Licensing Requirements

In Oregon, teachers and administrators are required to hold licenses issued by the Teacher Standards and Practices Commission (TSPC). Licenses for teachers designate the grade levels and/or subject areas they may teach. Administrative licenses have supervisory, principal or superintendent designations.

In addition, the revised federal Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), also called the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act of 2001, requires all of a district’s teachers in nine core curriculum subjects to meet NCLB standards for being highly qualified by the 2005-2006 school years. (See Teacher Qualifications and Federal Programs, Title II.)

Under Oregon law, the first three years of employment with a school district are considered probationary. Probationary teachers and administrators are evaluated annually.

Once teachers or eligible administrators are employed for a fourth consecutive school year, they gain contract status. [ORS 342.815(5)] Contract teachers and administrators are evaluated as determined by the school board and termination of their employment is subject to the Accountability for Schools for the 21st Century Law. [ORS 342.845, 342.850(2) and 342.865 to 342.910]

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