Teacher Challenge Setting Competency Standard Washington Ed Board Proposes Stricter Licensing

Washington soon may leap over other states in the effort to weed out ineffective teachers early in their careers.

The Washington State Board of Education is developing a licensing system to require new teachers to prove their students are learning before the teachers get permanent licenses.

At meetings scheduled Nov. 20-22 in Spokane, the board will hold public hearings on licensing reform.

Under the proposal, new teachers would have several years to work with a college, the school district and a professional organization to study their teaching and how well it works.

Only after proving students were learning would they get a professional license.

“The present system doesn’t require teachers to demonstrate a positive impact on student learning,” said Ted Andrews, state director of teacher certification.

It will be difficult to measure learning accurately while accounting for the vast differences among children from poor, middle-class and wealthy homes, Andrews acknowledged.

“To my knowledge, no state has even been able to implement a system doing this,” he said. “That’s the heart of why it ought to be done.”

The board also is considering teaching entrance exams - similar to the bar exam for lawyers.

“Good examinations that really represent knowledge and skills that are important are probably one of the most high-leverage ways of creating improvement in a profession,” said Linda Darling-Hammond, a Columbia University professor who studies teaching.

The board will make a recommendation to the Legislature by Jan. 1 on whether would-be teachers should have to pass an exam to get their licenses. Now the only requirement is that new teachers must have graduated from a state-approved program.

Approximately 40 states require new teachers to pass exams before entering the profession, Andrews said.

, DataTimes