Licensure Loopholes: Nebraska

Analysis of Nebraska's policies

Nebraska does not require subject-matter testing as part of its teacher certification policy. 

Citation

Nebraska Department of Education Rules and Regulations 92-21 http://www.education.ne.gov/LEGAL/webrulespdf/CLEANRule%2021_2010.pdf

Recommendations for Nebraska

Award standard licenses to teachers only after they have passed a subject-matter test.
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. Licensing tests are an important minimum benchmark in the profession, and by not requiring such a test, Nebraska is abandoning one of the basic responsibilities of licensure. As such, the state should require all teachers to pass subject-matter tests prior to entering the classroom. The state's current policy puts students at risk.

State response to our analysis

Nebraska recognized the factual accuracy of this analysis. The state added that it "takes the licensing of teachers very seriously and, although we do not meet your criteria, we do not accept that we are "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."

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 nor produce better student achievement outcomes.