Alternative Certification: A Review of Theory and Research

CONCLUSION

Over the past 30 years, alternative certification programs have evolved as a response to real and perceived shortages of qualified teachers. These programs are characterized by the opportunity that they offer for individuals to teach without graduating from a traditional teacher-preparation program, fulfilling student teaching obligations, or passing certification exams. Proponents argue that this approach allows qualified individuals from sectors other than education to bring their skills and experience into the classroom expeditiously. In addition, alternative routes allow potential teachers to bypass ineffective teacher education programs.

Opponents of AC programs wonder how we can discuss improving education by increasing the quality of teachers at the same time that we allow them to teach with less preparation. These critics wonder about the ethics of handing the responsibility of educating our children to someone who has little training and is learning on-the-job. Those who question the need for alternative certification also challenge the premise that there is an impending, massive teacher shortage.

Research Irrespective of ideology and motives, there is substantial research to support a set of key factors necessary for quality alternative certification programs. As the U.S. moves forward with this experiment in teacher training, further research and evaluation are necessary to refine these programs and ensure that only qualified individuals become teachers. As noted above, several weaknesses in the research on AC programs prevent more definitive conclusions on the effectiveness of the programs. These include issues such as the difficulty of comparing programs that have a variety of approaches and components, sample size, and the amount of time over which the programs are studied.

Attrition The issue of attrition has received insufficient attention as well. Research that evaluates the effectiveness of AC programs needs to assess the extent to which teachers from these programs stay in their positions as long or longer than other teachers. This issue is parallel to that of cost effectiveness: the cost of preparing a teacher through an alternative program needs to account for their length of service. The contribution of AC programs to addressing the problem of teacher supply can only be judged by monitoring how long teachers certified in this way stay in teaching. Given the significant overall attrition rate of new teachers, particularly in urban schools, this issue is important to the research and requires a longitudinal methodology.

Comparison Groups Perhaps one of the most difficult challenges in determining the effectiveness of AC programs is the issue of comparison groups. Most studies that attempt to evaluate AC programs typically use as their comparison group "traditionally prepared" teachers in the same school or district. One problem with this methodology is the fact that many of those teachers may have graduated from schools of education before the recent standards-based movement began. In addition, given the pressing need for teachers in urban districts, the subsequent proliferation of AC programs (and evaluation studies) in those districts and the low performance of students in many urban schools, makes the use of "traditionally prepared" teachers as a comparison group to evaluate these programs questionable. What is needed is research that compares teachers from AC programs to teachers who have graduated from the stronger, standards-based schools of teacher education that have begun to emerge as the new model of teacher preparation.

The Need for AC Alternative certification programs hold the promise of providing a solution to the multifaceted problem of teacher supply. As an innovation, AC also has the potential to inform more traditional approaches to teacher preparation. The research to date is inconclusive, but several components of effective AC programs have been identified and should be studied further. However, future research must address issues such as attrition and appropriate comparison groups. One issue that has been lost in the debate, but deserves further attention, is that of the reasons behind the need for the existence of AC programs. The fact that the job of teaching has become so unattractive as to require alternative approaches for recruitment suggests that we need to reexamine the conditions of the profession. Perhaps improvements in areas such as salary, support, working conditions, and the professional image of teaching might reduce or eliminate the need for AC programs altogether.