Hiring Policy
Emergency License(s) Availability: Ohio allows teachers who have not met standard licensure requirements for a particular endorsement area to teach in that area under a supplemental license. The license must be requested by the employing superintendent and is only issued to those who hold a currently valid Ohio standard certificate "to teach in a supplemental area while they are in the process of obtaining standard licensure for that area."
Emergency License Validity Period: Ohio's supplemental license is valid for one year, and although it is renewable twice, successful passage of the Ohio Assessment for Educators (OAE) content knowledge test for the particular licensure area is required for the first renewal.
Ensure that all teachers pass required subject-matter licensing tests before they enter the classroom.
Ohio's policy offering its supplemental license for one year only before requiring successful completion of the Praxis II only minimizes the risks inherent in having teachers in classrooms who lack appropriate subject-matter knowledge; however, the state
could strengthen its policy by requiring all teachers to meet subject-matter
licensure requirements prior to entering the classroom.
Ohio was helpful in providing NCTQ with facts that enhanced this analysis.
6B: Provisional and Emergency Licensure
Teachers who have not passed content licensing tests place students at risk. While states may need a regulatory basis for filling classroom positions with a few people who do not hold full teaching credentials, many of the regulations permitting this put the instructional needs of children at risk, often year after year.[1] For example, schools can make liberal use of provisional certificates or waivers provided by the state if they fill classroom positions with instructors who have completed a teacher preparation program but have not passed their state licensing tests. These allowances are permitted for up to three years in some states. The unfortunate consequence is that students' needs are neglected in an effort to extend personal consideration to adults who cannot meet minimum state standards.[2]
While some flexibility may be necessary because licensing tests are not always administered with the needed frequency, making provisional certificates and waivers available year after year could signal that the state does not put much value on its licensing standards or what they represent. States accordingly need to ensure that all persons given full charge of children's learning are required to pass the relevant licensing tests in their first year of teaching, ideally before they enter the classroom. Licensing tests are an important minimum benchmark in the profession, and states that allow teachers to postpone passing these tests are abandoning one of the basic responsibilities of licensure.