Indiana teachers call on state board to reconsider literacy licensure requirement

Teachers from around Indiana spent hours before the State Board of Education on Wednesday, criticizing a new literacy licensure requirement that was adopted by the General Assembly earlier this year.

The training requirement requires all Pre-K to Grade 6 and special education teachers to complete 80 hours of professional development on science of reading concepts and pass a written exam. Teachers won’t be able to renew their license without doing so.

Although the literacy endorsement wasn’t on the state board’s agenda, educators descended on the meeting, which lasted more than four hours. Most of that was spent on public comments from teachers, as well as union representatives, who said the new training mandate is unfair and overwhelming. Complicating matters further, many of the free training courses are already full, leaving only a few other options for which teachers must pay for out of pocket.

“No other profession is going to be okay with being told — not only do you have to do this to keep your license — but you have to do it outside your contracted hours,” said Cory Freihaut, a special education teacher from the Vigo County School Corporation who spoke at Wednesday’s meeting. 

Freihaut said he’s a single father who works two other jobs, in addition to teaching. He echoed numerous other educators who emphasized that fitting in training over the summer is inconvenient and a hardship for many.

“I understand we’re getting a stipend, but … that’s like $15 an hour. I make more than that at the pizza shop I do on the weekends,” Freihaut said. “I ask that you guys look at shortening that (professional development), because honestly, unless you can provide it in our contracted hours, we shouldn’t be doing it.”

At the meeting, Secretary of Education Katie Jenner noted Indiana’s reading scores, which have been on the decline for more than a decade. According to data from the Indiana Department of Education (IDOE), in 2023, one in five Hoosier third graders lacked foundational reading skills.

She acknowledged concerns, however, and maintained that the state board and education officials want to find solutions and create more “flexibility” for teachers to complete the training requirements.

Jenner noted, too, that 12,000 teachers signed up for the Keys to Literacy training in three weeks. The IDOE announced Wednesday that the state is adding cohorts.

Additional sessions were added for spring and summer, increasing the total number of cohorts from 12 to 64 — each with approximately 200 educators. More cohorts are also open for both Fall 2024 and Spring 2025 “in response to the early demand,” according to IDOE.

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.

Under the law, teachers renewing their licenses after July 1, 2027 must have earned an “Early Literacy Endorsement.” They can do so through Keys to Literacy, a free third-party professional development program, through 2025. Teachers are eligible for a $1,200 stipend for the 80-hour Keys to Literacy training, and the state is covering the cost of the PRAXIS exam.

New IREAD-3 scores show no significant progress among Indiana’s third graders on 2023 exams

But representatives from the Indiana State Teachers Association (ISTA) said education officials should provide more options for teachers to meet the literacy requirement, and also account for teacher expertise — such as years spent leading a classroom and attainment of other coursework, like master’s degrees, for example.

ISTA Treasurer Diana Reed said, specifically, the PRAXIS exam imposes an “unnecessary burden” on teachers. She additionally raised questions about the efficacy and necessity of the exam and asked that it be removed as a requirement.

“The literacy endorsement requirements … are a great, great source of concern and a high-level issue among my fellow educators. The requirements … have increased stress and compounded existing challenges of teacher burnout and retention,” Reed told the board. “Colleagues have expressed they would rather let their licenses lapse at the next renewal date then be subjected to more hoops and mandates to prove their worth. We are already experiencing a shortage of qualified educators, and these new requirements do not signal to our teachers that their education, degrees obtained, and endorsements earned are valued.”

Even so, representatives from the nonprofit advocacy groups Stand for Children and the Institute for Quality Education encouraged the board to uphold the literacy requirements. They doubled down that the science of reading training is necessary to improve student literacy.

“IQE has been supportive of the various literacy focused legislation the past few legislative sessions. And while we recognize that some of these steps may present a challenge to schools and educators, we have confidence in their ability to meet these challenges head on, as they continuously do, so that all aspects of our children’s education are aligned behind the science of reading,” said Molly Collins of the Institute for Quality Education. “Oftentimes, the step that is best and right for students may not be the easiest. But we are at a critical crossroad in our state’s future and for the future of our children, and we cannot wait. Our students cannot wait.”