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Part Time Teaching Licenses: Rhode Island

Expanding the Pool of Teachers Policy

Look at National Findings
Goal

The state should offer a license with minimal requirements that allows content experts to teach part time.

Does not meet goal
Suggested Citation:
National Council on Teacher Quality. (2011). Part Time Teaching Licenses: Rhode Island results. State Teacher Policy Database. [Data set].
Retrieved from: https://www.nctq.org/yearbook/state/RI-Part-Time-Teaching-Licenses-7

Analysis of Rhode Island's policies

Rhode Island does not offer a license with minimal requirements that would allow content experts to teach part time.

Recommendations for Rhode Island

Offer a license that allows content experts to serve as part-time instructors
Rhode Island should permit individuals with deep subject-area knowledge to teach a limited number of courses without fulfilling a complete set of certification requirements.  The state should verify content knowledge through a rigorous test and conduct background checks as appropriate, while waiving all other licensure requirements. Such a license would increase districts' flexibility to staff certain subjects, including many STEM areas, that are frequently hard to staff or may not have high enough enrollment to necessitate a full-time position.

State response to our analysis

Rhode Island recognized the factual accuracy of NCTQ's analysis and added that proposed certification regulations would create this type of license if adopted. 

Last word

NCTQ looks forward to reviewing the state's progress in future editions of the Yearbook.

    • Best practice
    • Meets goal
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    • Meets a small part of goal
    • Does not meet goal

  • Rhode Island

    Rhode Island map
Licensure Reciprocity
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Delivering Well Prepared Teachers
Expanding the Pool of Teachers
Identifying Effective Teachers
Retaining Effective Teachers
Exiting Ineffective Teachers
Research rationale

The origin of this goal is the effort to find creative solutions to the STEM crisis. While teaching waivers are not typically used this way, teaching waivers could be used to allow competent professionals from outside of education to be hired as part-time instructors to teach courses such as Advanced Placement chemistry or calculus as long as the instructor demonstrates content knowledge on a rigorous test. See NCTQ, "Tackling the STEM Crisis" at: http://www.nctq.org/p/docs/nctq_nmsi_stem_initiative.pdf. 

For the importance of teachers' general academic ability, see R. Ferguson, "Paying for Public Education: New Evidence on How and Why Money Matters," Harvard Journal on Legislation 28 (1991), 465-498.

For more on math and science content knowledge, see D. Monk and J.R. King, "Subject Area Preparation of Secondary Mathematics and Science Teachers and Student Achievement," Economics of Education Review 12, no. 2 (1994), 125-145; R. Murnane, "Understanding the Sources of Teaching Competence: Choices, Skills, and the Limits of Training," Teachers College Record 84, no. 3 (1983)

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