Reciprocal License Bestowed on New Teachers

Almost 200 teaching candidates from three East Coast states and the District of Columbia have earned a new designation that will allow them to work throughout the region without having to meet additional state licensing requirements.

An initiative of the Mid-Atlantic Regional Teachers Project, the Meritorious New Teacher Candidate program is the first regional reciprocal-licensing agreement in the country. Its purpose is to help states attract exemplary new teachers while also rewarding those prospective educators for meeting high standards.

“This is designed to honor highly qualified candidates,” said Diana Rigden, the director of the new program and a senior associate at the Washington-based American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education, which...