Extended Emergency Licenses: Nebraska

Analysis of Nebraska's policies

Effective September 1, 2015, teachers will need to pass the appropriate Praxis II test to be granted a subject-specific endorsement.

Nebraska allows teachers who have not passed their licensing tests to teach under an emergency teaching certificate. The state offers a Provisional Teaching Certificate and a Provisional Commitment Teaching Certificate. The Provisional Teaching Certificate requires completion of a teacher education program, while the Provisional Commitment Teaching Certificate requires employment in a Nebraska school system and an undergraduate degree but only partial completion of a teacher education program. Although the state has recently adopted requirements that most teacher candidates must pass subject-matter tests for initial licensure, there is no indication that such tests are required for these provisional certificates. 

Citation

Nebraska Department of Education: Rule 21, Title 92 Nebraska Administrative Code, Chapter 21 Section 006 & 008 http://www.sos.ne.gov/rules-and-regs/regsearch/Rules/Education_Dept_of/Title-92/Chapter-21.pdf http://www.education.ne.gov/EducatorPrep/IHE/SkillsTesting/ContentTestScores.pdf http://www.education.ne.gov/tcert/pdfs/manual.pdf

Recommendations for Nebraska

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. Nebraska should ensure that all teachers pass licensing tests— an important minimum benchmark for entering the profession—before 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 licensing tests. Nebraska's current policy puts students at risk by allowing teachers to teach on provisional certificates indefinitely without passing required licensing tests.

State response to our analysis

Nebraska noted that Conditional Permit and Provisional Certificates are issued on a one-year basis and asserted that the state takes the licensing of teachers very seriously. Although it does not meet NCTQ's criteria, Nebraska indicated that it does not accept that the state is "putting students at risk" and/or "abandoning" the responsibility of providing effective teachers for Nebraska students. One can find a range of research, including that which supports that there is no substantive research that proves that passing a content test will assure that a teacher will excel as a teacher and produce better student achievement outcomes. At best, as NCTQ indicates, a content test is a minimal standard, and Nebraska contended a belief that the state can do better than that.

In a subsequent response, Nebraska indicated that individuals holding provisional certificates will be required to pass a content test. At a minimum, passage of the test would be required prior to issuing a regular certificate. Provisional certificates are issued based on the applicant having a basis in the content knowledge in the endorsement area.

Last word

NCTQ agrees that passing a content test provides no assurance that a teacher will excel and produce better student achievement outcomes. But one cannot teach what one does not know, and it is therefore virtually a certainty that teachers lacking in sufficient and appropriate content knowledge will not excel or produce better student achievement outcomes.