alternative certification

Since the early 1980’s, increasing teacher shortages and concern over the quality of education in the United States has brought about the need for ALTERNATIVE CERTIFICATION PROGRAMS for people who would like to become teachers without returning to college to complete a traditional teacher training program.

According to the National Center for Education Information, in 2003 there were 144 routes other than traditional teacher education programs for certifying teachers reported by states. The NCEI also believes that alternative certification programs have emerged with common characteristics.

Candidates who get licensed to teach through these routes:

• Have at least a bachelor’s degree.
• Pass a screening process, such as passing tests, interviews, and demonstrated mastery of content to be taught.
• Begin teaching-usually full-time-early. They engage in on-the – job training.
• Complete any coursework or equivalent experiences in professional education
  studies occur while teaching.
• Work with mentor teachers.
• Meet high performance standards.

Dr. Martin Haberman, of the Haberman Educational Foundation, in a speech at the 2004 National Conference for Alternative Certification described the ten attributes of a pure alternative certification program. He reinforced some of the characteristics already noted by the NCEI but added the following:

• If the hiring district decides to remove a candidate from the classroom, that candidate is failed.
• The candidate must be taught to implement the curriculum of the employing school district as well as to abide by all the policies and regulations that govern that district.
• The candidates are hired by a district and are trained for the purpose of being retained in that district on a long term basis.

In 2003, 43 states and The District of Columbia had some kind of alternative certification program. Many states have formulated legislation to develop programs for their state. Programs may be offered through colleges and universities, the state department of education, or through individual school districts. The length of the program varies from as little as 7 weeks to as long as 4 years. Most states are especially interested in training teachers for areas where there are the greatest shortages of teachers or they want to place teachers in schools where it is difficult to find enough qualified teachers.

More about ALTERNATIVE CERTIFICATION PROGRAMS can be found at the website for the National Center for Education Information. www.teach-now.org