Beyond Red Tape
Making Teacher Recertification Meaningful
December 6, 2017
Recertification: It’s obscure. It’s ill-understood. It’s never studied. But most teachers have to meet these continuing education requirements every five years. This special report takes a hard look at recertification, posing questions about how it could be strengthened to support teachers better. The stories include an overview of the diverse provider landscape, perspective pieces by current and former teachers, and profiles of states thinking about how to innovate their license-renewal systems.
- Teacher Preparation Wisconsin Killed License Renewal. So Why Are Teachers So Upset?Wisconsin is one of five states that now gives lifetime licenses, but many teachers say the change could damage their profession.
Teacher Preparation It's Not How Long You Spend in PD, It's How Much You GrowGeorgia is one of more than a dozen states where teachers looking to renew their licenses can ditch the one-off seminars and instead craft personalized plans for improving their instruction.
Teacher Preparation Q&A Inching Toward Relicensure, One 'Microcredential' at a TimeThe bite-sized competencies are gaining ground as a PD tool. In Tennessee, they can also help teachers maintain their licenses.
Teacher Preparation Is Teacher Recertification Broken?Advocates and state officials should think about how the neglected policies could be used as a lever to improve teacher quality, experts say.
Teacher Preparation Teacher Professional Development: Many Choices, Few Quality ChecksA diffuse—and mostly unregulated—set of providers has sprung up to meet teachers’ varying needs for renewal credits.Teacher Preparation Even National Board Teachers Don't Get a Pass on License RenewalOnly about half of states allow the rigorous certification process to count toward the renewal of teacher licenses—a figure the National Board wishes to change.
Teacher Preparation Opinion Cutting a New Path on License Renewal for TeachersLicense renewal requirements affect every teacher on a regular basis, educator and former policymaker Kim Walters-Parker writes. Why isn't the process meaningful?
Teacher Preparation Opinion How Licensing Rules Kept One Teacher of the Year Out of Public SchoolsMegan Allen is an award-winning, National Board-certified teacher. But when she crossed state lines, her teaching license didn't follow.
Professional Development Opinion Making a Case for 'Timely, Purposeful, Progressive' PDWhen the professional development that teachers must take to renew their licenses is meaningful, teachers will stay in the profession and maintain a high level of job satisfaction, argues Brian Curtin, an Illinois English teacher.
Education Opinion Teachers Share Their #RecertifiedMess, #RecertifiedSuccess StoriesFor teachers, renewing a teaching certification can be a chore or a valuable opportunity for professional growth. It's expensive and time-consuming, but it's still a way to keep learning and advancing as an educator. Education Week Teacher asked educators to share on Twitter both the best parts of the recertification process and the horror stories. Here’s a sample of their responses. Feel free to add your own perspective of the good, the bad, and the ugly of renewing your teaching license in the online comments section below.
Coverage of policy efforts to improve the teaching profession is supported by a grant from the Joyce Foundation, at www.joycefdn.org/Programs/Education. Education Week retains sole editorial control over the content of this coverage.