My name is Carolyn Walker Hitchens. I am a policy representative from Indiana, and I am an associate professor at Ball State University.

In September of 2014, the Indiana State Board of Education voted to approve new teacher certification requirements. This proposed path to licensure was included as part of a vote to approve what is known in Indiana as REPA III. (Rules for Educator Preparation and Accountability)

This licensure path, known as career specialist, includes the following requirements:
Earn a Bachelors degree in a related field.
Earn at minimum a 3.0 GPA.
Having 6,000 or more hours of professional experience in a field that is related to area of certification.
Passing a test in a content area.
Enter into a teacher training program within the first month of teaching. At this time it is not clear what type of teacher education program will be required or if it will be university-based.

In Indiana, there has been opposition to this path to licensure, as well as support for it. It was originally considered under the term of the last state secretary of education, Tony Bennett. Concerns include the potential for lack of preparation to manage the classroom and knowledge to offer pedagogically sound instruction. Those in favor of this licensure path believe it will offer opportunities for more individuals who want to be educators to enter the teaching profession .The current superintendent, Ms. Glenda Ritz, voiced opposition to this certification, as did 2 other board members. A motion to remove the language from REPA III was defeated. REPA III later passed.