Certification Patterns of Grades K-8 Teachers in Maine Public Schools

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11

Public Schools; Elementary Education; Teacher Certification; Educational Change; Preschool Education; Mathematics; Sciences; English; Social Studies; Teacher Qualifications; Elementary School Teachers; Preschool Teachers; Public School Teachers

Recent policy conversations have discussed the possibility of narrowing the grade span of Maine's Elementary Education teaching endorsement. The certificate currently qualifies an individual to teach math, science, English Language Arts, or social studies from grades K through 8 and has been proposed to be changed to grades K (or possibly pre-K) to 6. At the top end of the K-8 grade span (grades 7 and 8) the primary concern about the current certification requirements is that the minimum academic preparation is inadequate to ensure deep knowledge of the middle school curriculum. The staffing challenges are different at the lower end of the K-8 grade spectrum. Public schools are increasingly offering public pre-kindergarten programs to four-year-old students. However, the elementary K-8 credential does not qualify a candidate to teach at 3 the preschool level; they must have an Early Childhood Teacher certificate to cover ages birth to five. This creates the opposite problem where the elementary endorsement is not flexible enough to allow a school to shift staff as needed between preschool and kindergarten grade levels unless they hold multiple endorsements. This article examines the credentials of public school teachers in Maine to see how many are certified under an Elementary Education (Grades K-8) teaching endorsement, and what additional endorsements teachers hold.

ERIC

2023

ED626027