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By Melissa Brown [Chalkbeat Tennessee] –
Significant changes could be on the horizon for Tennessee teaching licensure testing requirements.
The Tennessee State Board of Education is considering a policy to create alternate pathways to pass specialty area content assessments like the PRAXIS exam and other content assessments, including the National Evaluation Series.
This change would join a new policy, effective this month, that exempts trainee teachers working in state-approved student teaching placements from the edTPA, a previously required portfolio-based assessment that demonstrates readiness to lead a classroom.
Supporters of the proposed policy, including teacher advocacy organizations in Tennessee, say the change could make it easier for aspiring teachers to enter and stay in the profession.
The change would apply to aspiring teachers as well as current educators looking to advance or reactivate a lapsed license.
High turnover and attrition continue in part to drive Tennessee’s teacher pipeline issues, and fewer aspiring teachers have entered the workforce in recent years. In the past five years, Tennessee has increasingly relied on staffing classrooms with unlicensed teachers working on emergency credentials.
But some critics of the proposed policy change are concerned about relaxing expectations for licensure.
While the speciality area assessments would still be required for licensure for some teacher candidates, those who fail on the first attempt would no longer have to retake the entire exam. Instead, they could pass shorter assessments covering only the material they previously failed to master.
The state board in May advanced the proposed policy for further discussion, but it could introduce more changes before a final reading.
While at least one state board member expressed concern about relaxing licensure requirements, teacher advocates in Tennessee say the new policy could provide flexibility in a state grappling with teacher shortages and educator pipeline challenges.
At a state board meeting earlier this summer, board member Krissi McInturff said she worried the proposal goes “too far” and questioned if it is in the best interest of students to alter the standards.
“I feel like we’re watering down what a teaching certificate would look like if we allow teachers to not be able to pass the content they’re supposed to be teaching and be masters of,” said McInturff, the principal of a Washington County elementary school.
Tennessee teacher advocates appear supportive of the proposed changes.
Tonya Coats, executive director of the Tennessee Education Association, said earlier this summer that the organization appreciates a willingness from state officials to explore different options for aspiring teachers to prove their competency in light of teacher vacancy issues.
“At the same time, any change to licensure requirements must be approached carefully and deliberately,” Coats added. “Tennessee students deserve educators who possess strong content knowledge and are fully prepared for the classroom. Flexibility cannot come at the expense of quality or weaken confidence in the profession.”
Though teacher vacancies have declined since 2023, the state has become increasingly reliant on teachers with emergency credentials, temporary permits that allow unlicensed teachers to work in the classroom.. The number of temporarily credentialed teachers has increased by more than 300% over the last five years.
The Tennessee Department of Education issued more than 6,000 emergency credentials in the last school year alone.
One Response
Yup, lower the bar to the ground.