Retaining Effective Teachers Policy
Evidence of Effectiveness: New Hampshire's requirements for licensure advancement and renewal are not based on evidence of teacher effectiveness.
Advancing to a Professional License: New Hampshire requires teachers to have at least three years' full-time teaching
experience and, according to the local evaluation system, also be deemed
"effective or above" for two consecutive years. However, the state
does not require that objective measures of student growth be factored into a
teacher's evaluation score.
Renewing a Professional License: New Hampshire requires teachers to renew their licenses every three years. Teachers must provide evidence of "successful completion of the educator's
individual professional development plan."
Individual professional development plans must address a number of factors, including "effective instructional practices related to school and district goals
that increase student achievement."
However, the state does not require teacher evaluations to be used as part of the evidence. The options from which a teacher may choose to demonstrate that he or she has met requirements for recertification are: "developing a body of evidence that documents job-embedded or formal professional development," 75 continuing education hours or fewer than 75 continuing education hours combined with evidence of "job-embedded or formal professional development." All other teachers must have completed 75 hours of approved continuing education credits in the previous three years for renewal.
Require evidence of effectiveness as a part of teacher licensing policy.
New Hampshire should require evidence of teacher effectiveness to be a factor in determining whether teachers may renew or advance to a higher-level license. Although the state requires two consecutive years of effective evaluations based on a local evaluation system, this policy will not be meaningful until New Hampshire requires districts to include evidence of student growth as part of its teacher evaluations.
Discontinue license requirements with no direct connection to classroom effectiveness.
Although targeted requirements may potentially expand teacher knowledge and improve teacher practice, New Hampshire's general, nonspecific coursework requirements for license renewal merely call for teachers to complete a certain amount of seat time. These requirements do not correlate with teacher effectiveness.
New Hampshire was helpful in providing NCTQ with facts that enhanced this analysis.
9A: Licensure Advancement
The reason for probationary licensure should be to determine teacher effectiveness. Most states grant new teachers a probationary license that must later be converted to an advanced or professional license. A probationary period is sound policy as it provides an opportunity to determine whether individuals merit professional licensure. However, very few states require any determination of teacher performance or effectiveness in deciding whether a teacher will advance from the probationary license. Instead, states generally require probationary teachers to fulfill a set of requirements to receive advanced certification. Therefore, ending the probationary period is based on whether a checklist has been completed rather than on teacher performance and effectiveness.
Most state requirements for achieving professional certification have not been shown to affect teacher effectiveness.[1] Unfortunately, not only do most states fail to connect advanced certification to actual evidence of teacher effectiveness, but also the requirements teachers must most often meet are not even related to teacher effectiveness. The most common requirement for professional licensure is completion of additional coursework, often resulting in a master's degree. Requiring teachers to obtain additional training in their teaching area would be meaningful; however, the requirements are usually vague, allowing the teacher to fulfill coursework requirements from long menus that include areas having no connection or use to the teacher in the classroom.[2] The research evidence on requiring a master's degree is quite conclusive: with rare exceptions, these degrees have not been shown to make teachers more effective.[3] This is likely due in no small part to the fact that teachers may not attain master's degrees in their subject areas.
In addition to their dubious value, these requirements may also serve as a disincentive to teacher retention. Talented probationary teachers may be unwilling to invest time and resources in more education coursework. Further, they may well pursue advanced degrees that facilitate leaving teaching.