In this policy brief we examine the initial licensure process of all 50 states and the District of Columbia, and classify each licensure process as traditional, transitional, or transformative, based on criteria suggested by a panel of expert practitioners and university faculty from the field of educational leadership. The expert panel…

All 50 states have licensing standards for professional counselors and all require a minimum of a graduate-level degree in counseling or a related field. For most graduate-level counseling programs, in addition to coursework, students must be exposed to a certain number of hours face-to-face with clients in a clinical setting. Typically, that…

A national sample of 246 Directors of Pupil Personnel Services and Directors of Special Education were surveyed to assess the importance they place on training, degrees, and credentials in the hiring of school psychologists. High, but varying, levels of importance were found for the content knowledge and skill areas in the National Association of…

In an effort to inform preschool policy in California, an interdisciplinary team of RAND researchers conducted a multiyear study of preschool education known as the California Preschool Study. One of the recommendations from that study was the need for a more in-depth analysis of the effectiveness of the early care and education (ECE) workforce…

This report summarizes, and gives a full report, of a feasibility study involving a discussion of problems and issues related to occupational and professional regulation that took place during four regional conferences attended by nearly 100 officials from 30 states. Participants included state legislators, licensing administrators, attorneys…

To examine the hypothesis that occupational licensure is primarily a restrictive device to protect those licensed from competition, analysis focused on the licensure of non-professional occupations in Rhode Island, Massachusetts, and Connecticut, covering 36 licenses issued by the three states for 12 occupations (e.g. electricians, barbers,…

This document consists of 12 short advisories that address commonly asked questions about minimum faculty qualifications in California community colleges. Advisory Number 1 addresses three issues: teaching in a minor, teaching counseling courses, and grandfathering of State Board of Education Credentials. Advisory 2 explains Assembly Bill (AB)…