Licensure Reciprocity: Kentucky

Analysis of Kentucky's policies

Kentucky does not support licensure reciprocity for certified teachers from other states.

Regrettably, Kentucky grants a waiver of its licensing tests to any out-of-state teacher who has at least two years of experience.

Teachers with valid out-of-state certificates may be eligible for Kentucky certification; however, the state does not guarantee a similar license. Cases are evaluated on an individual basis, and the state requires transcripts for all applicants, indicating the likelihood that officials will analyze transcripts to determine whether a teacher was prepared through a traditional or alternate route and how much additional coursework will be required. States that reach a determination about an applicant's licensure status on the basis of the course titles listed on the applicant's transcript may end up mistakenly equating the amount of required coursework with the teacher's qualifications.

Kentucky is also a participant in the NASDTEC Interstate Agreement; however, the latest iteration of this agreement no longer purports to be a reciprocity agreement among states and thus is no longer included in this analysis.

Citation

Kentucky Administrative Regulations 16 KAR 4:030 Certification FAQs www.kyepsb.net/certification/certFAQ.asp

Recommendations for Kentucky

To uphold standards, require that teachers coming from other states meet testing requirements.
Kentucky takes considerable risk by granting a waiver for its licensing tests to any out-of-state teacher who has two years of teaching experience. The state should not provide any waivers of its teacher tests unless an applicant can provide evidence of a passing score under its own standards. The negative impact on student learning stemming from a teacher's inadequate subject-matter knowledge is not mitigated by the teacher's having experience.

Offer a standard license to certified out-of-state teachers, absent unnecessary requirements.
Kentucky 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 Kentucky.

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.

State response to our analysis

Kentucky was helpful in providing NCTQ with facts that enhanced this analysis.