Percentage of K–12 public school teachers who did not hold a teaching certificate or held only provisional or emergency certificates in the state where they were teaching, by state: School years 2017–18 and 2020–21

! Interpret data with caution. The coefficient of variation (CV) for this estimate is between 30 percent and 50 percent (i.e., the standard error is at least 30 percent and less than 50 percent of the estimate).

NOTE: Data are weighted estimates of the population. Includes public school teachers who did not hold a teaching certificate or held only provisional or emergency teaching certificates in the state where they were teaching. A provisional certificate is a certificate that requires some additional coursework, student teaching, or passage of a test before regular certification can be obtained (in some states this is called a temporary certificate). An emergency certificate is a certificate issued to persons who must complete a certification program in order to continue teaching (in some states this is called a waiver certificate). Teachers could report up to two current teaching certificates in the state where they were teaching. Teachers who reported two certificates are only counted once in the analysis.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, National Teacher and Principal Survey (NTPS), “Public School Teacher Data File,” 2017–18 and 2020–21.