Hiring Policy
Emergency License(s) Availability: Kentucky allows teachers who have not passed state assessments to teach on a conditional certificate as long as the teacher preparation program and the school district agree to provide the teacher with support for retaking the assessment. The teacher must retake the required assessments during the one-year period for which the conditional certificate is valid.
The state also allows local districts to apply for emergency certificates for teachers without state licensure if they have a
bachelor's degree and a cumulative GPA of 2.5 (or a 3.0 in the last 60
credit hours they completed) and no qualified, licensed teacher is
available.
Local superintendents can also request a probationary certificate for middle school teachers, teachers of exceptional children, and teachers of engineering and technology education, if a qualified teacher is not available for that position. Applicants for this certificate must already be licensed or hold a valid teaching statement of eligibility and be enrolled in a teacher preparation program in the area of the probationary certificate.
Kentucky also offers a proficiency provisional certificate. This certificate is issued to already-licensed teachers working toward an additional endorsement via a proficiency evaluation. This certificate allows them to teach while finishing remaining program requirements and complete educator learning plans (ELP) as part of the proficiency evaluation process. The proficiency evaluation process requires that, "a candidate must pass all relevant Praxis exams for the area of certification they are pursuing as part of their review."
Emergency License Validity Period: Kentucky's conditional certificate is valid for up to one year and is nonrenewable. Emergency certificates are valid for one year and cannot be renewed.
The probationary certificate is valid for one year and can be renewed twice. Among the requirements for the first renewal, the applicant must complete six semester hours in the program and (if not previously licensed) must complete the Kentucky Teacher Internship Program. The second renewal requires an additional six semester hours in the program.
The Proficiency Provisional certificate is valid for one year and may be renewed once. Renewal requirements vary based on applicant's educator learning plan (ELP).
COVID-19 State Policy: Kentucky has implemented the following changes to its rules regarding Provisional and Emergency Licensure. The Educational Professional Standards Board approved a one-year certification for the 2020-2021 school year for educator preparation candidates who are unable to take licensure tests. COVID-19 policies do not
affect the state's grade in
Provisional and Emergency Licensure.
Requirements for Out-of-State Teachers: Because licensure requirements for out-of-state teachers are scored in Requirements for Out-of-State Teachers, only the state's policies regarding emergency/provisional
license(s) are considered as part of this goal.
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, because it enables adults who may not be able to meet minimal state standards to earn teaching licenses. Kentucky should ensure that all teachers are required to pass licensing tests — an important minimum benchmark for entering the profession —before entering the classroom as the teacher of record.
Limit exceptions to one year.
Although suboptimal, there may be limited and exceptional circumstances under which provisional licenses are necessary. In these instances, it is reasonable for a state to give teachers up to one year to pass required licensing tests. Kentucky's current policy puts students at risk by allowing teachers to teach up to three years without passing required subject-matter licensing tests.
Kentucky indicated that renewal requirements for the Proficiency Provisional certificate may vary by candidate. Requirements for each candidate through this route are laid out in the Educator Learning Plan (ELP). The university certification officer will only recommend the candidate for the renewal of the certificate if that candidate has made adequate progress and remains on pace to complete the program by the end of the second year.
6B: Provisional and Emergency Licensure
Teachers who have not passed content licensing tests place students at risk. While states may need a regulatory basis for filling classroom positions with a few people who do not hold full teaching credentials, many of the regulations permitting this put the instructional needs of children at risk, often year after year.[1] For example, schools can make liberal use of provisional certificates or waivers provided by the state if they fill classroom positions with instructors who have completed a teacher preparation program but have not passed their state licensing tests. These allowances are permitted for up to three years in some states. The unfortunate consequence is that students' needs are neglected in an effort to extend personal consideration to adults who cannot meet minimum state standards.[2]
While some flexibility may be necessary because licensing tests are not always administered with the needed frequency, making provisional certificates and waivers available year after year could signal that the state does not put much value on its licensing standards or what they represent. States accordingly need to ensure that all persons given full charge of children's learning are required to pass the relevant licensing tests in their first year of teaching, ideally before they enter the classroom. Licensing tests are an important minimum benchmark in the profession, and states that allow teachers to postpone passing these tests are abandoning one of the basic responsibilities of licensure.