Ohio Takes a Fresh Look at its Teacher Licensing System
Survey will find out what stakeholders think

Giving Children a Chance. Children are born ready to learn – years of research confirm that. Early learning prepares children to succeed and investments in high-quality early learning yield huge economic and social dividends. Research also tells us what children need to be ready for school and it has given us a clearer understanding of the roles that families, early learning professionals, early learning settings, communities and the state can play in supporting children’s positive development.

Establishing new educator licensure that recognizes the specialized preparation needed to work with children from birth through third grade will ensure that early learning professionals have a comprehensive understanding of children’s development across the entire age range.

As part of the design for the creation of an early learning system for all Ohio’s children, the School Readiness Solutions Group and the School Readiness Implementation Plan Subcommittee recommended to the State Board of Education in the implementation plan that new educator licensure be established.  (To view the implementation plan, Giving Children a Chance and its strategies, click on the IMPLEMENTATION tab above.)  The Ohio Department of Education is in the process of reviewing its current licensing system and seeks your input.

Purpose of the survey

Research shows that expert teachers are the most fundamental resource for increasing student achievement. Simply put, competent teachers are more effective in helping their students to construct the knowledge and acquire skills that will be successful in the classroom, in careers and throughout their lives.

Rationale for rethinking Ohio’s teacher licensing system

It has been several years since Ohio has reviewed the grade band structure of its teacher licensing system. It is time to take a fresh look at the current structure for several reasons:

In re-examining the state’s teacher licensure grade bands, it is critical that a diverse set of stakeholders – teachers, early child educators and administrators, school leaders and district administrators, school board members, teacher educators, community/civic leaders, business leaders, parents and students – have a voice in this important work. The purpose of this online survey is to provide an opportunity for stakeholders to contribute to this ongoing conversation.

We want to know your thoughts.

Please tell us what you think. The survey poses two licensure grade-band options for feedback. The options DO NOT include multi-age licenses, intervention specialist licenses, career-technical licenses, endorsements, professional pupil services licenses, professional administrator licenses or associate licenses.

Click above to participate in the survey. And thank you for your interest!