Chapter 7: Does Certified or Alternatively Certified Mean Qualified?

Welcome to the session, “Does Certified or Alternatively Certified Mean Qualified?” This deals with a part of the No Child Left Behind Act that has always been confusing.

In education terms, “certified,” “licensed,” “credentialed,” and even “qualified,” are commonly used interchangeably. However, “licensed” actually means “official or legal permission to do something,” and “certified” means “guaranteed to have met a standard.” In education, all these terms are used basically to mean “to have permission to teach.” Uncertified teachers are hired, usually out of desperation, but they generally have to become certified within a relatively short period of time.

Milton Friedman some time ago had a different categorization. He said there are three levels. One is registration, which means you just sign up to do something and that’s basically to keep track of people. You’d have gun registration or taxi cab driver registration so you will know who’s doing it, and maybe to prevent certain people from doing it. Then there is certification when a government agency certifies that a person has certain skills. According to Friedman’s categorization, lack of certification does not preclude you from practicing, but you may have a Good Housekeeping seal of approval or not, and people could choose to go to you or not.