Extended Emergency Licenses: Indiana

Analysis of Indiana's policies

Indiana allows new teachers who have not passed required subject-matter licensing tests to teach on an emergency permit, which is valid for one year but can be renewed twice. To qualify for the permit, the employing school superintendent must submit evidence of an emergency situation, as well as verification of the applicant's progress toward meeting standards in the content area and his or her enrollment in an approved certification program.

Renewal requires six semester hours of coursework toward an initial license in the subject area or verification of appropriate progress by the licensing advisor.

Citation

515 IAC 9-1-19 511 IAC 16-4-1

Recommendations for Indiana

Ensure that all teachers pass required subject-matter licensing tests before they enter the classroom.
All students are entitled to teachers who know the subject matter they are teaching. Permitting individuals who have not yet passed state licensing tests to teach neglects the needs of students, instead extending personal consideration to adults who may not be able to meet minimal state standards. Indiana should ensure that all teachers have passed their licensing tests—an important minimum benchmark for entering the profession—prior to entering the classroom.

Limit exceptions to one year.
There might be limited and exceptional circumstances under which conditional or emergency licenses need to be granted. In these instances, it is reasonable for a state to give teachers up to one year to pass required licensure tests.

State response to our analysis

Indiana respectfully disagreed with this rating and asserted that the state does not issue a standard or initial license to a teacher who has not passed all required subject-matter licensing tests. Indiana indicated that it felt that the state had at least partially met this standard.

Last word

Indiana Administrative Code clearly allows for the issuance of emergency permits. If the state at present denies all requests for such permits, the fact remains that the policy is on the books. The only way to make sure that emergency certificates are not granted at any point in the future is to repeal the authorizing code. Further, even if it is in the best interest of students to prohibit emergency certificates, it does local districts and prospective emergency hires no favors by allowing them to believe such permits can be issued if they are routinely denied.