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New law changes teacher licensing in Delaware

Nick Ciolino
Gov. Carney signs the bills into law.

Gov. John Carney signed education legislation changing the way First State teachers get a license.

The new law discontinues the requirement of aspiring teachers to take the praxis-one test—a general knowledge exam. It instead promotes on-the-job performance assessment for educators to obtain a teaching license. 

Secretary of Education Dr. Susan Bunting is among many educators who feel performance assessment is the more effective way of evaluating teaching abilities.

“Our new teachers literally have to show what they’re able to do in classrooms, and that’s far more important to our students than simply passing a general knowledge test that, in some cases, was a barrier to some candidates being able to join us as teachers,” said Bunting.

The new law includes departmental training of Delaware Public Schools faculty on performance assessment. This will allow staff to coach new teachers as they go through the evaluation process. 

“This is one of the factors that keeps teachers in the field—particularly new teachers—to feel supported and guided and a part of the faculty. So, there are many advantages of the newer way to do this,” said Bunting.

The praxis-two exam is still in place to evaluate a teacher’s general knowledge of the content they teach.