NCREL Policy Issues
Issue 12, November 2002
The Impact of Alternative Certification in the Midwest
Conclusions and Policy Options
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 they offer for individuals to teach without graduating from a traditional teacher-preparation program, fulfilling student teaching obligations, or passing certification exams before starting to teach. Proponents argue that this approach allows qualified individuals from sectors other than education to bring their skills and experience into the classroom expeditiously. Advocates also argue that alternative routes allow potential teachers to bypass ineffective teacher education programs.
Opponents of alternative certification 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.
Much like other policy debates in education, there is unlikely to be a resolution until more and better data on the quality of alternative routes to certification are available. The policy options that follow might be considered as opportunities to ensure ongoing improvements to new and current alternative certification programs, as well as incentives to pursue more high-quality research studies on the effectiveness of alternative certification programs.
Require alternative certification programs to seek and hold state accreditation. We know that the number of alternative programs is growing across the country as schools and districts seek solutions to the problems of finding enough qualified teachers to staff mathematics, science, special education, urban, and rural classrooms. In the Midwest, all of the states in the NCREL region will have some type of alternative route into teaching by Fall 2002. The latest SASS data set indicates that alternative certification programs have already had a modest impact on the region, even in states that have only recently provided alternative routes to the classroom. Similar to the proliferation of K-12 education options, new and varied programs to train teachers are quickly emerging that necessitate a new accountability structure to ensure high-quality outcomes. While little has been written about the effects of competition on traditional teacher-preparation programs, there seems to be anecdotal evidence that institutions of higher education have increased the number of traditional routes to becoming a teacher and have improved their quality. As traditional programs that prepare teachers are being held to a higher standard than ever before through legislation such as Title II of the Higher Education Act, states should now ensure that alternative routes to certification are also required to meet high standards and show evidence of high-quality programs.
Reward alternative programs that demonstrate that they meet the standards of quality identified in the research. For example, common themes that emerged from the research on effective alternative certification programs focused on the following points:
- High standards and proper screening of candidates for entry into alternative certification programs.
- Solid academic instruction in pedagogy, subject matter, classroom management, and child development—preferably before the teacher candidate begins to teach.
- An organized and comprehensive system of support from experienced, trained mentors once the candidate begins working in a school.
- If possible, a period of observation and assistance in the classroom with an experienced teacher before the candidate begins teaching solo.
- Ongoing training, instruction, and reflection once the candidate assumes control of a classroom.
- Continuous monitoring, evaluation, and feedback of individual and group performance to allow for adjustment and improvement in teaching and program management.
The components outlined above were used by NCREL in the creation of a template for the evaluation of alternative certification programs. This Web-based tool allows alternative programs to engage in a process of self-evaluation and reflection, and to assess the extent to which their programs include elements found in the research to contribute to positive teacher outcomes. The template can be found at www.ncrel.org/datause/tools/altcert.php. For a broader review of the alternative certification literature, see www.ncrel.org/policy/pubs/html/altcert/intro.htm.
Provide incentives to newly developing alternative programs that focus on recruiting and preparing a diverse teaching pool. The experiences of schools in the NCREL region with alternatively teachers have been mixed. While alternative certification appears to have increased the number of male teachers and succeeded in bringing into the classroom teachers with experience in business and industry, this approach does not appear to have had a dramatic effect on the diversity of teaching staffs. Given the continuing diversification of the states in this region, schools and districts will be teaching an increasing number of minority students over the next decade. However, they will also have an increasingly diverse pool of potential teachers. Concerted efforts by programs, districts, and states may be necessary in order to recruit African-American and Latino teacher candidates. These efforts might include promoting teaching opportunities through the media; approaching African-American, Latino, and other ethnic organizations; promoting alternative certification programs with bilingual materials; and reaching out to communities that may have been previously overlooked.
Promote funding for new research and evaluation of alternative routes to certification that demonstrate teacher effectiveness with students. Unfortunately, research on alternative programs has only served to further blur the issue. To this point, the findings of research in this area (including those presented here) have been mixed. Attempts to determine the effectiveness of the alternative certification approach have been complicated by a number of factors including the wide variety of alternative certification programs, the use of other teachers in comparison groups, and the use of inadequate research methodologies. Policymakers who make decisions about funding may wish to consider funding research that addresses the problems discussed in the literature review above. This includes the need to fund research that is longitudinal, that avoids comparisons of alternatively certified teachers to other teachers who were prepared through traditional routes, and explores the costs and benefits of alternative certification relative to other efforts to increase the supply of teachers. Considering the youth of most alternative certification programs, this would seem to be an opportune time to begin studying these programs while taking into account the methodological issues encountered in earlier research.
As with most problems in education, there is no one answer. There needs to be a variety of activities and approaches to the issues of teacher quantity and quality as we struggle to improve schooling in the Midwest and across the country. More and better research on the processes and effects of alternative certification programs is needed, and we must continue to monitor the alternative certification approach to increasing the teacher supply while we work toward implementing the effective practices that research has already revealed.
