One measure of teacher quality is whether or not a teacher has been granted a teaching license. The types of teaching licenses vary as teachers progress from beginning to more experienced. When a teacher is referred to as "fully licensed," he/she has met all of the requirements and teaching standards set by the NC State Board of Education. This indicator is not related to Highly Qualified teacher data.
Full licensure is an indication of the level of formal teacher training a teacher has had. Teachers who have entered the profession from alternate careers and teachers who have been hired on an "emergency" basis do not have full licenses. This table provides the percentage of fully licensed teachers as of March 1, 2012. Teachers with emergency permits hold at least a bachelor's degree but are teaching subjects in which they did not major in college. Emergency permits are valid for one year only and are not renewable. Teachers with provisional licenses are fully licensed in one or more areas, but are assigned to teach in areas in which they are not fully licensed. This license can be renewed annually for three years while the appropriate course work is pursued. Emergency Permits and Provisional Licenses are not issued for areas in elementary grades or core academic subjects in middle or high school. Lateral entry teachers hold at least a bachelor's degree in the area they are assigned to teach and are in approved teacher education programs to complete licensure.
In North Carolina, anyone interested in teaching must complete an approved education program in order to be granted a teaching license. In addition, North Carolina requires new teacher applicants to obtain a minimum score on the content-based PRAXIS Examinations in their main teaching field. Out-of-state teacher applicants can qualify for a North Carolina teaching license when their education programs are equivalent to the standards and guidelines of North Carolina's approved education programs.
For more technical information about the data in this table, see the Data Sources & Information Guide. For more information about teacher licensure in North Carolina, visit the NC Department of Public Instruction’s Licensure website .