Part-Time Teaching Licenses: Alaska
Expanding the Pool of Teachers Policy
Analysis of Alaska's policies
Alaska offers two certificates that allow individuals with subject-matter knowledge to teach on a limited basis.
Individuals eligible for a subject-matter expert limited teacher certificate must have a B.A. with either a major or minor or five years' experience in the subject matter that the person will be teaching. They must pass a competency test, although the state does not explicitly require that this exam be in the subject the candidates intends to teach. Candidates must enroll in a teacher preparation program that allows them to obtain the regular teacher certification requirements within two years upon receiving the subject-matter expert limited teacher certificate. The certificate is valid for only one year but can be renewed for an additional year.
Alaska also offers a limited teacher certificate, or Type M, for individuals teaching career and technical education (CTE), military science or Native Language and Culture. Candidates for a Type M certificate must demonstrate "both subject matter expertise and teaching competency, as verified by the local school district."
Candidates of both certificates must complete a criminal background check and fingerprinting.
Recommendations for Alaska
Require applicants to pass a subject-matter test.
Although Alaska requires evidence of subject-matter expertise for both of its limited certificates, the state should still
require candidates of these certificates to pass a subject-matter test. The state should explicitly require those with a subject-matter expert limited teacher certificate to pass a competency exam specifically in the subject the candidate intends to teach.
State response to our analysis
Alaska was helpful in providing NCTQ with facts that enhanced this analysis.
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Alaska
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Delivering Well Prepared Teachers
- Admission into Teacher Preparation
- Elementary Teacher Preparation
- Elementary Teacher Preparation in Reading Instruction
- Elementary Teacher Preparation in Mathematics
- Early Childhood
- Middle School Teacher Preparation
- Secondary Teacher Preparation
- Secondary Teacher Preparation in Science and Social Studies
- Special Education Teacher Preparation
- Special Education Preparation in Reading
- Assessing Professional Knowledge
- Student Teaching
- Teacher Preparation Program Accountability
Expanding the Pool of Teachers
Identifying Effective Teachers
- State Data Systems
- Evaluation of Effectiveness
- Frequency of Evaluations
- Tenure
- Licensure Advancement
- Equitable Distribution
Retaining Effective Teachers
Exiting Ineffective Teachers
Pensions
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.