How long do states permit new teachers to teach under emergency or provisional licenses without passing content licensing tests?
No deferral : CO, IL, MS, NJ, NM, NV, SC, UT, VA
Up to 1 year: AL, AR, CT, DC, GA, IA, KY, MA, ND, OH, OK, RI, WV, WY
Up to 2 years: CA, KS, MD, NY, SD, TN, VT, WA
3 years or more (or unspecified): AK, AZ, DE, FL, HI, ID, IN, LA, ME, MI, MN, MO, NC, NH, OR, PA, TX, WI
Footnotes
IA: Iowa only requires subject-matter testing for elementary teachers.
UT: There is a potential loophole in Utah, as alternate route teachers appear able to delay passage of subject-matter tests.
WY: Wyoming only requires subject-matter testing for elementary and social studies teachers.
Do states mitigate risk associated with emergency or provisional licenses?
Yes. State maintains no emergency or provisional licenses.: CO, IL, NJ, NM, NV, SC, UT, VA
Partially. State maintains nonrenewable emergency or provisional licenses.: AK, AL, AR, CA, CT, DC, DE, FL, GA, IA, ID, KS, KY, MA, MD, NC, ND, NH, NY, OH, OK, OR, RI, VT, WA, WV, WY
No. State maintains renewable emergency or provisional licenses.: AZ, HI, IN, LA, ME, MI, MN, MO, MS, PA, SD, TN, TX, WI
Footnotes
ND: License is renewable, but only if licensure tests are passed.
OH: License is renewable, but only if licensure tests are passed.
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Delivering Well Prepared Teachers
- Admission into Preparation Programs
- Elementary Teacher Preparation
- Elementary Teacher Preparation in Reading Instruction
- Elementary Teacher Preparation in Mathematics
- Middle School Teacher Preparation
- Secondary Teacher Preparation
- Secondary Teacher Preparation in Science
- Secondary Teacher Preparation in Social Studies
- Special Education Teacher Preparation
- Assessing Professional Knowledge
- Student Teaching
- Teacher Preparation Program Accountability
Expanding the Pool of Teachers
Identifying Effective Teachers
- State Data Systems
- Evaluation of Effectiveness
- Frequency of Evaluations
- Tenure
- Licensure Advancement
- Equitable Distribution
Retaining Effective Teachers
Exiting Ineffective Teachers
Research rationale
Research has shown that "the difference in student performance in a single academic year from having a good as opposed to a bad teacher can be more than one full year of standardized achievement." See E. Hanushek, "The Trade-Off between Child Quantity and Quality," The Journal of Political Economy 100 No. 1 (1992): 84-117. Hanushek has also found that highly effective teachers can improve future student earnings by more than $400,000, assuming a class of 20. "The Economic Value of Higher Teacher Quality." National Bureau of Economic Research. Working Paper 16606 (2010).