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STEM (Part-Time) Teaching Licenses: Kentucky

Hiring Policy

Look at National Findings
Goal

The state should offer a license with minimal requirements that allows STEM content experts to teach part time.

Nearly meets goal
Suggested Citation:
National Council on Teacher Quality. (2017). STEM (Part-Time) Teaching Licenses: Kentucky results. State Teacher Policy Database. [Data set].
Retrieved from: https://www.nctq.org/yearbook/state/KY-STEM-(Part--Time)-Teaching-Licenses-86

Analysis of Kentucky's policies

Pathway for STEM Professionals to Teach Part-time: Kentucky offers the Adjunct Instructor certificate as a part-time license. Candidates in the Adjunct Instructor Certification program must have either a bachelor's or a master's degree with a minimum GPA of 2.5, or 3.0 in the last 60 hours of coursework. Elementary applicants must have at least a minor in child development or a related area. Secondary applicants must have a major in their intended teaching field. Candidates are able to apply for a waiver from the academic requirements of this license if they have "exceptional life or work experience." 

Employment with this certification is not restricted to teaching only STEM subjects. This license is valid for one year.

Subject-matter Test: Kentucky does not require candidates to pass a subject-matter exam.

Induction Support and Evaluation Systems: Kentucky requires the employing district to provide an orientation program for the adjunct instructor that provides information about student safety, policies and procedures, and pedagogical assistance.

Other Licensure Requirements: Kentucky requires applicants for an Adjunct Instructor certificate to complete a background check.

Citation

Recommendations for Kentucky

Require applicants to pass a subject-matter test.
Kentucky should consider requiring all applicants to pass a content knowledge test. Applicants for the Adjunct Instructor certificate should be experts in the area they plan to teach and therefore should be able to demonstrate this on an exam. Even with a minimum GPA and a major requirement, it is unlikely that a bachelor's degree is sufficient evidence of expertise in a field. A subject-matter exam serves as an important safeguard; teachers without sufficient content knowledge place students at risk.

State response to our analysis

Kentucky recognized the factual accuracy of this analysis.

Updated: December 2017

    • Best practice
    • Meets goal
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    • Meets a small part of goal
    • Does not meet goal

  • Kentucky

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Research rationale

Part-time licenses can help alleviate severe shortages, especially in STEM subjects. 
Some of the subject areas in which states face the greatest teacher shortages are also areas that require the deepest subject-matter expertise.  Staffing shortages are further exacerbated because schools or districts may not have high enough enrollments to necessitate full-time positions.  Part-time licenses can be a creative mechanism to get content experts to teach a limited number of courses.  Of course, a fully licensed teacher is best, but when that isn't an option, a part-time license allows students to benefit from content experts—individuals who are not interested in a full-time teaching position and are thus unlikely to pursue traditional or alternative certification.  States should limit requirements for part-time licenses to those that verify subject-matter knowledge and address public safety, such as background checks.

Part-Time Teaching Licenses: Supporting Research
The origin of this goal is the effort to find creative solutions to the STEM crisis. While teaching waivers are not typically used this way, teaching waivers could be used to allow competent professionals from outside of education to be hired as part-time instructors to teach courses such as Advanced Placement chemistry or calculus as long as the instructor demonstrates content knowledge on a rigorous test.  See NCTQ, "Tackling the STEM Crisis: Five steps your state can take to improve the quality and quantity of its K-12 math and science teachers", at: http://www.nctq.org/p/docs/nctq_nmsi_stem_initiative.pdf.

For the importance of teachers' general academic ability, see R. Ferguson, "Paying for Public Education: New Evidence on How and Why Money Matters," Harvard Journal on Legislation,Volume 28, Summer 1991, pp. 465-498.

For more on math and science content knowledge, see D. Monk, "Subject Area Preparation of Secondary Mathematics and Science Teachers and Student Achievement," Economics of Education Review, Volume 13, No. 2, June 1994, pp. 125-145; R. Murnane, "Understanding the Sources of Teaching Competence: Choices, Skills, and the Limits of Training," Teachers College Record, Volume 84, No. 3, 1983, pp. 564-569.

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