By Elizabeth Arons, CEO, and Danielle Pickens, Chief Program Officer
As seasoned HR leaders in the education sector, we confront daily the enduring challenge of teacher shortages across the country. These shortages particularly impact our high-demand subjects like Math, Science, and Special Education, as well as our most underserved schools. Multiple factors influence these shortages, but a significant barrier discourages prospective teachers – particularly teachers of color – from even entering the profession: the burdensome, costly, and often ineffective state-by-state teacher certification process.
The current state-by-state teacher licensing system, with each state imposing varying requirements, often without research-backed reasons, is outdated and detrimental to those who hesitate to make a significant upfront investment beyond their college degree. To streamline this process, we propose the adoption of a single national teacher certificate recognized in all 50 states, free from additional demands.
Let’s break down our proposal for how a National Teaching Certificate would work:
Streamline the Qualifications for Aspiring Teachers
To enter the profession, we recommend that potential teachers:
- Pass a Background Check: Prospective teachers must pass a background check, ensuring their suitability for teaching children; and
- Show Evidence of Content Knowledge: They should demonstrate a fundamental understanding of the subject matter, achieved through verified content expertise tests, a relevant undergraduate/graduate degree, OR job experience. (For more details, refer to our Teacher Certification Research Brief.)
That’s all we recommend requiring for entry into the profession based on the available evidence.
From this point forward, the Local Education Authority (LEA) assumes responsibility for providing the pre-service and in-services support new teachers need to succeed.
Require Local Education Authorities to Provide New Teacher Pre-Service and In-Service Supports & Training
Rather than assume that teachers show up ready to teach effectively on Day 1, what we propose accounts for reality; most teachers are not inherently equipped with all the tools necessary for success in the classroom in year 1 and beyond.
Our proposal recognizes the importance of:
- Role Alignment to Content Expertise: LEAs should ensure that teachers are assigned to roles aligned with their qualifications, optimizing the use of their skills.
- Pre-Service and In-Service Supports and Upskilling: LEAs must provide teachers with age-appropriate, research-backed teaching strategies, classroom management skills, and ongoing upskilling opportunities. Upskilling is not just vital for new educators, but current educators, ensuring they stay effective and adaptable amid evolving educational trends, technology, and pedagogy. It’s the crucial ingredient in teachers’ journeys, empowering them to create dynamic and engaging learning environments.
- A More Efficient Dismissal Process: Implementing a streamlined process for dismissing teachers who, when given sufficient support, do not meet classroom performance standards.
This practical approach signifies a significant shift in school systems’ current talent strategies, emphasizing teacher training and upskilling in ways many school districts may not currently be equipped for. Given the growing emphasis on “grow your own” teacher initiatives, however, implementing this proposal is already a practical decision in progress.
It’s worth noting that several states currently issue emergency permits to potential teachers, following a similar framework to our proposal, with research showing no discernible differences in new teachers’ performance by certification status and emergency permit holders being significantly more diverse. Given this research, it’s difficult to understand why states then require emergency permit teachers to gain traditional certification after the fact, and while working full-time, through conventional and mostly inadequate university-based programs.
In the midst of the ongoing teacher shortage and this research, it’s puzzling why states persist in maintaining ineffective certification requirements, as if differing and onerous rules in each state somehow guarantee more qualified teachers.
While some states may claim to offer automatic reciprocity, closer examination often reveals additional requirements piled onto an initial certificate, limiting true reciprocity. States may argue that their unique student populations require additional courses or tests, but these needs can be addressed at the local level.
Convincing states and proponents of traditional certification to adopt this idea might be a challenge, but as experienced HR leaders, we understand that meaningful change often starts with one step – and that step begins with recognizing when something is not working and we need to try something new.
We invite you to join us in this effort and advocate for practical reforms in your context. Together, we can ensure that every student has access to a dedicated teacher with content expertise that’s received strong in-service training, regardless of their location.