Program Entry: Indiana
Alternate Routes Policy
Analysis of Indiana's policies
Indiana offers several alternate routes: the Advanced Degree License; the Career Specialist Permit; Charter School Licensure; Transition to Teaching (T2T) programs, including the Woodrow Wilson Indiana Teaching Fellowship; and MACTE Accredited Program.
Academic Proficiency Requirements: Indiana's alternate route academic proficiency requirements for admission vary by program. As of July 1, 2019, there is no longer a basic skills testing requirement for educator candidates, however, educator preparation programs may continue to require CASA or an approved alternate for program admission.
The Advanced Degree License programs do not require a minimum GPA nor a test of academic proficiency.
Charter School Licensure requires applicants to have a GPA of 3.0 with a major in the content area in which candidates want to teach or pass the appropriate licensure exam in the content area.
Career Specialist Permit applicants must have at least a 3.0 GPA or successful completion of the CORE content licensure exam in the desired secondary content area.
The T2T programs require that applicants seeking a PreK-3 or K-6 certification meet one of the following in order to be eligible for program entry: a minimum GPA of 3.0; a minimum GPA of 2.5 with five years of professional experience; or proof of passing state-approved content area examination(s) in the subject area. For T2T applicants seeking a certification to teach in 5th through 12th grades, the same admissions options are offered except that candidates' bachelor's degrees must be in or related to intended teaching areas. An exception is made for those who hold a bachelors' degree (any major) and pass the relevant subject-matter exam. An additional option is provided, which allows candidates to gain T2T program admission if they possess a graduate degree in the intended teaching subject and pass the state-approved content area examination(s) in the candidate's intended teaching subject.
Subject-matter Testing Requirements: Indiana's alternate route subject-matter requirements for admission vary by program.
Advanced Degree License candidates must successfully complete the content area testing corresponding to the major of the advanced degree and the secondary pedagogy test (Indiana CORE Assessment 006 - Secondary Education).
Career Specialist Permit applicants must pass a subject-matter exam in order to apply, unless they have a 3.0 minimum GPA.
Not all T2T applicants must pass a subject-matter exam in their intended teaching area as a requirement for admission, however, all candidates must pass the appropriate subject-matter exams to be granted an initial practitioner license.
Coursework Requirements: Indiana's alternate route subject-specific coursework requirements for admission vary by program.
Advanced Degree License program applicants must have a master's degree or higher in their intended teaching subject, as well as at least one year of experience teaching students in a middle school, high school or college classroom setting.
Career Specialist Permit applicants, who are eligible to teach specific content in secondary grades, must have a bachelor's degree in a content area for which secondary licenses are issued and evidence of having completed 6,000 clock hours of non-teaching experience in the last five years related to the candidate's intended content area.
Indiana does not make any requirements for subject-matter coursework as a condition for admission to T2T programs; however, individual programs have their own guidelines.
Applicants to the Woodrow Wilson Teaching Fellowship must have majored in or have at least 30 college-level credits in a STEM field.
TNTP's Indianapolis's Teaching Fellows program requires coursework for some certifications (e.g., biology for grades 6-12, science for middle school), but it offers applicants a test-out option to meet these requirements by passing the relevant subject-matter assessment.
TFA and MAT programs do not require applicants to take subject-specific coursework as a prerequisite for program admission.
Recommendations for Indiana
Extend academic requirements for admission to all alternate routes.
Indiana should ensure that all alternate routes require candidates to demonstrate solid academic aptitude. Although the minimum requirements for some alternate routes is an important first step toward ensuring that potential teachers have strong academic ability, the current standard does not guarantee that all alternatively prepared teachers possess strong academic standing.
Extend content knowledge requirements for admission.
While Indiana is commended for requiring some alternate route candidates to demonstrate content knowledge on a subject-matter test, it is strongly recommended that the state extend this requirement to all of its candidates prior to program admission. Prospective teachers in nontraditional preparation programs should focus their efforts on areas such as pedagogy and classroom management, not on mastering their subject matter. Teachers without sufficient subject-matter knowledge place students at risk, so the licensure test serves as an important guardrail for alternate route candidates.
Exempt content coursework requirements.
Indiana should waive content knowledge coursework requirements for all candidates who demonstrate sufficient subject-matter knowledge on a rigorous licensure test(s). Exacting coursework requirements, such as a major, in a particular subject area could dissuade talented individuals who lack precisely the right courses but possess the requisite subject-matter expertise from pursing a teaching career.
State response to our analysis
Indiana recognized the factual accuracy of this analysis.
Updated: July 2019
-
Indiana
Select another topic
Teacher Preparation
- Program Entry
- Teacher Shortages and Surpluses
- Program Performance Measures
- Program Reporting Requirements
- Student Teaching/Clinical Practice
Elementary Teacher Preparation
Secondary Teacher Preparation
- Middle School Content Knowledge
- Middle School Licensure Requirements
- Secondary Content Knowledge
- Secondary Licensure Requirements
Special Education Teacher Preparation
Alternate Routes
Teacher Diversity
Hiring
Teacher and Principal Evaluation
Teacher Compensation
Early Childhood Preparation
Retaining Effective Teachers
How we graded
Rigorous Admissions Requirements
One half of total goal score is earned based on the following:
Content Knowledge Requirements
One half of total goal score is earned based on the following:
Research rationale
Alternate routes for teacher certification represent opportunities for qualified candidates who have strong subject-matter knowledge to enter the profession. Prospective alternate route candidates need the advantage of a strong academic background, allowing them to focus on gaining the professional skills needed for success in the classroom[1]. A teacher's academic caliber correlates with classroom success[2]. Alternate routes that admit candidates with a weak grasp of both subject matter and professional knowledge may put these new teachers in an impossible position, where they are much more likely to experience failure and perpetuate high attrition rates[3].
Academic requirements for admission to alternate routes should set a high bar. Assessing a teacher candidate's college GPA and/or aptitude scores on national exams normed to the entire college-going population can provide useful and reliable measures of academic caliber, provided that the state does not set the floor too low[4]. One study found, "candidates with higher GPAs and those from more selective colleges perform systematically better in the classroom than otherwise identical candidates"[5]. International studies show that differences in teacher cognitive skills are strongly correlated to differences in student performance[6]. More rigorous teacher qualifications improve student achievement, especially among schools serving students from low-income families[7].
In addition to evaluating incoming candidates' academic aptitude, programs should also determine whether applicants have the content knowledge needed to succeed in the classroom after entry through an alternate route[8]. This determination prior to admission, as proven by a passing score on the state's subject-matter licensure test, is important given that many alternative routes do not require candidates to complete additional content coursework during the program. Furthermore, once a candidate is teaching through an alternate route, he or she will need to devote time and effort to hone the professional skills necessary for success in the classroom, such as behavioral management, curriculum delivery, and student assessment. Given the expedited programming for alternate routes, new teachers may feel overwhelmed if they are learning the content they need to teach while simultaneously learning how to teach it.
In some cases, alternative routes require candidates to have a major in the subject they will be licensed to teach. While ensuring content knowledge through an adequate test is essential, rigid coursework requirements can dissuade talented, qualified individuals from pursuing a teaching career. By allowing candidates to demonstrate their rich content knowledge by testing out of coursework requirements, professionals who have a wealth of relevant, subject-specific experience can pass their expertise on to students. With such provisions, states can maintain high standards for potential teachers, while utilizing experts of respective fields, including traditionally hard-to-staff subjects such as differential mathematics and biology. For instance, an engineer who wishes to teach physics should face no content coursework obstacles, provided he or she can prove sufficient knowledge of physics on an adequate subject matter test. A testing exemption would also allow alternate routes to recruit college graduates with strong liberal arts backgrounds to work as elementary teachers, even if their transcripts fail to meet state requirements[9].
[1] Walsh, K., & Jacobs, S. (2007). Alternative certification isn't alternative. Thomas B. Fordham Institute. Retrieved from http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED498382.pdf
[2] There is no shortage of research indicating the states and districts should pay more attention to the academic ability of a teacher applicant. On the importance of academic ability generally, see: Carlisle, J. F., Correnti, R., Phelps, G., & Zeng, J. (2009). Exploration of the contribution of teachers' knowledge about reading to their students' improvement in reading. Reading and Writing, 22(4), 457-486.; National Mathematics Advisory Panel. (2008). Foundations for success: The final report of the National Mathematics Advisory Panel. US Department of Education.; Kukla-Acevedo, S. (2009). Do teacher characteristics matter? New results on the effects of teacher preparation on student achievement. Economics of Education Review, 28(1), 49-57.; Barber, M., & Mourshed, M. (2007). How the world's best-performing schools systems come out on top. McKinsey & Company. Retrieved from http://mckinseyonsociety.com/downloads/reports/Education/Worlds_School_Systems_Final.pdf; Wayne, A. J., & Youngs, P. (2003). Teacher characteristics and student achievement gains: A review. Review of Educational Research, 73(1), 89-122.; Whitehurst, G. J. (2002, March). Scientifically based research on teacher quality: Research on teacher preparation and professional development. White House Conference on Preparing Tomorrow's Teacher.; Monk, D. H. (1994). Subject area preparation of secondary mathematics and science teachers and student achievement. Economics of Education Review, 13(2), 125-145.; Murnane, R. J. (1983). Understanding the sources of teaching competence: Choices, skills, and the limits of training. Response to Donna Kerr. Teachers College Record, 84(3), 564-69.; Strauss, R. P., & Sawyer, E. A. (1986). Some new evidence on teacher and student competencies. Economics of Education Review, 5(1), 41-48.; Rockoff, J. E., Jacob, B. A., Kane, T. J., & Staiger, D. O. (2011). Can you recognize an effective teacher when you recruit one? Education Finance and Policy, 6(1), 43-74.
[3] Walsh, K., & Jacobs, S. (2007). Alternative certification isn't alternative. Thomas B. Fordham Institute, National Council on Teacher Quality. Retrieved from http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED498382.pdf
[4] For research on the importance of selectivity in teacher preparation programs, see: White, B. R., Presley, J. B., & DeAngelis, K. J. (2008). Leveling up: Narrowing the teacher academic capital gap in Illinois. Illinois Education Research Council. Policy Research Report: IERC 2008-1. Retrieved from http://www.siue.edu/ierc/publications/pdf/IERC2008-1.pdf; For evidence on teacher preparation programs' admissions selectivity, see: Auguste, B., Kihn, P., & Miller, M. (2010). Closing the talent gap: Attracting and retaining top-third graduates to careers in teaching. Washington, DC: McKinsey & Company. Retrieved from http://mckinseyonsociety.com/closing-the-talent-gap/; For evidence on international teacher preparation program standards to further contextualize the aforementioned studies, see: Hanushek, E. A., Piopiunik, M., & Wiederhold, S. (2014). The value of smarter teachers: International evidence on teacher cognitive skills and student performance (National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper No. w20727). Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.3386/w20727; Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development. (2005). Recruiting, selecting and employing teachers. In Teachers matter: Attracting, developing and retaining effective teachers (pp. 141-167). Paris, France: OECD Publishing. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.1787/9789264018044-en; Whitehurst, G. J. (2002). Scientifically based research on teacher quality: Research on teacher preparation and professional development. White House Conference on Preparing Tomorrow's Teachers, 39-53. Retrieved from http://www.stcloudstate.edu/tpi/initiative/documents/assessment/ScientificallyBasedReserachonTeacherQuality.pdf
[5] Jacob, B. A. (2016). The power of teacher selection to improve education. Evidence Speaks Reports,1(12). Retrieved from https://www.brookings.edu/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/teacher-selection.pdf
[6] Hanushek, E. A., Piopiunik, M., & Wiederhold, S. (2018). The Value of Smarter Teachers: International Evidence on Teacher Cognitive Skills and Student Performance. National Bureau of Economic Research. doi:10.3386/w20727
[7] Boyd, D., Lankford, H., Loeb, S., Rockoff, J., & Wyckoff, J. (2008). The narrowing gap in New York City teacher qualifications and its implications for student achievement in high-poverty schools. Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, 27(4), 793-818.
[8] For consideration for elementary teachers' need to master content knowledge, see: Goldhaber, D. (2007). Everyone's doing it, but what does teacher testing tell us about teacher effectiveness? Journal of Human Resources, 42(4), 765-794.; See also: 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
[9] Walsh, K., & Jacobs, S. (2007). Alternative certification isn't alternative. Thomas B. Fordham Institute, National Council on Teacher Quality. Retrieved from http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED498382.pdf