Licensure Reciprocity: District of Columbia

Analysis of District of Columbia's policies

Regrettably, the District of Columbia grants a waiver for its licensing tests and issues a full license to any out-of-state teacher who meets all of the following conditions: completion of a state-approved preparation program; possession of a valid level II license in the subject area; and passing scores on basic skills, pedagogy and content tests required in the other state. 

Although there is no state-mandated recency requirement for the professional certificate, candidates who do not meet the three conditions above are given a transcript analysis of their credentials, which may result in the requirement of additional coursework and/or state tests. 

The District is also a participant in the NASDTEC Interstate Agreement, which outlines which other states' certificates will be accepted by the receiving state. This agreement is not a collection of two-way reciprocal acceptances, nor is it a guarantee that all certificates will be accepted by the receiving state, and is therefore not included in this analysis.

The state does not articulate specific certification requirements for out-of-state teachers who teach online courses to District students. 

Citation

Reciprocity http://osse.dc.gov/service/interstate-licensure-agreement-reciprocity

Recommendations for District of Columbia

To uphold standards, require that teachers coming from other states meet testing requirements. 

The District of Columbia takes considerable risk by granting a waiver for its licensing tests to any out-of-state teacher who has passed a test in another state. It should not provide any waivers of its teacher tests unless an applicant can provide evidence of a passing score under its own standards.

Offer a standard license to certified out-of-state teachers, absent unnecessary requirements. 

The District of Columbia should consider adopting a more flexible policy regarding portability. Transcript reviews are not a particularly meaningful or efficient exercise, and the state should consider discontinuing its requirement for the submission of transcripts for all teachers. Transcript analysis is likely to result in additional coursework requirements, even for traditionally prepared teachers; alternate route teachers, on the other hand, may have to virtually begin anew, repeating some, most or all of a teacher preparation program in the District. 

Require evidence of effective teaching when determining eligibility for full certification. 

Rather than rely on transcripts to assess credentials, the District of Columbia should instead require that evidence of teacher effectiveness be considered for all out-of-state candidates. Such evidence is especially important for candidates who come from states that make student growth at least a significant factor of a teacher evaluation (see Goal 3-B). 

Accord the same license to out-of-state alternate route teachers as would be accorded to traditionally prepared teachers. 

Regardless of whether a teacher was prepared through a traditional or alternate route, all certified out-of-state teachers should receive equal treatment. State policies that discriminate against teachers who were prepared in an alternate route are not supported by evidence. In fact, a substantial body of research has failed to discern differences in effectiveness between alternate and traditional route teachers.

Ensure that requirements for online teachers are as rigorous as those for in-state teachers. 

The District of Columbia should ensure that online teachers based in other states are at least equally as qualified as those who teach in the District. However, the District of Columbia should balance the interests of its students in having qualified online instructors with making certain that these requirements do not create unnecessary obstacles for out-of-state teachers. 

State response to our analysis

The District of Columbia asserted that it only holds licensed program completers to its tests if they did not complete a comparable exam in the state from which they completed a state-approved preparation program. Completers of state-approved programs, both traditional and alternate, are not required to take any additional coursework. The District added that it will update its website to clarify this information. 

Further, the District contended that online teachers serving DCPS students must meet the same licensure requirements as in-classroom DCPS teachers. Its regulations do not make a distinction between online and in-classroom teachers; therefore, the rule applies to all teachers.  

Last word

The District of Columbia should ensure that applicants for licensure meet the District's standards, and not just the standards from the original state.  This does not mean that teachers from other states have to retake licensure exams, but rather that they should be held to the District's passing score requirements, given the range in passing scores required by states.