Licensure Loopholes: Indiana

Analysis of Indiana's policies

Indiana allows new teachers who have not passed required subject-matter licensing tests to teach on an emergency permit, which is valid for one year but can be renewed twice. To qualify for the permit, the employing school superintendent must submit evidence of an emergency situation as well as verification of the applicant's progress toward meeting standards in the content area and enrollment in an approved certification program.

Renewal requires six semester hours of coursework toward an initial license in the subject area or verification of appropriate progress by the licensing advisor.
 

Citation

515 IAC 9-1-19

Recommendations for Indiana

Ensure that all teachers pass required subject-matter licensing tests before they enter the classroom.
All students are entitled to teachers who know the subject matter they are teaching. Permitting individuals who have not yet passed state licensing tests to teach neglects the needs of students, instead extending personal consideration to adults who may not be able to meet minimal state standards. Indiana should ensure that all teachers have passed their licensing tests—an important minimum benchmark for entering the profession—prior to entering the classroom.

Limit exceptions to one year.
There might be limited and exceptional circumstances under which conditional or emergency licenses need to be granted. In these instances, it is reasonable for a state to give teachers up to one year to pass required licensure tests.

It was noted in the 2009 Yearbook that Indiana offered nonrenewable instructional emergency permits, valid for one year, to new teachers who specifically failed the Praxis II subject-matter tests. That policy has been revoked. However, Indiana's remaining policy continues to put students at risk by allowing teachers to teach on emergency certificates for up to three years without passing required subject-matter tests.

State response to our analysis

Indiana recognized the factual accuracy of this analysis.