Indicator: Teacher credentials

Why it matters

During the COVID-19 pandemic, many schools have struggled to fully staff classrooms, and more students than before are being taught by substitute teachers or those with emergency certificates. Research is divided on the importance of teacher credentials. In pre-K, some analyses find that teachers’ levels of education are related to higher-quality early childhood learning environments, whereas other analyses show no relationship to classroom quality or children’s academic gains. In K–12, there is some evidence that being taught by a K–12 teacher with a regular or full certificate, as opposed to an emergency or provisional license, benefits students’ math and English language arts achievement, but many other studies conclude that teacher credentials, such as National Board certification or graduate degrees, are not a meaningful signal of teaching quality.   Nevertheless, the current challenges of staffing schools raise concerns about increasing inequities, as there was already evidence of disparate access to teachers with higher-level credentials. For example, in 2016, schools enrolling a high proportion of students of color were four times more likely to employ uncertified teachers than those with a low share of students of color (4.8 versus 1.2 percent), although it was an uncommon practice.