Indiana Working to Attract Best & Brightest Educators to Hoosier Classrooms
Wednesday, April 14, 2021
Holly Lawson
Deputy Director of Communications
(317) 232-0536
hlawson2@doe.in.gov
INDIANAPOLIS — The Indiana State Board of Education today approved additional pass scores for the state’s incoming educator licensure exams, in addition to unanimously approving flexibility waivers for three Indiana schools.
“Indiana is laying out the welcome mat for the best and brightest educators around the country, and it’s important that we streamline any hurdles that might deter highly-qualified educators from the classroom,” said Dr. Katie Jenner, Indiana Secretary of Education and Board chair. “This includes aligning our teacher license exam with one that’s nationally available, while also looking at the whole picture the data presents to develop new, innovative strategies to strengthen our teacher pipeline. It’s critical for our students, and for the future of our state.”
More than 40 states and territories use Praxis exams for educator licensing. With Indiana’s transition to this nationally-available test on July 1, prospective Hoosier teachers across the nation will find a streamlined testing process for being licensed to teach in Indiana. Praxis data will also be available to benchmark the scores of newly-licensed teachers against scores of teachers across the country, providing additional information to Indiana’s teacher preparation programs.
As part of the transition, prospective teachers will have the option to take either the Praxis or the Pearson CORE test -- the current licensing test -- through September 1. The additional pass scores, approved today by the Board, were determined with input from Hoosier educators who teach in the corresponding grade level and subject area.
The Board also unanimously approved flexibility waivers for Bloomfield School District in Greene County, Covington Community School Corporation in Fountain County and North Lawrence Community Schools in Lawrence County. This action waives the required length of an instructional day for Bloomfield. It also waives the requirement for Covington and North Lawrence schools to complete an Annual Performance Report, and allows the districts to count instructional time in minutes instead of in days.
As part of Indiana’s new Performance Based Accreditation System, created with the enactment of House Enrolled Act 1003 during the 2020 legislative session, additional flexibility from certain state requirements is now available to all public schools and state accredited non-public schools. Applications for 1003 Flexibility Waivers are available for Indiana schools through the Indiana Department of Education’s Accountability Center. The full resource guide on these waivers is available here, along with a quick reference guide.
The Board will hold its next meeting on Wednesday, May 5, 2021.