Expanding the Pool of Teachers Policy
Louisiana offers the Math for Professionals Certificate as a part-time license. The Math for Professionals Certificate is valid for one year and allows an individual to teach one or more mathematics courses on a part-time basis. The certificate can be renewed on an annual basis.
Candidates for the certificate must have an undergraduate degree with at least 30 credit hours of mathematics coursework, a master's degree in mathematics or science content area, or be able to pass the mathematics content area test.
Candidates are required to complete a district-developed classroom readiness/training program prior to entering the classroom.
Allow other subject matter experts to teach under a similar certificate.
While Louisiana is commended for offering a license that increases districts' flexibility to staff mathematics courses, the state should consider extending such a license to content experts in other subjects, including other STEM areas, that are frequently hard to staff or may not have high enough enrollment to necessitate a full-time position.
Require applicants to pass a subject-matter test.
Although Louisiana is recognized for allowing professionals the flexibility to demonstrate their content knowledge on a test, the state should require a subject-matter test of all applicants, including those with 30 credit hours or a master's degree. While the state does require evidence of content knowledge, only a subject-matter test ensures that teachers on the Math for Professionals Certificate know the specific content they will need to teach.
Louisiana was helpful in providing NCTQ with the facts necessary for this analysis.