Extended Emergency Licenses: West Virginia
Exiting Ineffective Teachers Policy
Analysis of West Virginia's policies
West Virginia requires that all new teachers pass all required subject-matter tests as a condition of initial licensure.
However, West Virginia allows teachers who hold a valid certificate from another state to teach on a one-year, nonrenewable temporary certificate even if they have not met the state's licensure requirements, which include subject-matter testing. (See Goal 2-E.)
Recommendations for West Virginia
Ensure that all teachers—including out of state teachers—meet West Virginia's subject-matter licensing standards.
Allowing out-of-state teachers who have not passed licensure tests to remain in the classroom for up to one year neglects the needs of students. This is especially important when it comes to out-of-state teachers who have passed content tests that do not rise to the level of West Virginia's standards, such as an elementary content test that requires a passing score on each content core subject (see "Licensure Reciprocity" analysis and recommendations).
State response to our analysis
West Virginia recognized the factual accuracy of this analysis. However this analysis was updated subsequent to the state's review.
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West Virginia
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Delivering Well Prepared Teachers
- Admission into Teacher Preparation
- Elementary Teacher Preparation
- Elementary Teacher Preparation in Reading Instruction
- Elementary Teacher Preparation in Mathematics
- Early Childhood
- Middle School Teacher Preparation
- Secondary Teacher Preparation
- Secondary Teacher Preparation in Science and Social Studies
- Special Education Teacher Preparation
- Special Education Preparation in Reading
- Assessing Professional Knowledge
- Student Teaching
- Teacher Preparation Program Accountability
Expanding the Pool of Teachers
Identifying Effective Teachers
- State Data Systems
- Evaluation of Effectiveness
- Frequency of Evaluations
- Tenure
- Licensure Advancement
- Equitable Distribution
Retaining Effective Teachers
Exiting Ineffective Teachers
Pensions
Research rationale
Teachers who have not
passed licensing subject-matter 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. 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 minimal state standards.
While some flexibility may be necessary because licensing
tests are not always administered with the needed frequency, the availability
of provisional certificates and waivers year after year signals that even 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.
Extended Emergency Licenses: Supporting Research
Research
has shown that "the difference in student performance in a single academic
year from having a good as opposed to a bad teacher can be more than one full
year of standardized achievement." See E. Hanushek, "The Trade-Off between Child Quantity and Quality," The Journal of Political
Economy, Volume 100, No. 1, February 1992, pp. 84-117. Hanushek has also found that highly
effective teachers can improve future student earnings by more than $400,000, assuming
a class of 20. "The Economic Value of Higher Teacher Quality", National Bureau of Economic Research, Working Paper
16606, December 2010.