Thirty-two additional teachers made the cut to work in Alabama’s classrooms this year thanks to the state board of education’s temporary lowering of the Praxis cut score.

The change was one of a number of changes the board has made in recent years to get more teachers into Alabama’s classrooms.

In July, the state board voted to accept lower Praxis scores in exchange for higher GPAs and passage of the EdTPA, which tests the ability to teach.

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Teachers who graduate college in May 2023 and hope to teach in 2023-24, but don’t get a high enough score, can again petition for a waiver. The exemption will end after the 2023-24 school year.

Board members were given a list of teachers who qualified with a lower score and the content area tested. The list does not indicate where the teachers are teaching and it’s unclear if all 32 are teaching this year. The board plans to discuss the results of the change at May’s work session.

Of the 32 teachers:

• Six are white men,
• Three are Black men,
• 19 are white women, and
• Four are Black women.

As to which field they are qualified to teach, here’s the breakdown:

• Elementary social studies – 7,
• Music – 7,
• Gifted education – 5,
• Physical education – 4,
• Social studies (not elementary grades) – 2,
• Elementary science – 2,
• Spanish – 1,
• Health – 1,
• English language arts – 1,
• Elementary math – 1,
• Math (not in elementary school) – 1.

Who gets a Praxis exemption? How do I get one?

If a teacher scores below passing, they must have a higher GPA in the teacher’s subject area or 100 hours of high-quality professional development.

If a teacher scores within one standard error measure of the cut score, they can get their certificate if they have at least a 2.75 GPA in their subject area and pass the edTPA.

If the teacher scores within one standard error measure of the required passing score, passes the edTPA, has graduated from an Alabama college or university but does not have at least a 2.75, the teacher can be given a non-professional temporary certificate for up to three years while they work toward either a passing score on the Praxis or complete 100 hours of professional learning approved by the state department of education.

In school districts with an “extraordinary critical need,” the district’s superintendent can request a waiver to hire a teacher who has scored as many as two standard error measures below the required Praxis score in their content area and still be hired if they meet further requirements. That teacher would still be required to pass the edTPA and would be required to have at least a 2.5 in their subject area.

If that waiver is approved, the teacher could be given as many as three one-year non-professional teaching certificates. The district must assign a “highly effective mentor” to the teacher during the temporary certificate period and must ultimately either pass the Praxis or meet one of the new options–a combination of Praxis score and GPA–approved during the meeting in order to earn a professional teaching certificate.