Part-Time Teaching Licenses: Illinois
Expanding the Pool of Teachers Policy
Analysis of Illinois's policies
Illinois does not offer a license with minimal requirements that
would allow content experts to teach part time.
Recommendations for Illinois
Offer a license that allows content experts to serve as part-time
instructors.
Illinois should permit individuals with deep subject-area knowledge to teach a
limited number of courses without fulfilling a complete set of certification
requirements. The state should verify content knowledge through a rigorous test
and conduct background checks as appropriate, while waiving all other licensure
requirements. Such a license would increase districts' flexibility to staff
certain subjects, including many STEM areas, that are frequently hard to staff
or may not have high enough enrollment to necessitate a full-time position.
State response to our analysis
Illinois pointed out that what NCTQ refers to as part-time teaching licenses the state refers to as educator licenses with stipulations endorsed for Provisional Career and Technical Educator. The requirements of Section 25.72 apply to individuals seeking an educator license with stipulations endorsed for provisional career and technical educator pursuant to Section 21B-20(2)(F) of the School Code [105 ILCS 5/21B-20(2)(F)]. Each applicant for an educator license with stipulations endorsed for provisional career and technical educator shall present evidence of having completed 8,000 hours of work experience in the last 10 years immediately preceding application in the skill area for which the applicant is seeking employment. (See Section 21B-20(2)(F).) The required evidence of this work experience shall be written statements from former supervisors who can be reached for verification or, in cases in which supervisors are no longer available to verify the individual?s employment, affidavits by the applicant describing the work experience.
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Illinois
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Delivering Well Prepared Teachers
- Admission into Teacher Preparation
- Elementary Teacher Preparation
- Elementary Teacher Preparation in Reading Instruction
- Elementary Teacher Preparation in Mathematics
- Middle School Teacher Preparation
- Secondary Teacher Preparation
- Secondary Teacher Preparation in Science
- Special Education Teacher Preparation
- Assessing Professional Knowledge
- Student Teaching
- Teacher Preparation Program Accountability
Expanding the Pool of Teachers
Identifying Effective Teachers
- State Data Systems
- Evaluation of Effectiveness
- Frequency of Evaluations
- Tenure
- Licensure Advancement
- Equitable Distribution
Retaining Effective Teachers
Exiting Ineffective Teachers
Pensions
Research rationale
Part-time licenses can help alleviate severe shortages, especially in STEM subjects.
Some of the subject areas in which states face the greatest teacher shortages are also areas that require the deepest subject-matter expertise. Staffing shortages are further exacerbated because schools or districts may not have high enough enrollments to necessitate full-time positions. Part-time licenses can be a creative mechanism to get content experts to teach a limited number of courses. Of course, a fully licensed teacher is best, but when that isn't an option, a part-time license allows students to benefit from content experts—individuals who are not interested in a full-time teaching position and are thus unlikely to pursue traditional or alternative certification. States should limit licensure requirements to those that verify subject-matter knowledge and address public safety, such as background checks.
Part-Time Teaching Licenses: Supporting Research
The origin of this goal is the effort to find creative solutions to the STEM crisis. While teaching waivers are not typically used this way, teaching waivers could be used to allow competent professionals from outside of education to be hired as part-time instructors to teach courses such as Advanced Placement chemistry or calculus as long as the instructor demonstrates content knowledge on a rigorous test. See NCTQ, "Tackling the STEM Crisis: Five steps your state can take to improve the quality and quantity of its K-12 math and science teachers", at: http://www.nctq.org/p/docs/nctq_nmsi_stem_initiative.pdf.
For the importance of teachers' general academic ability, see R. Ferguson, "Paying for Public Education: New Evidence on How and Why Money Matters," Harvard Journal on Legislation,Volume 28, Summer 1991, pp. 465-498.
For more on math and science content knowledge, see D. Monk, "Subject Area Preparation of Secondary Mathematics and Science Teachers and Student Achievement," Economics of Education Review, Volume 13, No. 2, June 1994, pp. 125-145; R. Murnane, "Understanding the Sources of Teaching Competence: Choices, Skills, and the Limits of Training," Teachers College Record, Volume 84, No. 3, 1983, pp. 564-569.