Maryland board discusses alternative licensure pathways for arts and secondary teachers, plans wider review

The Professional Standards and Teacher Education Board on July 10 discussed draft alternative licensure pathways that would create multiple routes for arts and secondary teachers to earn Maryland certification, including a transcript-analysis route, an occupational-experience route and a pathway for postsecondary instructors.

Board members and MSDE staff focused on three areas: what counts as sufficient content knowledge, whether to increase required professional coursework from 18 to 21 semester hours and how to demonstrate a teacher's ability to teach (via portfolio assessment, local evaluations or completion of a multi-year induction program).

The draft sets four content options for fine arts candidates: a bachelor's degree in the licensure area (art, dance, music or theatre); a bachelor's degree plus at least 24 semester hours of content coursework in the licensure area; a bachelor's in a fine-arts-related area plus three years of content-related occupational experience; or a bachelor's in any field plus three years of content-related occupational experience and a passing content assessment. For general secondary areas the draft uses a similar menu of options limited to grades 7–12. A separate pathway would allow postsecondary faculty with a master's or higher, three years of full-time verified postsecondary teaching experience in the subject area, and one of the department's teaching-ability options to be eligible for secondary licensure.

MSDE staff said the board's recommended increase to 21 professional semester hours would add classroom management alongside methods, special education, assessment, culturally responsive teaching and a literacy-in-the-content-area course. MSDE Director of Licensure Sofia Fitzpatrick explained that the department originally proposed adding literacy to align requirements across pathways and so teachers enter classrooms with knowledge the state views as necessary rather than leaving it to later professional licensure requirements.

Arts Education in Maryland Schools executive director Rachel McGrain urged caution about leaning solely on a content assessment for candidates who hold a bachelor's degree outside the content area, saying, "this does not demonstrate strong enough content knowledge. For example, . . . a conditionally licensed teacher could be placed in a studio arts classroom without any studio experience or knowledge." McGrain also said disciplinary-literacy courses specific to the fine arts are not widely available and that many candidates take literacy courses outside their content area.

Board members pressed MSDE staff on details: whether the 24-semester-hour content option would require specific topic coverage (for example, a social studies candidate might need a mix of U.S. history, world history and economics), how the edTPA or other portfolio assessments would apply to non-program candidates, and how an induction-based demonstration of teaching ability compares in rigor. MSDE staff said the induction option is a minimum three-year program with specified mentoring minutes and aligned standards and indicated it is intended to be rigorous.

The board did not take a formal vote on the draft. Chair Darren asked members to share the draft with their constituent groups and return with feedback; staff said they plan to present the regulation for permission to publish for public comment at a future meeting.

The discussion combined the public comment by McGrain, licensure staff presentations and board debate; no final regulatory action was taken at the July meeting, and MSDE staff will seek additional stakeholder input before a permission-to-publish request is brought back.