STEM (Part-Time) Teaching Licenses: Tennessee
Hiring Policy
Analysis of Tennessee's policies
Pathway for STEM Professionals to Teach Part-time: Tennessee offers the Adjunct License for part-time teaching. The state requires candidates to have at least a bachelor's degree and have verified knowledge of the teaching content area." Tennessee requires candidates to have "at least five years of work experience in the subject(s) to be taught." Candidates are also required to complete a preservice preparation program approved by the state. Applicants working under the Adjunct License may not teach more than three classes.
Employment with this license is not restricted to teaching only STEM subjects, but it is restricted to teaching only in a critical shortage subject area. The Adjunct License is valid for one year and can be renewed up to nine times.
Subject-Matter Test: Tennessee does not require candidates to pass a subject-matter exam upon initial licensure but requires candidates to pass all licensure tests before the license can be renewed.
Induction Support and Evaluation Systems: Tennessee requires individuals with an Adjunct License to be paired with a mentor teacher during the first year of teaching. The state also requires individuals with this license to be evaluated annually.
Other Licensure Requirements: Tennessee does not set any other requirements for candidates for the Adjunct License.
Recommendations for Tennessee
Require applicants to pass a subject-matter test.
Tennessee is commended for offering a license that increases districts' flexibility
to staff certain subjects, including many STEM areas, that are frequently hard
to staff or may not have high enough enrollment to necessitate a full-time
position. Although this license is designed to enable individuals who have
significant content knowledge to teach, Tennessee should still require a
subject-matter test. While the state does require
"verification," only a subject-matter test ensures that teachers on
the Adjunct License know the specific content they will need to teach.
Ensure that preservice training addresses the immediate needs of an
adjunct teacher.
While Tennessee is commended for providing teachers on this license with
training before they enter the classroom, the state should ensure that this
training is streamlined and geared toward immediate needs, such as classroom
management. Excessive preservice requirements may be a disincentive for
individuals to pursue this license.
State response to our analysis
Tennessee recognized the factual accuracy of this analysis.
Updated: December 2017
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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.