Special Education Teacher Certification/Licensure and Endorsement Categories in the States MS Word PDF - This StateNote focuses on the different types of certification systems and the endorsement areas for special education teachers in the states. The certification systems have been divided into three categories: generalist, mild/moderate-severe/profound and categorical. [Please allow time for the tables and charts in this publication to load.] (Justin Bathon, Education Commission of the States, July 2004)...

Everyone's Doing it, But What Does Teacher Testing Tell Us About Teacher Effectiveness? - This paper explores the relationship between teacher testing and teacher effectiveness using a unique dataset from North Carolina that links teachers to their individual students. The report finds a small positive relationship between teacher licensure tests and student achievement. The findings also suggest that states face significant tradeoffs when they require particular performance levels as a precondition to becoming a teacher, as "some teachers whom we might wish were not in the teacher workforce based on their contribution toward student achievement are eligible to teach based on their performance on these tests, while other individuals who would be effective teachers are ineligible." (Dan Goldhaber, Center for Reinventing Public Education, April 2006) ...