Emergency License(s) Availability:
Indiana allows teachers who have not passed required subject-matter licensing tests to teach on an emergency permit. The applicant can be a current licensed teacher, teaching out-of-field while working on requirements to add the content area of the emergency permit to their license, or someone without a teaching license.
To qualify for the permit, the applicant must have a bachelor's degree, and the employing school superintendent must submit evidence of an emergency situation. Additionally, the applicant must, "must make a commitment to work toward completion of an approved program to either add the content area(s) of the EP to an existing license or to obtain an Initial Practitioner license for the content area(s)."
Emergency License Validity Period:
Indiana's emergency permit is valid for one year and can be renewed twice. Renewal requires the applicant to provide "documentation of progress in pursuit of completion of an approved program for licensure and completion of testing requirements."
COVID-19 State Policy: Indiana has implemented the following changes to its rules regarding Provisional and Emergency Licensure. Renewal requirements for Indiana's emergency permit have been waived for permits that are due for renewal during the 2020-2021 school year. COVID-19 policies do not affect the state's grade in Provisional and Emergency Licensure.
Requirements for Out-of-State Teachers: Because licensure requirements for out-of-state teachers are scored in Requirements for Out-of-State Teachers, only the state's policies regarding emergency/provisional
license(s) are considered as part of this goal.
Ensure that all teachers pass required subject-matter licensing tests before they enter the classroom.
All students are entitled to teachers who know the subject matter they are teaching.
Permitting individuals who have not yet passed state licensing tests to teach
neglects the needs of students, because it enables adults who may not
be able to meet minimal state standards to earn teaching licenses. Indiana should
ensure that all teachers are required to pass licensing tests — an important
minimum benchmark for entering the profession —before entering the classroom as
the teacher of record.
Limit exceptions to one year.
Although suboptimal, there may be limited and exceptional circumstances under which
conditional or emergency licenses are necessary. In these instances, it is
reasonable for a state to give teachers up to one year to pass required
licensing tests. Indiana's current policy puts students at risk by allowing
teachers to teach on emergency certificates for up to three years without passing
required subject-matter licensing tests.
Indiana recognized the factual accuracy of this analysis. The state indicated that State Board of Education through its rules, and the Indiana General Assembly by statute, made intentional decisions to allow flexibility by way of emergency permits and other alternative paths to licensure that allow licensure—whether temporary or not—without passing content tests. The Indiana Department of Education implements these requirements.
6B: Provisional and Emergency Licensure
Teachers who have not passed content licensing 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 minimum state standards.
While some flexibility may be necessary because licensing tests are not always administered with the needed frequency, making provisional certificates and waivers available year after year could signal that 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.