Middle School Teacher Preparation : Nebraska

Analysis of Nebraska's policies

Although Nebraska's elementary license is typically valid for grades 1-6, teacher candidates may teach grades 7 and 8 if they are in self-contained classrooms. The state articulates a middle grades (grades 4-9) endorsement; candidates must earn a minimum of 36 semester hours in two or more content areas. Teachers with secondary licenses may also teach single subjects in middle school; they must earn a major in their intended field.

Middle school teachers in Nebraska who are teaching on the middle grades endorsement or the secondary certificate are not required to pass a subject-matter test to attain licensure. Those seeking the generalist license are required to pass the general content test for elementary education, in which subscores are not provided; therefore, there is no assurance that these middle school teachers will have sufficient knowledge in each subject they teach.

Citation

Nebraska Department of Education Title 92 Chapter 24 www.ets.org/praxis

Recommendations for Nebraska

Prepare middle school teachers to teach middle school.
Nebraska should not allow middle school teachers to teach on a generalist license that does not differentiate between the preparation of middle school teachers and that of elementary teachers. These teachers are less likely to be adequately prepared to teach core academic areas at the middle school level because their preparation requirements are not specific to the middle or secondary levels and they need not pass a subject-matter test in each subject they teach. Adopting middle school teacher preparation policies for all such teachers will help ensure that students in grades 7 and 8 have teachers who are appropriately prepared to teach grade level content, which is different and more advanced than what elementary teachers teach.  

Refine middle school subject-matter preparation policy.
Nebraska should also be more specific about its coursework requirements so that it is requiring the equivalent of two academic minors. Middle school candidates who intend to teach a single subject should earn a major in that area.

Require subject-matter testing for middle school teacher candidates.
Nebraska should require subject-matter testing for all middle school teacher candidates in every core academic area they intend to teach as a condition of initial licensure.

State response to our analysis

Nebraska recognized the factual accuracy of this analysis. The state noted that the middle grades endorsement is scheduled for revision in the next academic year, and Nebraska will likely address some of the recommendations made by NCTQ.