Licensure requirements changed for prospective teachers in special education and elementary school
By LEONARDO BEVILACQUA/Mississippi Today
Mississippi Today
The Mississippi Department of Education has announced new pathways to become certified elementary educators and special educators. The change became effective Monday.
Education students can start teaching elementary school classes on a provisional license while taking a new free course to satisfy the Foundation of Reading test requirements. Students must post an 80% upon course completion, by excelling in end-of-section quizzes and pre- and post- “inventories of knowledge” that measure progress.
The Omaha, Nebraska-based AIM institute designed the new academic year-long course, which consists of 14 asynchronous learning sections, two in-person training sessions and testing.
In-person sessions will be held in Jackson, Hattiesburg, Oxford, Meridian, Cleveland, Tylertown, Holly Springs, Hernando, New Albany, Brandon, Carthage, Greenwood, Ridgeland, Columbus, Brookhaven, Gulfport, Ocean Springs, Pascagoula and Moss Point.
MDE also got rid of the reading test requirement for would-be special educators teaching “mild to moderate students,” a term for special education students housed in general education classrooms.
The changes were implemented partly in response to the results of a 2024-2025 educator survey, which identified a need for MDE to review its existing licensure guidelines for elementary education and special education.
“The Office of Teaching and Leading is hopeful the revised Foundations of Reading requirements will strengthen Mississippi’s educator workforce,” MDE Office of Educator Continuum Executive Director Courtney Van Cleve said. It will allow for more “more Elementary Education and Special Education candidates to become licensed.”
Adrienne Hudson, who runs a nonprofit that helps teachers with certification, will now be able to move at least 10 teachers in her latest cohort to a traditional license.
“In an area where the critical teacher shortage is so prevalent, what seems like a simple change will have a drastically positive impact on the students we serve,” she said.
Five of her 10 teachers struggling with licensure were special educators on provisional licenses. She has seen a decrease in prospective educators seeking special education endorsements since MDE first introduced the Foundations of Reading requirement in January 2023.
“Typically, our teachers have a special education test after five sessions with no problem,” she added.
Most of the certified teaching jobs posted to MDE’s career portal were for Special education teachers and elementary teachers.
More tests are required for elementary educators than most other specializations. The primary elementary education licensure test has the lowest pass rate of any other subject test. Nearly a quarter of 2015 to 2018 test takers walked away after failing on the first try. (This is the most recent data available as a result of pandemic-era restrictions.)
Hannah Putnam, managing director of the National Council on Teacher Quality, told Mississippi Today that the Mississippi elementary education subject test wasn’t a good measure of teacher promise. Even a fifth-grade English teacher would have to take a test that covers kindergarten through sixth grade instruction as well as science, math, art, English, and social studies, among other subjects.
“Passionate, qualified educators should have multiple opportunities to teach, lead and make a difference in our classrooms,” said Clayton Barksdale, a former Delta educator who is currently running for state Senate on a platform that includes offering more pathways to teacher licensure.
He still remembers the mad dash each summer to fill those jobs when he was a principal.
“We must do better,” he told Mississippi Today. “Many prove their impact while on emergency licenses, only to be fired then immediately rehired as a long-term substitute – doing the same work for a fraction of the pay, with no benefits or retirement.”
Student teacher Jennifer Allen was thinking of spending $1,200 on additional coursework so she wouldn’t have to rely on the reading exam for licensure. She now plans on taking MDE’s newly offered course.
She and five other teachers interviewed expressed that university education programs did not adequately prepare them for the material on the PRAXIS exams, including Foundations of Reading.
With the new course, Allen can start teaching on a provisional license while she works towards a traditional license without penalty to the school.
She feels relieved.
“Knowing that there’s a new pathway designed to help me improve and finally reach my goal of becoming a teacher will boost my confidence, reminding me why I wanted to become a teacher in the first place.”
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This story was originally published by Mississippi Today and distributed through a partnership with The Associated Press.
