Licensure Reciprocity: Connecticut

Analysis of Connecticut's policies

Regrettably, Connecticut allows out-of-state teachers to be exempt from the state's subject-area and basic skills tests if they either 1) have three years of "successful appropriate" teaching experience in the same school system in the past 10 years, or 2) have a master's degree in the subject area.  

Certificated out-of-state teachers may be eligible for a comparable Connecticut license if they have completed an approved program at a regionally accredited institution or can verify 30 months of experience, within 10 years, under a valid certificate. 

Moreover, 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.

Connecticut 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 Connecticut students. 

Citation

Educator Certification http://www.sde.ct.gov/sde/lib/sde/pdf/cert/obtaining1109aw.pdf

Recommendations for Connecticut

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

Connecticut 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. 

Connecticut should consider adopting a more flexible policy regarding portability. Transcript reviews are not a particularly meaningful or efficient exercise, and the state should consider discontinuing its requirement for the submission of transcripts for all teachers. 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 Connecticut.

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

Rather than rely on transcripts to assess credentials, Connecticut 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). Connecticut may be on the right track with its requirement of "successful" teaching experience, but the state does not articulate that this is meant to be effectiveness as measured by a strong teacher evaluation system. Further, the requirement of three successful years in the last 10, although likely intended as a recency requirement, would also appear to allow multiple years of  unsuccessful or ineffective teaching as well. 

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

Regardless of whether a teacher was prepared through a traditional or alternate route, all certified out-of-state teachers should receive equal treatment. State policies that discriminate against teachers who were prepared in an alternate route are not supported by evidence. In fact, a substantial body of research has failed to discern differences in effectiveness between alternate and traditional route teachers.

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

Connecticut should ensure that online teachers based in other states are at least equally as qualified as those who teach in the state. However, Connecticut 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

Connecticut recognized the factual accuracy of this analysis. The state added that individuals who have completed an alternate route to certification in another state who do not have 30 months of teaching under a certificate in the sending state will receive the same 90-day certificate that is issued to completers of Connecticut's ARC program upon being employed in a Connecticut school district.