Limited certificated teachers in Washington: Barriers to becoming fully certificated and needed supports

Many states, including Washington, are attempting to reduce teacher shortages by encouraging limited certificated teachers to become fully certificated. Before investing in further support for these teachers to seek full certification, Washington policymakers want to understand the interest of limited certificated teachers in becoming fully certificated, the barriers they face to doing so, and the supports they report needing in order to pursue full certification. This study presents the results of a statewide survey of limited certificated teachers on those topics. More than two thirds of respondents expressed interest in becoming fully certificated many in a subject area in which there is a staffing shortage. Respondents who expressed interest in becoming fully certificated identified substantial barriers to doing so, including time and financial concerns. This was true particularly for limited certificated teachers of color, who identified a broader range of supports needed to pursue full certification than White teachers did. The findings have important implications for the state's efforts to reduce teacher shortages and to increase the diversity of its teacher workforce and for designing state policies and programs to help limited certificated teachers become fully certificated. [For the appendixes, see ED600823; for the study brief, see ED600824; and for the study snapshot, see ED600825.]