In an effort to address the substitute teacher shortage, requirements to become a substitute teacher in Missouri will become permanently relaxed.
On Tuesday, the State Board of Education approved an amendment to a rule that will permanently allow people to complete online training as an additional route to receive a substitute certificate to teach.
Instead of completing 60 college credit hours, individuals with a high school diploma or equivalent will be able to complete 20 hours of state-approved substitute teacher online training to be eligible for a substitute certificate.
The amendment will go into effect Dec. 30, but the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education will begin working with the training vendor now in hopes of opening the training in the fall. This would allow people to complete their training before Dec. 30 and submit their applications as early as possible.
The training includes topics of "professionalism, honoring diversity, engaging students, foundational classroom management techniques, basic instructional strategies, supporting students with special needs and working with at-risk youth," according to DESE.
In August 2020, the board approved an emergency rule that allowed this additional path to become a substitute teacher in response to the substitute teacher shortage that had worsened due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The emergency rule expired Feb. 28, but substitute certificates expire four years after receiving them. By the time the rule expired, 4,400 people had completed the training, said Paul Katnik, the assistant commissioner for DESE's Office of Educator Quality.
In August 2020, DESE proposed the amendment that would make this rule permanent to the State Board of Education. In November, the board withdrew the proposed amendment after DESE recommended it in light of input it received and to allow for more time to collect and analyze data on its effectiveness. The board had received 41 comments in favor of the proposed amendment and 243 comments against it.
By April 2021, DESE had collected data that "demonstrates the positive impact the online training option has had on addressing persistent shortages of substitute teachers," according to DESE.
The data show the alternative path has helped schools find more substitute teachers and that people who earned a substitute certificate through the online training can find substitute jobs and do well teaching in classrooms, Katnik said.
More than 93 percent of school administrators said they are going to continue to hire substitutes that were trained through the alternative path, and about the same percentage said they felt it should be a permanent rule, Katnik said.
The board voted unanimously in April to approve another comment period for the amendment, so the proposed amendment was published in the Missouri Register to allow a 30-day comment period. The board received two comments, both requesting additional ways for people to obtain a substitute teacher certificate along with the online training. No changes were made to the amendment.