Part Time Teaching Licenses

Expanding the Pool of Teachers Policy

Part Time Teaching Licenses

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

Best practices

Arkansas offers a license with minimal requirements that allows content experts to teach part time. Individuals seeking this license must pass a subject-matter test and are also required to complete specially-designed pedagogy training that is not overly burdensome. 

Suggested Citation:
National Council on Teacher Quality. (2011). Part Time Teaching Licenses National Results. State Teacher Policy Database. [Data set].
Retrieved from: https://www.nctq.org/yearbook/national/Part-Time-Teaching-Licenses-7
Best practice 1

State

Meets goal 2

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Nearly meets goal 5

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Meets goal in part 4

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Meets a small part of goal 6

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Does not meet goal 33

States

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)