Licensure Reciprocity: California

Analysis of California's policies

It is unclear whether California upholds its standards for all teachers by insisting that out-of-state teachers meet its testing requirements. 

Teachers with comparable out-of-state certificates are eligible for California's Clear Teaching Credential. Those with two or more years of experience are required to have one of the following: 150 hours of professional activities, a master's degree or higher and a bachelor's degree with a minimum of 150 semester units. Teachers must also earn an authorization to teach English learners as well as meet the state's subject-matter competence, meaning the out-of-state credential must correspond to a California subject area or the candidate must complete 32 units of coursework in the California subject area.

Teachers with fewer than two years of experience are also eligible for the state's clear credential if they complete the state's two-year induction program, in addition to earning an authorization to teach English learners and meeting the state's subject-matter competence. Also, those with National Board for Professional Teaching Standards Certification will be issued a clear credential for the corresponding subject area.

Unfortunately, alternate route teachers applying for even the preliminary certificate in California must have completed their programs at a regionally accredited institution; therefore, district-run alternate route programs or programs provided by groups such as Teach For America or the New Teacher Project would not meet the state's definition. In addition, the program must have provided student teaching, even though a responsible alternate route program might have instead provided a strong induction program with intensive mentoring.

Transcripts are required for all applicants; however, it is not clear whether the state analyzes these transcripts to determine whether a teacher was prepared through a traditional or alternate route or whether additional coursework will be required.

California is also a participant in the NASDTEC Interstate Agreement, which outlines which other states' certificates will be accepted by the receiving state. This agreement is not a collection of two-way reciprocal acceptances, nor is it a guarantee that all certificates will be accepted by the receiving state, and is therefore not included in this analysis.

The state does not articulate specific certification requirements for out-of-state teachers who teach online courses to California students. 

Citation

Out-of-State Applicants http://www.ctc.ca.gov/credentials/out-of-state.html

Recommendations for California

To uphold standards, require that teachers coming from other states meet testing requirements.

California should insist that out-of-state teachers meet its own testing requirements, and it should not provide any waivers of its teacher tests unless an applicant can provide evidence of a passing score under its own standards.

Offer a standard license to certified out-of-state teachers, absent unnecessary requirements. 

California should reconsider its requirement of a master's degree or excessive undergraduate coursework, for research has concluded that these requirements do not positively affect teacher effectiveness. The professional activities requirement is also burdensome and may deter talented out-of-state teachers from applying for certification in California. The state's induction requirement is not unreasonable for teachers with less experience; however, the decision about whether an out-of-state teacher needs additional support may best be left in the hands of school principals.

California should also consider discontinuing its requirement for the submission of transcripts. Transcript analysis is likely to result in additional coursework requirements, even for traditionally prepared teachers; alternate route teachers, on the other hand, may have to virtually begin anew, repeating some, most or all of a teacher preparation program in California. Regardless of whether a teacher was prepared through a traditional or alternate route, all certified out-of-state teachers should receive equal treatment.

Require evidence of effective teaching when determining eligibility for full certification. 

Rather than rely on transcripts to assess credentials, California should instead require that evidence of teacher effectiveness be considered for all out-of-state candidates. Such evidence is especially important for candidates who come from states that make student growth at least a significant factor of a teacher evaluation (see Goal 3-B). 

Accord the same license to out-of-state alternate route teachers as would be accorded to traditionally prepared teachers. 

California should widen its definition of a valid alternate route program, accommodating out-of-state teachers who have completed an alternate route program by removing its condition that alternate route teachers can only have completed a program through a college or university. States that cite the evidence of uneven quality of alternate route programs are ignoring the similarly uneven quality of traditional teacher preparation programs. The policy is also premised in speculation; there are no research findings to suggest that alternate route teachers who completed a regionally accredited program are more effective than those who did not.

Ensure that requirements for online teachers are as rigorous as those for in-state teachers. 

California should ensure that online teachers based in other states are at least equally as qualified as those who teach in the state. However, California should balance the interests of its students in having qualified online instructors with making certain that these requirements do not create unnecessary obstacles for out-of-state teachers. 

State response to our analysis

California asserted that if an individual has certification from another state, regardless of how the individual earned the certification, he or she is eligible for a California credential.