A long-standing debate within the school counseling profession concerns requiring previous teaching experience as a prerequisite to certification for school counselors. Advocates of the teaching requirement argue that it is necessary for counselors to understand and empathize with classroom teachers. Opponents, although they agree with a need for school orientation and experience, feel that teaching is not the only valid way to develop these skills. However, until Wisconsin changed its laws in 1968 to permit the substitution of a one-year counseling internship, it was almost impossible to resolve this debate. Nationally, most states still require teaching experience. In contrast, the counseling profession itself in moving toward reducing but not eliminating the requirement, despite the emotional support by many counselors of the requirements. The Wisconsin internship program permitted an empirical study of an alternative to teaching experience. While further study may be required to satisfy "diehard" proponents of teaching experience, the program was a definite success. To aid other states in following the pattern set by Wisconsin in changing certification requirements, the historical background and subsequent state procedures followed in the implementation and development of the internship program may serve as a model. (LS)