More Teacher Licenses Issued, But What’s In That Number?

State education officials say more new teachers are being licensed in Indiana.

New Indiana teacher licenses by year. (Source: Indiana Department of Education)

In a tweet, state schools superintendent Jennifer McCormick says the Indiana Department of Education issued 20 percent more new teaching licenses recently.  Agency Press Secretary Adam Baker says that number includes data from McCormick’s first year and a half in office – January 2017 to July 2018 – compared to the same 18-month period starting in January 2015.

Baker also says the situation is more complex than a single number.

“It’s not a bragging point, it’s not a boasting point.  This is where we are,” he says. “I guess what I would call it is – it’s grounds for optimism.”

Roughly a third of the licenses issued in 2017 were emergency permits, which are one-year teaching credentials given to qualified non-licensed individuals.

Baker says they won’t know the reason for the sudden jump in new licenses until they receive data from 2018.

“Until we get two years’ worth of data, until we get farther down the road, will we know how well these efforts are working, and then we can adapt and adjust if necessary,” he says.

IDOE conducted a survey of over 35,000 current and former Indiana educators earlier this year to better understand why teachers are leaving the profession. Baker says the data from that survey will be available later this year.