Pandemic-Era Licensure Waivers and the Supply of New Teachers

All states require prospective public-school teachers to satisfy licensure requirements to be eligible to teach, including passing one or more licensure tests as a primary requirement. But licensure testing is controversial, with critics arguing it is an unnecessary barrier to entry into the teaching profession. With the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, many states waived teacher test requirements, providing an opportunity to understand the impact of removing these requirements on the supply of prospective teachers. Using data from all 50 states and D.C. and a difference-in-differences design, we examine the impact of these waivers on the number of teacher preparation program enrollees and graduates and the number of new teaching licenses. We find little evidence of overall impacts on teacher supply, but some suggestive (albeit inconclusive) evidence that waivers increased the supply of individuals from alternative programs.