The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted teacher candidates’ ability to complete licensure requirements, prompting many states to temporarily reduce professional entry requirements to avoid teacher shortages. This study examines the emergency teaching license in Massachusetts, which allowed individuals with only a bachelor’s degree to enter the teacher workforce. Findings reveal that emergency licenses increased teacher supply by employing individuals previously unable to pass licensure exams and by attracting new interest in the profession. Teachers hired with emergency licenses were more ethno-racially diverse than traditionally licensed peers and showed strong intentions to pursue permanent licensure and remain in the profession. These findings suggest that revising initial entry requirements could be an effective strategy to expand the teacher workforce, particularly among teachers of color.
Abbate-VaughnJ.PaughP. C. (2009). The paraprofessional-to-teacher pipeline: Barriers and accomplishments. Journal of Developmental Education, 33(1), 16–29.
2.
An Act Relative to Municipal Governance During the COVID-19 Emergency, Massachusetts Session Laws §92–14 (2020).
3.
Bacher-HicksA.ChiO. L.OrellanaA. (2023). Two years later: How COVID-19 has shaped the teacher workforce. Educational Researcher, 52(4), 219–229. https://doi.org/10.3102/0013189X231153659
4.
BackesB.GoldhaberD. (2023). The relationship between pandemic-era teacher licensure waivers and teacher demographics, retention, and effectiveness in New Jersey (Working Paper No. 286-0623). National Center for Analysis of Longitudinal Data in Education Research (CALDER).
5.
CameronR. (2009). A sequential mixed model research design: Design, analytical and display issues. International Journal of Multiple Research Approaches, 3(2), 140–152.
ClotfelterC. T.LaddH. F.VigdorJ. L. (2007). Teacher credentials and student achievement: Longitudinal analysis with student fixed effects. Economics of Education Review, 26(6), 673–682. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.econedurev.2007.10.002
8.
CoibionO.GorodnichenkoY.WeberM. (2020). Labor markets during the COVID-19 Crisis: A preliminary view (No. w27017). National Bureau of Economic Research.
9.
CowanJ.GoldhaberD.JinZ.TheobaldR. (2020). Teacher licensure tests: Barrier or predictive tool? (Working Paper No. 245-1020). National Center for Analysis of Longitudinal Data in Education Research (CALDER).
10.
DeArmondM.GoldhaberD.PayneS. (2023). COVID’s under-the-radar experiment with teacher licensure (CALDER Policy Brief No. 33). National Center for Analysis of Longitudinal Data in Education Research (CALDER).
11.
DeeT. S. (2005). A teacher like me: Does race, ethnicity, or gender matter?American Economic Review, 95(2), 158–165.
FortnerC. K.KershawD. C.BastianK. C.LynnH. H. (2015). Learning by doing: The characteristics, effectiveness, and persistence of teachers who were teaching assistants first. Teachers College Record: The Voice of Scholarship in Education, 117(11), 1–30. https://doi.org/10.1177/016146811511701104
14.
GershensonS.HansenM. J.LindsayC. A. (2021). Teacher diversity and student success: Why racial representation matters in the classroom. Harvard Education Press.
15.
GoldhaberD. (2011). Licensure: Exploring the value of this gateway to the teacher workforce. In HanusheckE. A.MachinS.WoessmannL. (Eds.), Handbook of the economics of education (Vol. 3, pp. 315–339). Elsevier.
16.
GoldhaberD.CowanJ.TheobaldR. (2017). Evaluating prospective teachers: Testing the predictive validity of the edTPA. Journal of Teacher Education, 68(4), 377–393. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022487117702582
17.
GoldhaberD.GratzT.TheobaldR. (2017). What’s in a teacher test? Assessing the relationship between teacher licensure test scores and student STEM achievement and coursetaking. Economics of Education Review, 61, 112–129. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.econedurev.2017.09.002
18.
GoldhaberD.GroutC.HoldenK. L. (2017). Why make it hard for teachers to cross state borders?Phi Delta Kappan, 98(5), 55–60.
MontenovoL.JiangX.Lozano-RojasF.SchmutteI.SimonK.WeinbergB. A.WingC. (2022). Determinants of disparities in early COVID-19 job losses. Demography, 59(3), 827–855.
NaglerM.PiopiunikM.WestM. R. (2020). Weak markets, strong teachers: Recession at career start and teacher effectiveness. Journal of Labor Economics, 38(2), 453–500.
24.
NCTQ. (2021). Massachusetts licensure test data: Learning from institutional pass rates on elementary content teacher licensure tests. National Council on Teacher Quality.
25.
NettlesM. T.ScattonL. H.SteinbergJ. H.TylerL. L. (2011). Performance and passing rate differences of African American and White prospective teachers on Praxis examinations: A joint project of the National Education Association (NEA) and Educational Testing Service (ETS). ETS Research Report Series, 2011(1), i–82.
26.
PutmanH.WalshK. (2021a). Driven by data: Using licensure tests to build a strong, diverse teacher workforce. National Council on Teacher Quality.
27.
PutmanH.WalshK. (2021b). State of the states 2021: Teacher preparation policy. National Council on Teacher Quality.
28.
ReddingC.HenryG. T. (2018). New evidence on the frequency of teacher turnover: Accounting for within-year turnover. Educational Researcher, 47(9), 577–593. https://doi.org/10.3102/0013189X18814450
29.
ReddingC.SmithT. M. (2016). Easy in, easy out: Are alternatively certified teachers turning over at increased rates?American Educational Research Journal, 53(4), 1086–1125. https://doi.org/10.3102/0002831216653206
30.
RucinskiM. (2023) Who becomes a teacher? Racial diversity in the K-12 to teacher pipeline. Rappaport Institute for Greater Boston Policy Brief.
31.
RucinskiM.GoodmanJ. (2019). Diversity in Massachusetts’ teacher pipeline. Rappaport Institute for Greater Boston Policy Brief.
32.
SlayL. E.RileyJ.MillerK. (2020). Facilitating a path to new teacher certification amid the COVID-19 pandemic: Unpacking states’ “Unchanged-New Flex” guidelines. Frontiers in Education, 5, Article 583896. https://doi.org/10.3389/feduc.2020.583896
33.
ZamarroG.CampA.FuchsmanD.McGeeJ. B. (2022). Understanding how COVID-19 has changed teachers’ chances of remaining in the classroom. University of Arkansas Department of Education Reform. https://scholarworks.uark.edu/edrepub/132
Supplementary Material
Please find the following supplemental material available below.
For Open Access articles published under a Creative Commons License, all supplemental material carries the same license as the article it is associated with.
For non-Open Access articles published, all supplemental material carries a non-exclusive license, and permission requests for re-use of supplemental material or any part of supplemental material shall be sent directly to the copyright owner as specified in the copyright notice associated with the article.
