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. A new special report from Education Week takes a hard look at recertification, posing questions about how it could be strengthened to support teachers better. The articles 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.
The report includes the following segments:
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 Professional Development: Many Choices, Few Quality Checks
A diffuse—and mostly unregulated—set of providers has sprung up to meet teachers’ varying needs for renewal credits.
Even National Board Teachers Don’t Get a Pass on License Renewal
Only 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.
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.
It’s Not How Long You Spend in PD, It’s How Much You Grow
Georgia 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.
Inching Toward Relicensure, One ‘Microcredential’ at a Time
The bite-sized competencies are gaining ground as a PD tool. In Tennessee, they can also help teachers maintain their licenses.
Making a Case for ‘Timely, Purposeful, Progressive’ PD
When 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.
Cutting a New Path on License Renewal for Teachers
License renewal requirements affect every teacher on a regular basis, educator and former policymaker Kim Walters-Parker writes. Why isn’t the process meaningful?
How Licensing Rules Kept One Teacher of the Year Out of Public Schools
Megan Allen is an award-winning, National Board-certified teacher. But when she crossed state lines, her teaching license didn’t follow.
For the complete collection, see:
