Topic: Teacher Licensure and Certification
Teacher Licensure and Certification
Teacher licensure and certification are core pieces of a comprehensive strategy for developing the educator workforce. Strong licensure and certification systems should scaffold up based on teachers’ demonstrated skills, competencies, and impact — and align with the pay and ongoing support they receive.
Learn more about what strong teacher licensure systems look like
- Base licensure structures on more than academic degrees, tests, and years of experience. Consider ways to more accurately identify teachers’ skills, growth and impact with students — for example, incorporating classroom observations and a variety of assessments.
- Create a tiered licensure system that teachers can advance through as they grow their skills and positive impact with students. Set multiple entry points for each level.
- For strong teachers, connect higher tiers of the licensure system to various options for advanced roles that allow them to grow their skills, support their colleagues and earn more money.
- Consider how the licensure system is part of a connected, congruent policy structure that attracts, prepares, retains and grows strong teachers.
How SREB supports states with teacher licensure and certification
SREB’s Teacher Preparation Commission met to develop practical and effective recommendations. One key recommendation advises states to require a common set of criteria for initial licensure, regardless of a teacher’s preparation route. Read more about the Commission’s recommendations by visiting our Teacher Preparation Commission page.
SREB’s Education Human Capital Roundtables offer proposals for states on complex decisions — such as reciprocity among states, alternative pathways to certification, and the coursework, clinical experience and exams required for attaining certification. Learn more about this work and how to reach out for assistance by visiting our Education Human Capital Roundtables page.
Pathways and Retention for New Teachers
Insights from Southern States
Early-career teachers are entering the profession via an expanding variety of pathways. Do certain pathways provide more support than others? Do some entry routes into teaching yield higher rates of teacher retention? Why has early career teacher retention dipped so low and what can we do to change that?
A research partnership between SREB and Vanderbilt University explores these questions and more by analyzing state administrative data, survey results, and teacher interviews across three states in the South.
Teacher Labor Markets Trends Before and After the COVID-19 Pandemic
A Literature Review
The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted many aspects of the education system, including teacher recruitment, retention and hiring. More than three years since schools first closed their doors, newly available data and research are beginning to provide insights into the ways that the pandemic changed the landscape of the teacher workforce.
Learning from How Five States Designed Tiered Teacher Certifications
What To Do and Not To Do
A look at tiered teacher certification policies from five states highlights what works and what might require more thought.
Teacher Licensure Requirements
Minimum Requirements for Initial Teacher Licensure by State
Updated July 2019
The SREB Teacher Preparation Commission recommends that state licensing require practice-based assessments. Eight SREB states have adopted practice-based assessments since 2010.
The updated table summarizes state licensure assessment and clinical practice requirements for all licensure candidates, including those enrolled in alternative pathways.
State Policy Flexibilities in Response to COVID-19
Avoid Failing the Next Cohort of New Teachers
With colleges and schools moving online to curb the spread of COVID-19, state leaders will need to act quickly to ensure that policies do not prevent student-teachers from graduating and becoming licensed to teach in the fall. This brief includes immediate and longer-term recommendations to prevent pandemic closures from escalating the teacher shortage crisis.
State Efforts to Promote Teacher Leadership
In the face of teacher shortages, state leaders have an opportunity to explore ways of remaking the teaching profession from the inside out, rather than relying solely on short-term solutions. One strategy: teacher leadership and mentorship initiatives. This brief highlights how education leaders in six states used three levers ─ certification, pay and recognition ─ to identify and retain teacher leaders.
Alternative Certification Pathways in SREB States
Summary of State Requirements
All SREB states provide alternative routes to teacher certification, however the strategies for approving nontraditional pathways vary from state to state. This brief provides 10 examples of alternative certification programs in eight SREB states and includes recommendations policymakers should consider when designing or approving alternative certification programs.
Teacher Licensure Governance by State
February 2020
In 15 of 16 SREB states, the state education agency governs teacher certification. In Georgia, a professional standards commission governs licensure.
Licensure Reciprocity in SREB States
Summary of State Requirements
This brief describes state policies for granting teaching licenses to educators from other states. Some policies are common across many states, but requirements vary significantly from state to state based on the experience level of the teacher. Clarifying requirements for recent graduates of out-of-state teacher preparation programs could improve interstate transfer.
A Review of State Teacher Licensure Strategies
Summary of State Requirements
SREB reviewed state teacher licensure policies to inform leaders about trends including how states regulate alternative pathways and the move toward practice-based assessments. The brief also includes questions for policymakers who are considering changes to their states’ teacher preparation and licensure requirements.
State Teacher Licensure Information
Licenses Types and Approved Alternative Pathways by State
Updated July 2019
The SREB Teacher Preparation Commission recommends that states hold all new teachers to the same high standards , regardless of the pathway type.
The updated table summarizes the types of licenses issued by SREB states and alternative pathways into the teaching profession.
