Last spring, state officials published data indicating that fewer young people are entering the teaching profession, teacher attrition rates have risen, and troubling shortages exist in specific grades and subject areas. In the weeks that followed, Ohio lawmakers took advantage of the biennial state budget to enact several policies aimed at addressing these issues. Their efforts included investing in Grow Your Own programs, making teacher licensure more flexible, and expanding the pool of substitute teachers.
These were welcome changes. But to ensure that Ohio has the teacher workforce it needs over the long haul, more changes are needed. In a 2022 policy brief—and a few other analyses on this blog—Fordham offered up some ideas. Let’s revisit three recommendations that could help boost the teacher pipeline.
1. Exempt out-of-state teachers from reading coursework requirements if they pass the state’s licensure exam on the first try.
Ohio offers teacher licensure reciprocity to out-of-state educators who wish to teach in the Buckeye State, but there are some limitations. For example, out-of-state teachers who wish to obtain a license in primary or middle childhood (grades pre-K–9) or any Intervention Specialist license must pass Ohio’s Foundations of Reading exam and complete twelve semester hours of reading coursework through an accredited college or university. In the past, applicants needed to complete at least six of the required twelve hours before being issued a license, though they were (and still are) permitted to apply undergraduate coursework toward the requirement.
The most recent state budget adjusted these coursework requirements for some out-of-state teachers. Now, applicants for a one-year, nonrenewable out-of-state license are not required to have completed at least six of the twelve required reading coursework hours if they pass the Foundations of Reading exam on the first try. That should make their transition to Ohio a little easier, as they can work to meet the coursework requirement while teaching on the temporary license. But they are still required to complete all twelve hours before they can advance or renew their license.
But requiring coursework at all—no matter how much—is a significant barrier, as taking these courses is expensive and time-consuming. That’s especially true for out-of-state teachers, who have already jumped through licensing hoops elsewhere. Passing the Foundations of Reading exam should be enough to signal that an out-of-state educator is qualified to teach literacy in Ohio. As such, lawmakers should allow teachers with valid out-of-state licenses who pass the exam on their first attempt to be exempt from all reading coursework requirements.
2. Allow out-of-state teachers trained by nontraditional programs to apply for a resident educator license if their training program has been approved by the state.
Ohio offers two pathways into the classroom for in-state teachers. The traditional licensure pathway requires candidates to complete a traditional teacher preparation program at a college or university and results in a resident educator license. The alternative licensure pathway requires candidates to complete a state-approved, nontraditional preparation program—known as an Alternative Licensure Institute—and results in an alternative resident educator license.
For out-of-state teachers, pathways into Ohio classrooms are based on experience. Educators with less than two years of teaching experience can apply for a resident educator license if they have completed an approved, traditional teacher preparation program through an accredited college or university. Teachers who have more experience—two full school years if they’ve completed a traditional preparation program, but three full school years if they haven’t—can apply for a professional license.
However, teachers who were trained in a nontraditional program but have less than three full years of teaching experience[1] must follow Ohio’s alternative pathway to obtain a license—which includes completing an approved Alternative Licensure Institute. This means that Ohio currently requires licensed out-of-state teachers (albeit those with less than three years of experience) to spend considerable amounts of time and money going through training that they’ve already completed in another state. On the one hand, this is a significant entry barrier for young and talented teachers who came to the classroom via nontraditional routes in other states. On the other hand, it ensures that relatively inexperienced teachers who were trained by nontraditional programs are exposed to the kind of pedagogical training that Ohio deems important.
Given the growth of nontraditional preparation programs nationwide—and the fact that not all of these programs are effective—lawmakers must walk a tightrope between widening the teacher pipeline and ensuring that educators who are granted licenses are well-prepared. One way to do so would be to require the Ohio Department of Higher Education to establish an approval process for out-of-state nontraditional programs. Programs that earn this approval would be granted license reciprocity that allows their teachers to apply for a resident educator license regardless of how many years of experience they have.
3. Bolster effective nontraditional teacher preparation programs.
The teaching profession hasn’t historically been friendly to career changers. Without a bachelor’s or master’s degree in education—and the time and money required to obtain them—it’s difficult to get into the classroom. Ohio could widen and strengthen its teacher pipeline if it offered high-quality programs that recruit recent college graduates and career professionals, train them, and then place them in public school classrooms.
Ohio data demonstrate that, although the number of newly licensed teachers coming out of universities has declined in recent years, the number of teachers coming from nontraditional pathways is rising. The numbers are still small—just 629 teachers in 2022—but nontraditional options are clearly appealing to more teacher candidates. Ohio leaders should pay attention and seize the opportunity.
They’ve already done so for one teacher training organization. State law currently includes a provision whereby participants in Teach For America (TFA) who meet certain criteria may be granted a resident educator license. This includes not only those who participate in TFA in Ohio, but also those who complete their TFA commitment in other states. In short, TFA is treated in the same manner as a traditional teacher preparation program that’s housed at a university, and TFA teachers earn the same license as their traditionally-trained counterparts.
However, TFA is the only nontraditional program that currently enjoys this privilege. There are other nontraditional programs that have been approved to train teachers in Ohio. But they must operate within the confines of the alternative licensure pathway. That means they must design or adjust their programming to fit within the parameters of an Alternative Licensure Institute (which candidates must complete to earn an initial license) and/or a Professional Development Institute (which candidates must complete to move on to a professional license, which is required to earn tenure).
This limitation could be why TFA is the only sizable nontraditional training program currently operating in Ohio. It’s the only one that isn’t required to adjust its existing model of pedagogical training to fit within the state’s parameters. Obviously, there are nontraditional programs that have been willing to jump through these hoops. But many of the established and effective nontraditional programs currently operating in other states might not be as willing to do so—and if their methods are producing effective teachers, they shouldn’t have to.
To widen teacher pipelines, state leaders need to make Ohio a welcoming place for as many effective nontraditional training programs as possible. As was the case with out-of-state reciprocity, this could be accomplished by establishing a process for nontraditional programs to gain approval through the Ohio Department of Higher Education to prepare participants for a resident—not alternative—educator license. Allowing nontraditional programs that can demonstrate the effectiveness of their methods to be treated the same as their traditional counterparts in colleges and universities could encourage the highly effective programs operating in other states to expand into Ohio.
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Now more than ever, teachers matter. Students are still trying to catch up from pandemic-era learning loss. Achievement gaps remain stubbornly wide. And policies like Ohio’s science of reading initiative have the potential to improve outcomes for millions of kids. To address these issues, Ohio needs a strong pipeline of well-trained teachers. By implementing the recommendations outlined above, lawmakers could help make that happen.
