Licensure Requirements

Special Education Teacher Preparation Policy

Licensure Requirements

The state should distinguish between the preparation of high-incidence elementary and secondary special education teachers. This goal was consistent between 2017 and 2020.

Best practices

Although no state stands out for its policies to prevent special education licensure deficiencies, 11 states recognize the importance of distinguishing the differing needs of elementary and special education teachers and their preparation by requiring specific high-incidence elementary and secondary special education licenses. Commendably, these states do not offer K-12 high-incidence special education licenses.

Suggested Citation:
National Council on Teacher Quality. (2020). Licensure Requirements National Results. State Teacher Policy Database. [Data set].
Retrieved from: https://www.nctq.org/yearbook/national/Licensure-Requirements-92
Best practice 0

States

Meets goal 10

States

Nearly meets goal 0

States

Meets goal in part 1

State

Meets a small part of goal 9

States

Does not meet goal 31

States

Progress on this goal since 2017

  • Improved
  • Stayed the same
  • Regressed

Do states distinguish between the knowledge and skills needed by elementary special education teachers as compared to secondary special education teachers?

2020
2017
Add previous year
Figure details

Yes. State requires special education teachers to earn a license appropriate to their intended grade level.: AL, IA, LA, MA, MD, ME, NJ, NY, RI, TN, WV

Partially. State offers grade-specific and K-12 licenses.: AK, AZ, CO, CT, DC, DE, GA, HI, ID, IL, IN, KS, MN, MO, MS, NE, NH, NV, OH, SC, SD, VA, VT, WA, WI, WY

No. State offers only a K-12 license.: AR, CA, FL, KY, MI, MT, NC, ND, NM, OK, OR, PA, TX, UT

Footnotes
HI: State offers a PreK-12 license.
IL: Illinois offers a PreK-12 license.
MT: State offers a PreK-12 license.
ND: State offers a PreK-12 license.
NJ: Although New Jersey does issue a K-12 certificate, candidates must meet discrete elementary and/or secondary requirements.
NM: State offers a PreK-12 license.
OK: State offers a PreK-12 license.
OR: State offers a PreK-12 license.
PA: State offers a PreK-12 license.
SC: The state offers a PreK-12 license.
TX: State offers a PreK-12 license.
WY: State offers a PreK-12 license.

Updated: February 2020

How we graded

4C: Special Education Licensure Requirements 

  • Specific Licensure: The state should require its teacher preparation programs to sufficiently distinguish between the differing needs of high-incidence elementary special education teachers and high-incidence secondary special education teachers by requiring distinct elementary and secondary special education licenses.
Specific Licensure
The total goal score is earned based on the following:

  • Full credit: The state is only eligible for the full point if it requires teacher preparation programs to sufficiently distinguish between the differing needs of high-incidence elementary special education teachers and those of high-incidence secondary special education teachers by requiring distinct elementary and secondary special education licenses. The state is not eligible for any credit if it offers K-12 special education licenses either in isolation or as an alternative to grade-specific licenses.
  • One-quarter credit: The state is eligible for one quarter of a point if, in addition to K-12 special education licenses, the state offers both high-incidence elementary and secondary licenses.

Research rationale

Generic K-12 special education licenses are inappropriate for teachers of high-incidence special education students.
Too many states make no distinction between elementary and secondary special education teachers, certifying all such teachers under a generic K-12 special education license. While this broad umbrella may be appropriate for teachers of low-incidence special education students, such as those with severe cognitive disabilities, it is deeply problematic for high-incidence special education students, who are expected to learn grade-level content.[1] And because the overwhelming majority of special education students are in the high-incidence category, the result is a fundamentally broken system.

It is virtually impossible and certainly impractical for states to ensure that a K-12 teacher knows all the subject matter he or she is expected to teach. Further, the issue is just as valid in terms of pedagogical knowledge. Teacher preparation and licensure for special education teachers must distinguish between elementary and secondary levels, as they do for general education.[2] The current model does little to protect some of our most vulnerable students.


[1] Levenson, N. (2011). Something has got to change: Rethinking special education (Working Paper 2011-01). American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research. Retrieved from http://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED521782
[2] Feng, L., & Sass, T. R. (2010). What makes special education teachers special? Teacher training and achievement of students with disabilities (Working Paper 49). National Center for Analysis of Longitudinal Data in Education Research. Retrieved from http://www.urban.org/UploadedPDF/1001435-what-makes-special.pdf; Levenson, N. (2011). Something has got to change: Rethinking special education (Working Paper 2011-01). American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research. Retrieved from http://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED521782