Hiring Policy
Substitute License(s): New Hampshire does not offer substitute licenses, but it does maintain minimal requirements regarding the length of assignment of substitute teachers
(see below). Additional substitute requirements are determined at the
district level.
Length of Assignment: The only stipulations in New Hampshire's policy regarding substitute teachers are that they must undergo a criminal background check and that "a non-credentialed substitute teacher...may teach up to 20 consecutive days during the school year in the same position without holding an endorsed credential from the bureau."
Evaluation of Long-Term Substitutes: New Hampshire has no requirements for the evaluation of any of its substitute teachers.
Require substitute teachers to have a substitute license.
New Hampshire should require all substitute teachers to obtain a substitute teaching license.
Licenses
issued by the state allow for uniform minimum requirements so that all
districts have access to a similarly qualified substitute teaching pool.
Distinguish requirements for short-term and long-term substitutes.
New Hampshire should distinguish between requirements for short-term and long-term substitutes so that it can ensure that its requirements are appropriate for the needs of these teachers. The state's long-term substitute requirements should be rigorous (e.g., that all long-term substitutes have current or expired licenses) to help ensure that teachers who are spending extended periods of time with students are prepared to do so.
Require long-term substitute teachers to be evaluated.
New Hampshire should maintain standards for substitute teacher quality and accountability for all substitutes, but especially for long-term substitutes who are expected to stand in for licensed teachers for extended periods of time. New Hampshire can help ensure that substitute teachers are held to high standards and have access to the supports necessary to improve their practice by requiring evaluations—
which it may find appropriate to modify from its standard, state-required
teacher evaluations— of long-term substitutes.
New Hampshire had no comment on this goal.
Research finds that teacher absences negatively affect student achievement and growth.[1] While some of this is attributable to the disruption of regular classroom practices and instruction,[2] it may also be attributable to substitute teacher quality. The gap in instructional quality and daily productivity when a regular teacher is replaced by a substitute teacher is significant.[3] However, absences covered by substitutes licensed by the state are not as detrimental to student achievement as those covered by non-licensed substitutes.[4] Some research hypothesizes that the low-skill level and mobility of substitute teachers may contribute to the reduction in instructional focus and quality and that even when substitute teachers are good instructors, they may be unable to effectively implement a teacher of record's long-term instructional strategies.[5] Parents, teachers, principals, and students have concerns about substitute teachers' quality and qualifications.[6] States should maintain rigorous standards for substitute teacher quality and accountability for all substitutes, but especially for long-term substitutes who are expected to stand in for teachers for long stretches of time.