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Board approves three-year pilot to waive communications-and-literacy MTEL for eligible candidates
Summary
The state board voted unanimously to allow eligible teacher candidates to waive the communications-and-literacy MTEL for a three-year pilot, with an independent evaluation and a required board decision by June 30, 2029 on whether to continue the pathway.
The Massachusetts Board of Elementary and Secondary Education voted unanimously to adopt a three-year pilot allowing certain educator candidates to waive the communications and literacy skills MTEL (CLST).
The regulation, adopted after a department presentation, lets candidates qualify under one of four routes: completion of a Massachusetts-approved educator preparation program; possession of an equivalent license from another state; a graduate degree from an accredited institution; or two years of related instructional experience plus a district attestation affirming basic communications and literacy skills. Claire Abbott, DESE associate commissioner of educator effectiveness, said, “This pathway would allow eligible candidates to waive the CLST,” and department staff said the change will have no cost to applicants.
Why it matters: DESE framed the pilot as a way to remove redundancy and lower barriers for experienced paraprofessionals, emergency-licensed educators and career changers who likely already demonstrated basic communication skills. Department presenters told the board they would study participation rates, licensure and employment outcomes, and early indicators of teacher effectiveness and student outcomes during the pilot.
Implementation and oversight: The board required a concurrent independent evaluation and annual reporting. DESE will post an RFR for an independent evaluator and anticipates initial reports next spring, with a final early-results report in spring 2029. The regulation contains a sunset/decision point: the board must vote by June 30, 2029, whether to continue the pathway.
Board reaction and vote: Board members pressed the department on who will still be required to take the CLST (candidates who do not meet any of the four eligibility routes) and on safeguards for teacher quality. The roll-call vote was unanimous in favor of the regulation (board members present recorded affirmative votes). DESE officials said roughly 3,100 people are currently working on a waiver and that about 41% of those have not yet met the CLST requirement; the department estimated 1,900 emergency-licensed educators are in the workforce and that many of those would benefit from the pathway.
What’s next: DESE will implement the waiver application in ELAR within weeks, onboard an independent evaluator, and provide the board with annual evaluation updates ahead of the 2029 decision.
