Licensure Loopholes: Illinois

Exiting Ineffective Teachers Policy

Goal

The state should close loopholes that allow teachers who have not met licensure requirements to continue teaching.

Best Practice
Suggested Citation:
National Council on Teacher Quality. (2011). Licensure Loopholes: Illinois results. State Teacher Policy Database. [Data set].
Retrieved from: https://www.nctq.org/yearbook/state/IL-Licensure-Loopholes-10

Analysis of Illinois's policies

In Illinois, new legislation requires that all applicants seeking a state license must pass a subject-matter test, without exception. "No candidate shall be allowed to student teach, serve as the teacher of record, or begin an internship or residency required for licensure until he or she has passed the applicable content area test." 

Citation

Recommendations for Illinois

State response to our analysis

Illinois was helpful in providing NCTQ with facts necessary for this analysis.

Research rationale

Research has shown that "the difference in student performance in a single academic year from having a good as opposed to a bad teacher can be more than one full year of standardized achievement." See E. Hanushek, "The Trade-Off between Child Quantity and Quality," The Journal of Political Economy 100 No. 1 (1992): 84-117. Hanushek has also found that highly effective teachers can improve future student earnings by more than $400,000, assuming a class of 20.  "The Economic Value of Higher Teacher Quality." National Bureau of Economic Research. Working Paper 16606 (2010).