Teacher Licensure

Getting great teachers into Minnesota schools

Excellent teachers can take many paths to the classroom. Some are trained right here in Minnesota, while others come from out-of-state. Some work their way up after gaining classroom experience in a support staff role, while others bring expertise and hands-on experience in unique content areas. But for too long, a broken teacher licensure system favored only teachers trained traditionally in Minnesota; this deterred countless great educators from our schools, ultimately harming Minnesota kids.

Thankfully, this all has changed. Minnesota is now home to a straightforward tiered teacher licensure system that creates clear pathways to permanent licensure for teachers trained in other states or through nontraditional preparation programs. While tiered licensure creates clear standards for entry into the classroom, it also gives school leaders flexibility to hire new teachers based on the many factors that can make an educator effective: their teaching experience, their content knowledge, their training and professional development, and, most importantly, their impact on students.

Now, we must defend this new system and make sure that it works as intended, getting talented teachers in front of the Minnesota students that need them.

If you’re a teacher seeking a Minnesota license, click here to learn how the tiered licensure system should work for you, and let us know if you’re experiencing any challenges with it. Finally, click here to read our March 2018 report for more background on tiered licensure and other recent policy changes to educator licensing and preparation.

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