Amy Gorman had no teaching experience and no teaching certificate when she was put in charge of a 12th-grade English class in Prince George’s County last winter.
It wasn’t long before she found herself a bit out of place.
“It’s difficult having not ever taught before to know what to expect in a classroom setting,” said Gorman, who was hired to replace a long-term substitute at Northwestern High School in Hyattsville. “I don’t think I felt capable when I was (teaching).”
In a state with chronic teacher shortages, school systems have been signing on uncertified teachers for years. But schools are hiring fewer uncertified candidates who lack teaching experience, according to a CNS analysis of State Department of Education data.
In the 2002-2003 academic year, 2,076 uncertified teachers got jobs in Maryland, and 30 percent of them had experience, the state’s 2003 Teacher Staffing Report shows.
Four years later, in 2005-2006, almost 66 percent of the 1,646 newly hired uncertified teachers had experience, the most recent report shows. Experience is broadly defined as any salaried teaching job.
“When school systems hire teachers, they are always looking for people with experience,” said John Smeallie, assistant state superintendent for certification and accreditation.
The Maryland Education Department, Smeallie said, is focused on making sure schools meet federal No Child Left Behind regulations, which require teachers of core subjects to be highly qualified, meaning they have state certification. As of this academic year, schools were supposed to have highly qualified teachers in all core subjects, but states missed that deadline and are now catching up.
Monitoring uncertified teachers’ experience, Smeallie said, is not a priority because Maryland is trying to employ certified teachers.
“There’s no mandate under federal or state regulations to hire teachers with experience,” he said.
But in districts like Prince George’s County, where the percentage of newly hired uncertified teachers rose from 28 percent in 2002-2003 to 45 percent last year, paying attention to experience is a good thing, educators said.
Even if they are uncertified, teachers who have already worked at a school come in with more background and skills than uncertified teachers who never set foot in a classroom.
Uncertified teachers hold at least a bachelor’s degree. Unless they have taught before, these teachers must gain experience on the job, unlike people in teacher education programs who have opportunities to student teach.
School systems issue two-year conditional certificates to give uncertified teachers time to prepare for and obtain a state license.
“There’s a world of difference between coming with experience, albeit uncertified” and walking into a classroom cold, said Sue Nash Travetto, coordinator of teacher professional development at McDaniel College Education Department. “If I were in the hiring position, I would definitely be looking for teachers with experience.”
Recruiters in Prince George’s County have been doing just that.
“Over the past few years, the Internet has allowed the school system to expand its geographical region for sourcing and attracting experienced teachers from outside of Maryland,” said spokesman John White in an e-mail interview.
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