Licensure Reciprocity: Missouri

Analysis of Missouri's policies

Missouri does not support licensure reciprocity for certified teachers from other states.

Regrettably, Missouri grants a waiver of its licensing tests to any out-of-state teacher who has a standard license.

Teachers with valid out-of-state certificates are eligible for Missouri's professional certificate. There is no state-mandated recency requirement; however, transcripts are required for all applicants. It is not clear whether the state analyzes transcripts to determine whether a teacher was prepared through a traditional or alternate route or whether additional coursework will be required.

Missouri is also a participant in the NASDTEC Interstate Agreement; however, the latest iteration of this agreement no longer purports to be a reciprocity agreement among states and thus is no longer included in this analysis.

Citation

Missouri Revised Statute 168.021

Recommendations for Missouri

To uphold standards, require that teachers coming from other states meet testing requirements.
Missouri takes considerable risk by granting a waiver for its licensing tests to any out-of-state teacher who has a standard license. The state should not provide any waivers of its teacher tests unless an applicant can provide evidence of a passing score under its own standards. The negative impact on student learning stemming from a teacher's inadequate subject-matter knowledge is not mitigated by the teacher's having a license from another state.

Accord the same license to out-of-state alternate route teachers as would be accorded to traditionally prepared teachers.
Missouri should consider discontinuing its requirement for the submission of transcripts. 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 Missouri.

State response to our analysis

Missouri asserted that it accepts full, professional certificates from all states, and that if an educator presents a full certificate, the state will issue the most closely aligned certificate. Missouri added that transcript analysis is not completed for candidates presenting a full, professional certificate but rather requires transcripts only to verify degrees and ensure that an accurate educational record is created for each educator.

The state noted that it accords the same license to teachers from other states that completed an approved alternate route program as it accords teachers prepared in a traditional preparation program. It also reiterated that it does not require any teaching experience. 

Last word

The submission of transcripts should be unnecessary for certified out-of-state teachers, unless the state has some reason to suspect that the certifying state routinely licenses teachers who do not have a degree.