INDIANAPOLIS – In response to widespread pushback from Hoosier educators, state officials have issued new guidance with more “flexibility” on the literacy licensure requirement adopted by the General Assembly this year.
However, questions persist for many teachers, and some remain opposed to the new professional development mandate.
Indiana Secretary of Education Katie Jenner said in a letter to teachers on Friday that their input has prompted the state’s education department to adjust and add training options. Some educators have been exempted from the licensure requirements, as long as they aren’t teaching literacy to students past fifth grade.
The Indiana State Teachers Association (ISTA) applauded Jenner for “acknowledging the extensive requirements of the new literacy endorsement” and said the updated guidance “is a testament to the importance of educator advocacy.”
The state’s largest teachers union and dozens of its members spent more than four hours before the State Board of Education earlier this month, criticizing the “unfair” and “overwhelming” 80-hour training. Many pleaded for more options to be made available for teachers to complete the professional development course or to remove it as a requirement altogether.
Jenner and other state education officials have repeatedly maintained that the requirement cannot be nixed altogether, given that it’s a statutory requirement from lawmakers.
“The adjustments to these requirements reflect the voices and concerns of educators across Indiana,” ISTA president Keith Gambill said in a statement, adding that the union “will continue to advocate for further changes and increased flexibility.”
The training requirement requires all Pre-K to Grade 6 and special education teachers to complete 80 hours of professional development on the science of reading concepts and pass a written exam. Teachers won’t be able to renew their licenses without doing so.
State lawmakers approved the literacy training requirement during the 2024 legislative session as part of an effort to reverse lagging literacy scores among Hoosier students.
Indiana’s reading scores have been declining for over a decade. According to 2023 data from the Indiana Department of Education, one in five Hoosier third graders lacked foundational reading skills.
Read the complete Casey Smith story for the Indiana Capital Chronicle, here.
