Elementary Teacher Preparation Policy
The state should ensure that new teachers who are licensed to teach elementary grades under an early childhood license demonstrate sufficient content knowledge in all core subjects and know the science of reading instruction. This goal has been revised since 2017.
Although Oregon offers an early childhood specialization for grades PreK-3 that can be added to an elementary license, state policy is clear that "a specialization is not required to teach or work in the specialized area, whereas an endorsement is required to work in the subject-matter area." The state offers an elementary endorsement but not an early childhood education endorsement.
Elementary licensure is addressed in Elementary Content Knowledge, Elementary Mathematics, and Elementary Reading. This goal does not apply to Oregon and does not factor into Oregon's overall Yearbook grades.
Oregon Administrative Rules 584-225-0010;-0070
No recommendations are provided for this goal.
Oregon did not respond to NCTQ's request to review this analysis for accuracy.
Early childhood teachers who teach elementary grades must be ready for the demands of the elementary classroom. Many states have early childhood licenses that include some elementary classroom grades, usually up to grade three. Because teachers with this early childhood license can still teach many elementary grades, they should not be held to a lower bar for subject-matter knowledge than if they held more standard elementary licenses. Given the focus on building students' content knowledge and vocabulary in college- and career-readiness standards, states would put students at risk by not holding all elementary teachers to equivalent standards. That is not to say the license requirements must be identical; there are certainly different focuses in terms of child development and pedagogy. But the idea that content knowledge is only needed by upper-grade elementary teachers is clearly false.
Focus on reading instruction is especially critical for early childhood teachers. Although some states do not ensure that any elementary teachers know the science of how to teach young children to read, in the states where this is a priority, it is inexcusable to hold elementary teachers on an early childhood license to a lower standard. Research is clear that the best defense against reading failure is effective early reading instruction. Therefore, if such licenses are neglecting to meet the needs of the early elementary classroom, of which learning to read is paramount, they are failing to meet one of their most fundamental purposes.