create a professional learning community and environment that supports the improvement of teaching, learning and student achievement.

Teachers...

• work collaboratively with their colleagues to examine teacher practice, student work and student assessment results with the goal of improving instruction and achievement
• develop relationships with students and their families to support learning
• nderstand the role of community agencies in supporting schools and work collaboratively with them as appropriate

Standard 8: Teachers use effective communication as the vehicle through which students explore, conjecture, discuss, and investigate new ideas.

Teachers...

• use a variety of communication strategies (e.g., listening, restating ideas, questioning, offering counter examples) to engage students in learning
• use a variety of modes of communication (e.g., verbal, visual, kinesthetic) to promote learning
• use technological advances in communication, including electronic means of collecting and sharing information, to enrich discourse in the classroom and the school
• emphasize oral and written communication through the instructional use of discussion, listening and responding to the ideas of others and group interaction
• seek knowledge of and demonstrate sensitivity to the particular communication needs of all students

Standard 9: Teachers use appropriate formal and informal assessment strategies with individuals and groups of students to determine the impact of instruction on learning, to provide feedback, and to plan future instruction

Teachers...

• select and/or design individual and group classroom assessments based on the strengths, Limitations, and data provided by the assessments
• identify and consider student and contextual variables that may influence performance so that a student's performance can be validly interpreted
• systematically collect, synthesize, and interpret assessment results from multiple assessments to monitor, improve, and report individual and group achievement
• provide students with opportunities and guidance to evaluate their own work and behavior against defined criteria and use the results of self-assessment to establish individual goals
• maintain records of student learning and communicate student progress to students, parents/guardians, and other colleagues
• use information from their assessment of students to reflect on their own teaching, to modify their instruction and to help establish professional development goals

Standard 10: Teachers reflect on their practice and assume responsibility for their own professional development by actively seeking and participating in opportunities to learn and grow as professionals.

Teachers...

• solicit feedback from students, families, and colleagues to reflect on and improve their own teaching
• explore and evaluate the application of current research, instructional approaches and strategies, including technologies to improve student learning
• take responsibility of their own professional development and improvement of their students' learning by participating in workshops, courses, or other individual and collaborative professional development activities that support their plans for continued development as teachers
• take responsibility for learning about and implementing federal, state, district and school initiatives to improve teaching and learning

Standard 11: Teachers maintain professional standards guided by legal  and ethical principles.

Teachers...

• maintain standards that require them to act in the best interests and needs of students
• follow school policy and procedures, respecting the boundaries of their professional responsibilities when working with students, colleagues, and families
• follow local, state, and federal law pertaining to educational and instructional issues, including regulations related to students', parents'/guardians', and teachers' rights and responsibilities
• interact with students, colleagues, parents, and others in a professional manner that is fair and equitable.
• are guided by codes of professional conduct adopted by their professional organizations.