Licensure Advancement: District of Columbia
Retaining Effective Teachers Policy
Analysis of District of Columbia's policies
Evidence of effectiveness: The District of Columbia explicitly allows for the consideration of evidence of effectiveness in licensure advancement and renewal; however, evidence of teacher effectiveness is not required.
Advancing to a professional license: The District of Columbia requires that its teachers, to advance from the initial to the standard credential, complete an approve preparation program in the applicable teaching subject area/grade level and pass all basic skills and content tests. Teachers who do not complete a program in the applicable teaching subject area/grade level may present documentation of two years of teaching experience (within the previous three years) achieving an effective or equivalent rating on a summative evaluation.
Renewing a professional license: The District of Columbia outlines two options to renew the standard license. Option A is a performance-based renewal that allows teachers to present documentation verifying achievement of a summative evaluation of effective for a minimum of three years during the four-year term of validity. Option B allows teacher to renew by completing 90 hours or six college credits of professional development.
Recommendations for District of Columbia
Require evidence of effectiveness as a part
of teacher licensing policy.
The District of Columbia should require evidence of teacher effectiveness to be
a factor in determining whether teachers may renew or advance to a higher-level license.
Discontinue license requirements with no
direct connection to classroom effectiveness.
Although targeted requirements may potentially expand teacher knowledge and
improve teacher practice, the District of Columbia's general, nonspecific coursework
requirements for license renewal merely call for teachers to
complete a certain amount of seat time. These requirements do not correlate
with teacher effectiveness.
State response to our analysis
The District of Columbia asserted that it requires evidence of
effectiveness for the issuance of initial, standard, and renewals of a teacher
credential via submission of effective performance evaluations completed by the
hiring local school districts.
To advance from an initial to a full standard credential, the District requires
its teachers to complete an approved educator preparation program in the
applicable teaching subject area/grade level, pass Praxis I Core series
basic skills exams, Praxis II subject-area content knowledge, and Praxis II
Principles of Learning and Teaching pedagogy exams. An additional pathway
to credentialing allows teachers who do not complete a program to utilize
effective performance evaluations conducted by the employing district. Teachers
may submit an application with documentation of two years of consecutive effective
teaching experience in a teaching subject area/grade level that corresponds with
their teaching assignment and passing scores on Praxis I Core series basic
skills exams, Praxis II subject-area content knowledge, and Praxis II
Principles of Learning and Teaching pedagogy exams.
The District reiterated its two options to renew the standard license. Option A
is a performance-based renewal that allows teachers to present documentation
verifying achievement of effective teaching for three yearly summative
evaluation periods directly in the credential subject area during the four-year
term of validity. Option B allows teachers to renew by completing 90
professional learning unit/clock hours or six college credits of professional
development.
Updated: December 2017
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District of Columbia
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General Teacher Preparation
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Teacher and Principal Evaluation
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Retaining Effective Teachers
Early Childhood Preparation
How we graded
9A: Licensure Advancement
- Evidence of Effectiveness for Advancement: The state should:
- Require evidence of effectiveness to be considered as a factor for advancement from a probationary to a nonprobationary license.
- Not require teachers to earn an advanced degree as a condition of professional licensure.
- Evidence of Effectiveness for Renewal: The state should ensure that any coursework requirements tied to advancing from a probationary to a nonprobrationary license address the specific needs of an individual teacher, rather than a need that is generic and unspecified.
One-half of the total goal score is earned based on the following:
- One-half credit: The state will earn one-half of a point if it bases licensure advancement exclusively on evidence of effectiveness.
- One-quarter credit: The state will earn one-quarter of a point if it bases licensure advancement on evidence of effectiveness in addition to other requirements not linked to effectiveness (e.g., teachers obtain an advanced degree).
One-half of the total goal score is earned based on the following:
- One-half credit: The state will earn one-half of a point if it exclusively bases licensure renewal on evidence of effectiveness.
- One-quarter credit: The state will earn one-quarter of a point if it partially bases licensure renewal on evidence of effectiveness.
Research rationale
The reason for probationary licensure should be to determine teacher effectiveness. Most states grant new teachers a probationary license that must later be converted to an advanced or professional license. A probationary period is sound policy as it provides an opportunity to determine whether individuals merit professional licensure. However, very few states require any determination of teacher performance or effectiveness in deciding whether a teacher will advance from the probationary license. Instead, states generally require probationary teachers to fulfill a set of requirements to receive advanced certification. Therefore, ending the probationary period is based on whether a checklist has been completed rather than on teacher performance and effectiveness.
Most state requirements for achieving professional certification have not been shown to affect teacher effectiveness.[1] Unfortunately, not only do most states fail to connect advanced certification to actual evidence of teacher effectiveness, but also the requirements teachers must most often meet are not even related to teacher effectiveness. The most common requirement for professional licensure is completion of additional coursework, often resulting in a master's degree. Requiring teachers to obtain additional training in their teaching area would be meaningful; however, the requirements are usually vague, allowing the teacher to fulfill coursework requirements from long menus that include areas having no connection or use to the teacher in the classroom.[2] The research evidence on requiring a master's degree is quite conclusive: with rare exceptions, these degrees have not been shown to make teachers more effective.[3] This is likely due in no small part to the fact that teachers may not attain master's degrees in their subject areas.
In addition to their dubious value, these requirements may also serve as a disincentive to teacher retention. Talented probationary teachers may be unwilling to invest time and resources in more education coursework. Further, they may well pursue advanced degrees that facilitate leaving teaching.
[1] For studies observing various trends in student achievement and licensure requirements, see: Clotfelter, C. T., Ladd, H. F., & Vigdor, J. L. (2004). Teacher sorting, teacher shopping, and the assessment of teacher effectiveness. Duke University manuscript., which is the previous draft of the current paper entitled: Clotfelter, C. T., Ladd, H. F., & Vigdor, J. L. (2006). Teacher-student matching and the assessment of teacher effectiveness. Journal of human Resources, 41(4), 778-820. Retrieved from http://www.nber.org/papers/w11936; Ladd, H. F., Clotfelter, C. T., & Vigdor, J. L. (2007). How and why do teacher credentials matter for student achievement? (NBER Working Paper 142786). Retrieved from http://www.nber.org/papers/w12828; Ehrenberg, R. G., & Brewer, D. J. (1994). Do school and teacher characteristics matter? Evidence from high school and beyond. Economics of Education Review, 13(1), 1-17.; Goldhaber, D., & Anthony, E. (2007). Can teacher quality be effectively assessed? National Board Certification as a signal of effective teaching. The Review of Economics and Statistics, 89(1), 134-150.; Goldhaber, D. D., & Brewer, D. J. (1997). Why don't schools and teachers seem to matter? Assessing the impact of unobservables on educational productivity. Journal of Human Resources, 505-523. Retrieved from http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED400237.pdf; Goldhaber, D. D., & Brewer, D. J. (2000). Does teacher certification matter? High school teacher certification status and student achievement. Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 22(2), 129-145.; Hanushek, E. A., & Rivkin, S. G. (2006). Teacher quality. Handbook of the Economics of Education, 2, 1051-1078. Retrieved from http://www.nber.org/papers/w11154.pdf; Rivkin, S. G., Hanushek, E. A., & Kain, J. F. (2005). Teachers, schools, and academic achievement. Econometrica, 73(2), 417-458. Retrieved from http://www.nber.org/papers/w6691.pdf; Harris, D., & Sass, T. R. (2006). Value-added models and the measurement of teacher quality (Unpublished manuscript). Retrieved from http://www.urban.org/UploadedPDF/1001431-what-makes-for-a-good-teacher.pdf; Harris, D. N., & Sass, T. R. (2011). Teacher training, teacher quality and student achievement. Journal of Public Economics, 95(7), 798-812. Retrieved from
http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED509656.pdf; Harris, D. N., & Sass, T. R. (2009). The effects of NBPTS‐certified teachers on student achievement. Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, 28(1), 55-80. Retrieved from http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED509659.pdf; Jepsen, C. (2005). Teacher characteristics and student achievement: Evidence from teacher surveys. Journal of Urban Economics, 57(2), 302-319.; Monk, D. H. (1994). Subject area preparation of secondary mathematics and science teachers and student achievement. Economics of Education Review, 13(2), 125-145.; Riordan, J. (2006, April). Is there a relationship between No Child Left Behind indicators of teacher quality and the cognitive and social development of early elementary students? In annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, San Francisco, CA. Retrieved from http://www.cpre.org/sites/default/files/meetingpaper/1001_aera2006nclbandstudentsdevelopment.pdf; Schneider,B. (1985). Further evidence of school effects. Journal of Educational Research, 78(6), p. 351-356.
[2] For evidence on the lack of correlation between education coursework and teacher effectiveness, see: Allen, M. B. (2003). Eight questions on teacher preparation: What does the research say? Education Commission of the States. Retrieved from http://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED479051
[3] For a meta-analysis of the research on the relationship between advanced degrees and teacher effectiveness, see: Doherty, K., Walsh, K., Jacobs, S., & Neuman-Sheldon, B. (2010). Arizona's race to the top: What will it take to compete? Washington, DC: National Council on Teacher Quality. Retrieved from http://www.nctq.org/dmsView/Arizona_Race_to_the_Top_NCTQ_Report; For secondary math teachers however, a relevant master's degree is associated with greater teacher effectiveness, see: Walsh, K., Lubell, S., & Ross, E. (2017, August). Backing the wrong horse: The story of one state's ambitious but disheartening foray into performance pay. Washington, DC: National Council on Teacher Quality. Retrieved from https://www.nctq.org/dmsView/NCTQ_Backing_the_Wrong_Horse_2017