Plan seeks to simplify path for prospective teachers

Barri Tinkler: Proposal may result in revised curriculum.

Describing routes to middle and high school teacher certification in Missouri as overly complex and confusing, state education officials have developed a streamlined approach.

The Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education recommended revising requirements, primarily for individuals who want to teach grades 5-12, in a March meeting with the State Board of Education.

“We continuously look for ways to improve teacher recruitment and retention in our state,” said Paul Katnik, assistant commissioner for DESE’s Office of Educator Quality. “A lot of that work involves unnecessary barriers and doing what we can to expand access.”

Traditionally, prospective teachers in Missouri complete a bachelor’s degree – with required coursework in pedagogy and the content area they plan to teach – from a state-approved teacher preparation program. They must also pass exams and a background check before applying for a teaching certificate.

Daryl Fridley, education preparation coordinator for DESE, said the number of required content hours that must be completed for middle and high school certifications – and some K-12 certifications – ranges from 24 to 53.

For example, college students who want to teach general science, math or language arts in middle school must take 24 hours in that content area. For certificates to teach high school chemistry or physics, 35 content hours are required, and 53 content hours are needed to teach agriculture education in grades 9-12.

“We also found differences in pedagogy requirements – or coursework related to learning how to do the teaching – across different certification paths, and these range from 16 to 36,” Fridley said, referring to required credit hours. “We found no research-based justification for these variations.”

Fridley said the lack of consistency developed over decades, with DESE convening work groups of experts, largely working in silos, to determine the level of content hours required for each certification.

“The current structure makes the path to becoming a teacher confusing and, at times, longer to complete,” he said, noting that requiring more coursework also adds expense.

At the March 24 meeting, DESE proposed setting new minimum course hours in pedagogy and content to the state board:

• Pedagogy: Minimum of 24 hours including three in literacy. Must be aligned to Missouri teacher standards and instruction based on the grade level.

• Content: Minimum of 21 hours for grades 5-9 and minimum of 30 for grades 9-12 and K-12 certifications, which span all grade levels. Must be aligned with Missouri Learning Standards, which specify what students are expected to know and be able to do based on content area or grade level.

No changes were proposed to elementary certifications, which are already fairly standardized.

If approved, DESE officials said the new minimums could affect more than 30 certification areas, including hard-to-fill positions in science, technology, engineering and math or STEM fields.

Missouri public schools have faced chronic teacher shortages. DESE showed that among 1,917 first-year teachers in the specified content areas this year, 8% lacked any certification and nearly 25% were working on a substitute certification. Typically, districts only hire teachers who are not provisionally or fully certified when qualified candidates are not available.

“We think it can impact a lot of candidates in areas where we really need more candidates,” Katnik said. “But, we still feel really confident that we’re providing people who are ready to be a teacher, ready for the challenges of the classrooms.”

Commissioner of Education Karla Eslinger said setting minimums for certification will not prevent teacher preparation programs from requiring additional coursework.

“We’re talking about what is required to be certificated and that’s different from what is required to finish a program,” she said.

Barri Tinkler, dean of Missouri State University’s College of Education, said the proposed changes will likely prompt a review of existing expectations.

“It would allow us to relook at our curriculum and think really strategically about what courses do we really need our students to take,” she said, in an interview. “When you have those high minimum credit hour requirements, you’re bound to that. This gives us flexibility to make those changes.”

Tinkler said the flexibility may result in overhauling coursework to creatively present both content and pedagogy.

“It could open up a lot of opportunities for universities to rethink their curriculum in ways that could be really meaningful for students,” she said.

There was limited pushback from the board, but member Pamela Westbrooks-Hodge, D-Pasadena Hills, said she felt trepidation. “I don’t want to lower standards, lower competency requirements just to increase the numbers,” she said.

Westbrooks-Hodge asked how the proposed minimum content and pedagogy hours compared to certification requirements in other states.

Katnik said most states require a degree, and the course specifics are left up to the teacher preparation program.

“They are not nearly as prescriptive as we are in terms of you need to have three hours of this and two hours of this, or this competency,” he said. “Of course, all that adds up to make a more complex system.”

DESE officials said stakeholder feedback will be sought and tweaks may be made before the proposal returns to the state board, likely in June, for a vote.

“We believe that this could immediately, like within the next year, increase the number of teachers, not by hundreds or thousands, but significantly, especially in some of those particular areas of need, where it’s hard to get teachers,” Fridley said.