Middle School Teacher Preparation : Maine

Analysis of Maine's policies

Maine offers a middle-level certificate (grades 5-8) for middle school teachers, and it allows teachers with secondary certificates to teach single subjects in middle school. For these two certificates, only out-of-state teachers are required to complete 24 semester hours in an area relevant to the endorsement. Regrettably, the state also allows middle school teachers to teach on a generalist K-8 license. These candidates must only complete a teacher preparation program; the state does not explicitly require a major or minor in the subject areas that the candidates plan to teach.

All new middle school teachers in Maine are also required to pass a Praxis II subject-matter test to attain licensure. However, only candidates who opt for a middle-level or secondary endorsement are required to take subject-specific assessments. Those candidates who plan to teach middle school on the generalist license are only required to pass the general elementary content test, 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

Rule 05-071 Chapter 115, Part II, Sections 1.2 and 1.3

Recommendations for Maine

Eliminate K-8 generalist license.
Maine 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.  

Strengthen middle school teachers' subject-matter preparation.
Maine should encourage middle school teachers who plan to teach multiple subjects to earn two minors in two core academic areas. 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.
Maine 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

Maine contended that all applicants must meet the 24-credit requirement as they seek a middle-level subject endorsement. The state also allows teachers to use the generalist certificate to teach at the middle level, but these teachers are bound to document the fact that they are highly qualified to teach that content.

Last word

The state's issuance of a license should indicate that the bearer is able to teach any subject or grade level covered under that license. By indicating that a teacher with a generalist certificate is "bound to document" that he or she is qualified to teach middle school-level content, Maine acknowledges that there is no such assurance.