Extended Emergency Licenses: Arizona

Analysis of Arizona's policies

Arizona allows teachers who have not met the state's licensure requirements to teach on an emergency certificate. The emergency certificate is valid for one year and can be issued to an individual no more than three times. In order to renew the certificate, the teacher must have completed six semester hours of education courses.

Citation

Arizona Administrative Code R7-2-614 (D)

Recommendations for Arizona

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. Protecting the most disadvantaged children from being in classrooms with teachers who have not passed licensure tests is a step in the right direction, although it appears that this policy is not in effect in Arizona. The state 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 licensing tests. Arizona's current policy puts students at risk by allowing teachers to teach on emergency certificates for three years without passing required subject-matter licensing tests.

State response to our analysis

Arizona asserted that the emergency teaching certificate is only available at the request of a school district superintendent and is only issued for physical education, dance and drama. It is not available for any core subject areas.

Last word

If the reality is that emergency certificates are only issued for physical education, dance and drama, NCTQ questions why the state would allow policy to remain on the books rather than clearly articulating that such certificates are prohibited for core academic areas.