Current through September 24, 2024
(1) Prospective
educators seeking a practitioner teacher license shall meet the requirements of
one (1) of the following pathways:
(a) Pathway
1. The prospective educator:
1. Holds a
bachelor's degree from a regionally accredited college or university;
2. Has completed a State Board-approved
educator preparation program;
3. Is
recommended by the State Board-approved educator preparation provider;
and
4. Submits qualifying scores on
all required assessments as defined in the Professional Assessments for
Tennessee Educators Policy.
(b) Pathway 2. The prospective educator:
1. Holds a bachelor's degree from a
regionally accredited college or university;
2. Is enrolled in a State Board-approved
educator preparation program with a job-embedded clinical practice;
3. Is recommended by the State Board-approved
educator preparation provider; and
4. Submits qualifying scores on all required
assessments as defined in the Professional Assessments for Tennessee Educators
Policy or holds a degree with a major in the specialty area.
(c) Pathway 3. The prospective
educator:
1. Holds a bachelor's degree from a
regionally accredited college or university;
2. Holds an active Tennessee practitioner or
professional occupational teacher license with an endorsement covering the
Secondary Grade span;
3. Has
completed a State Board-approved occupational educator preparation program or
an occupational educator preparation program approved by a state other than
Tennessee;
4. Submits qualifying
scores on all required assessments as defined in the Professional Assessments
for Tennessee Educators Policy; and
5. Seeks an endorsement in either Middle and
Secondary Grades - Core Academic, or Middle and Secondary Grades - World
Languages, or College, Career, and Technical Education - Academic as defined in
Educator Licensure Policy 5.502.
(2) Prospective educators from a state other
than Tennessee that is a partner in the NASDTEC interstate agreement and who
are seeking a practitioner teacher license shall meet the requirements of one
(1) of the following pathways:
(a)
Out-of-State Pathway 1. The out-of-state prospective educator:
1. Holds a bachelor's degree from a
regionally accredited college or university;
2. Has completed an educator preparation
program approved by a state other than Tennessee;
3. Is recommended by the approved educator
preparation provider; and
4.
Submits qualifying scores on all required assessments as defined in the
Professional Assessments for Tennessee Educators Policy.
(b) Out-of-State Pathway 2. The out-of-state
prospective educator:
1. Holds a bachelor's
degree from a regionally accredited college or university;
2. Holds a full and valid initial level
teacher license from a state other than Tennessee that is a partner in the
NASDTEC interstate agreement;
3.
Has completed an educator preparation program approved by a state other than
Tennessee; and
4. Is recommended by
the approved educator preparation provider.
(c) Out-of-State Pathway 3. The out-of-state
prospective educator:
1. Holds a bachelor's
degree from a regionally accredited college or university
2. Is enrolled in an educator preparation
program with job-embedded clinical practice that is approved by a state other
than Tennessee that has a state-recognized partnership with a Tennessee local
education agency (LEA);
3. Is
recommended by the approved educator preparation provider; and
4. Submits qualifying scores on all required
assessments as defined in the Professional Assessments for Tennessee Educators
Policy.
(3)
Prospective educators from a state other than Tennessee that is a partner in
the NASDTEC interstate agreement and who are seeking a professional academic
teacher license shall meet requirements of one (1) of the following pathways:
(a) Out-of-State Pathway 4. The out-of-state
prospective educator:
1. Holds a bachelor's
degree from a regionally accredited college or university; and
2. Holds a full and valid professional-level
license from a state other than Tennessee that is a partner in the NASDTEC
interstate agreement.
(b)
Out-of-State Pathway 5. The out-of-state prospective educator:
1. Holds a bachelor's degree from a
regionally accredited college or university; and
2. Holds a valid certification from the
National Board for Professional Teaching Standards.
(4) A practitioner license may be
renewed once upon completion of an approved educator preparation program and
submission of qualifying scores on all State Board-required assessments as
defined in the Professional Assessments for Tennessee Educators Policy prior to
the end of the validity period of the first (1st) issuance of the practitioner
license. An educator issued a practitioner teacher license following the
issuance of a Limited License in accordance with Rule 0520-02-02-.13 of this
Chapter, is not required to complete an approved educator preparation program
to renew the license.
(5) If the
requirements for practitioner license renewal are not met prior to the end of
the validity period of the first (1st) issuance of the practitioner license,
the license shall expire. Educators who fail to apply for renewal prior to the
expiration of the license shall have a grace period until October 1 following
the date of expiration to apply for renewal. Applications for renewal submitted
during the grace period shall demonstrate that the educator completed all
requirements for license renewal (with the exception of submitting the
application) prior to the end of the validity period.
(6) An educator with a practitioner teacher
license may seek to advance to a professional teacher license. In order to
advance from a practitioner license to a professional license, an educator
shall meet one (1) of the following sets of requirements:
(a) Option 1:
1. Completed an approved educator preparation
program and submitted qualifying scores on all State Board-required assessments
as defined in the Professional Assessments for Tennessee Educators Policy prior
to the end of the validity period of the first (1st) issuance of the
practitioner license;
2. Obtained
three (3) years of qualifying experience as an educator as defined by the
Department; and
3. Earned thirty
(30) professional development points or obtained the recommendation from a
Director of Schools or leader of a charter school or the school's charter
management organization (CMO).
(b) Option 2: Holds a full and valid
professional-level license from a state other than Tennessee that is a partner
in the NASDTEC interstate agreement or holds a full and valid
professional-level occupational teaching license in Tennessee.
(c) Option 3: Holds a valid certification
from the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards.
(7) If the requirements for
licensure advancement are not met prior to the end of the validity period of
the second (2nd) issuance of the practitioner teacher license, then the license
may be renewed. To renew the practitioner teacher license, an educator shall
earn thirty (30) qualifying professional development points as defined in
Educator Licensure Policy 5.502.
(8) Educators who obtained the practitioner
teaching license through the out-of-state Pathway 4 prior to enactment of
Public Chapter 125 of 2021 shall not be required to submit qualifying scores on
State Board-required assessments to advance if:
(a) The educator has been employed in a
Tennessee public school in the area of endorsement; and
(b) The educator earned a level of overall
effectiveness (LOE) score of "above expectations" or "significantly above
expectations" in each of the first two (2) years immediately following the
issuance of the individual's initial practitioner license; or
(c) If the educator did not receive an
overall performance effectiveness level during one (1) or both of the two (2)
years immediately following issuance of the educator's practitioner license,
then the educator may:
1. Choose to use the
educator's most recent overall performance effectiveness level that is
available to demonstrate an overall performance effectiveness level of "above
expectations" or "significantly above expectations"; or
2. The educator may request that the Director
of Schools or the Director of the public charter school submit a recommendation
to the Department of Education on the educator's effectiveness.
(9) To renew the
professional teacher license, an educator shall earn sixty (60) qualifying
professional development points within the validity period of the license and
as defined in the Educator Licensure Policy 5.502 or demonstrate two (2) years
of qualifying experience as an educator as defined by the Department within the
validity period of the license.
(10) If the educator has not met the
requirements for renewal at the end of the validity period of the professional
license, then the license shall expire. Educators who fail to apply for renewal
prior to the expiration of the license shall have a grace period until October
1 following the date of expiration to apply for renewal. Applications for
renewal submitted during the grace period shall demonstrate that the educator
completed all requirements for license renewal (with the exception of
submitting the application) prior to the end of the validity period.
(11) Educators may reactivate an expired
license and endorsements held by meeting one (1) of the following requirements:
(a) Option A (Professional License only):
Earn sixty (60) qualifying professional development points as defined in the
Educator Licensure Policy 5.502.
(b) Option B (Professional License only):
Demonstrate two (2) years of qualifying experience as an educator as defined by
the Department.
(c) Option C:
Submit to the Department evidence of completion of an approved educator
preparation program (if not already provided) and submit qualifying scores on
all State Board-required assessments as defined in the Professional Assessments
for Tennessee Educators Policy.
(d)
Option D: Present a full and valid professional-level teaching license from a
state other than Tennessee that is a partner in the NASDTEC interstate
agreement.
(e) Option E: Submit to
the Department evidence of current National Board Certification issued by the
National Board for Professional Teaching Standards.
Authority: T.C.A. §§
49-1-302,
49-5-108, and
49-5-5603.
