Tennessee Department of Education - July 2025 - Overview of LOE by In-State and Out-of-State Educators

Oct 15, 2026

Tennessee law permits out-of-state licensed teachers and instructional leaders to obtain equivalent licensure in Tennessee under reciprocal agreements. This report summarizes levels of overall effectiveness (LOE) for “in-state” and “out-of-state” educators across school years 2018-19, 2020-21, 2021-22, 2022-23, and 2023-24. LOE scores combine qualitative observations and quantitative student outcomes and growth. The report presents descriptive statistics and highlights key findings while cautioning against causal interpretations due to data limitations.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages8

Reading Time20 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Key Findings

Overall

Teachers

Instructional Leaders

Data and Methods

Tennessee Department of Education | July 2025 © Tennessee Department of Education Introduction Tennessee state law (see Tenn. Code Ann., § 49-5-108(c)(6)) allows for teachers and instructional leaders who hold a license in a state other than Tennessee to obtain equivalent licensure in Tennessee. Educators who hold full, valid professional out-of-state licenses that adhere to reciprocal agreements with the State Board of Education are eligible to receive equivalent licenses in Tennessee. Pursuant to Tenn. Code Ann. § 49-5-108(c)(6), this report provides an overview of the levels of overall effectiveness (LOE) achieved by “in-state” and “out-of-state” educators over school years 2018-19, 2020- 21, 2021-22, 2022-23, and 2023-2024. Tennessee public school teachers and administrators earn LOE scores, which are comprised of qualitative components like observations as well as quantitative components like student outcomes and growth. LOE scores range from one (significantly below expectations) to five (significantly above expectations) . This report provides descriptive statistics comparing the LOE scores of in-state and out-of-state educators but is not able to explain any differences or provide causal claims about the effectiveness of one type of preparation over another and should not be interpreted as doing so. Key Findings • Overall1 o Educators (both instructional leaders and teachers) licensed through in-state and out-ofstate pathways have generally exhibited stable levels of overall effectiveness across several years of available data, as measured by mean level of overall effectiveness (LOE) score. o Mean LOE scores for in-state educators (both teachers and instructional leaders) were typically slightly higher than those for out-of-state educators, possibly reflecting systematic differences in years of experience between educators licensed in the two pathways.2 o Mean LOE scores for in-state teachers have increased from 2018-19 to 2023-24, while mean LOE scores for in-state administrators have stayed relatively stable during the same time period (4.15 to 4.23 for teachers; 3.71 to 3.79 for administrators) . • Teachers o In the 2023-24 school year, mean LOE scores for in-state and out-of-state teachers were 4.23 and 4.04, respectively. Mean years of experience was 14.66 for in-state teachers and 8.24 for out-of-state teachers. o Across the school years studied, comparable proportions of in-state and out-of-state teachers received LOE scores of four, and higher proportions of in-state teachers received scores of five (the maximum), while higher proportions of out-of-state teachers received scores of two or three. 1 Due to recently expanded reporting capabilities in licensure data, longitudinal comparisons are displayed and accurate within this report; however, year-over-year comparisons between reports (i.e., 2022 vs. 2023 department reports) may not reflect parallel datasets. Researchers should refrain from using the reports in that way. 2 While differences in years of experience for in-state vs. out-of-state educators are indicated throughout this report, concerns around the quality of the available experience data persist. Therefore, we caution against making assumptions based on this data, and instead provide experience comparisons only to suggest that there may be underlying differences between the in-state and out-of-state educator groups that possibly contribute to differences in LOE. Please see section “Data and Methods” for further details on data quality concerns. • Instructional Leaders o In school year 2023-24, mean LOE scores for in-state and out-of-state instructional leaders were 3.79 and 3.66, respectively. Mean years of experience was 21.03 for instate instructional leaders and 13.79 for out-of-state leaders. However, it is important to note that the standard deviation for both mean LOE and mean years of experience for administrators was higher than for teachers in almost all

FAQs

What does Tennessee’s law allow regarding teacher licensure for out-of-state educators?

Tennessee state law allows teachers and instructional leaders with a valid out-of-state license to obtain equivalent licensure in Tennessee when reciprocal agreements are met.

What are LOE scores and how are they calculated?

LOE scores reflect educators’ overall effectiveness, combining qualitative components such as observations with quantitative components such as student outcomes and growth.

Why does the report limit interpretation to descriptive comparisons rather than causal claims?

The report provides descriptive statistics comparing LOE scores but cannot explain differences or support causal conclusions about the effectiveness of different preparation pathways. It also notes limitations in data quality and reporting.

Oct 15, 2026

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