Alternative Certification: A National Perspective

SELECT COMMITTEE ON LATERAL ENTRY

Raleigh, North Carolina

November 14, 2003

Charles R. Coble

Vice-President, Policy Studies & Programs

Education Commission of the States

What is a Highly Qualified Teacher? (as defined by NCLB)

• Has full state certification

• Holds a minimum of a bachelor’s degree

• Has demonstrated subject matter competency in each of the academic subjects in which the teacher teaches - if the subject is a core academic subject.

What is a Highly Qualified Teacher? (as defined by NCTAF)

• Have thorough knowledge of their subjects

• Know how students learn

• Can assess and increase student learning

• Manage classrooms effectively

• Care about the academic, social, civic, and personal success of all students

• Use technology effectively to promote learning

• Collaborate with colleagues, parents, & community members to create positive learning environments

• Are active and reflective learners

Why the Concern for Highly Qualified Teachers?

The NCLB Imperative:

“Closing the achievement gap between high- and low-performing children, especially the achievement gaps between minority and non-minority students, and between disadvantaged children and their more advantaged peers.”

20 U.S.C. § 6301

Why the Concern for Highly Qualified Teachers?

Workforce Skills and the Old Economy

The premium was on a “strong back and a weak mind.”

Workers were expected to be docile and tolerant of routine.

There were low educational expectations and for “thinking on the job.”

Why the Concern for Highly Qualified Teachers?

Workforce Skills and the New Economy Employees are expected to think and solve

problems on the job. Employees are expected to be able to read,

write, speak, and have computational skills. Basic and advanced computer skills are

expected. Employees are expected to work effectively

individually and with others, often in teams.

Volk, K. & Peel, H. “A Projection of 21st Century Workforce Skills”, Rural Education Institute, East Carolina University, 1993

Teachers Matter: Math Gain Scores in Dallas

76

27

15

90

Beginning 3rd Grade

Score (Percentile)

Ave

rag

e M

ath

Sco

re 3

yrs

late

r in

Per

cen

tile

s

Dallas StudentsAssigned To 3Highly EffectiveTeachers In ARow

Dallas StudentsAssigned To 3IneffectiveTeachers In ARow

Source: Heather Jordan, Robert Mendro, & Dash Weerasinghe, “Teacher Effects On Longitudinal Student Achievement” 1997.

Teachers Matter: Math and Reading Gain Scores in Boston

-0.6%

14.6%

0.3%

5.6%

-5

0

5

10

15

Average Student GrowthOverOne Year

(percent)

Least Effective Teachers

Most Effective Teachers

Source: Boston Public Schools, in “High School Restructuring,” March 9, 1998.(courtesy of The Education Trust)

READINGMATH

Teachers Matter: Math gain scores Texas, grades 3-5

Teacher Qualifications

40%

Other School Factors

3%

Home and Family Factors

49%

Class Size8%

Teachers Matter for Low-Performing Students

Impact of Effective vs. IneffectiveTeachers on Low-Performing Students

14%

53%

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

With Ineffective

Teacher

WithEffectiveTeacher

Source: William Sanders and Joan Rivers, “Cumulative and Residual Effects of Teachers on Future Student Academic Achievement,” 1996

AverageStudent

Gains OverOne Year

(Tennessee)

Sources of Teacher Supply

Teachers who remain from previous year

90%

Re-entrants

4%

New Graduates

6%

Sources of Teacher Supply

67,000

80,000

85,000

160,000

0 20,000 40,000 60,000 80,000 100,000 120,000 140,000 160,000 180,000

Delayed entrants andothers

Re-entrants

Actual Supply, 1999-2000: Newly prepared

entrants

Potential New Supply:Newly preparedgraduates, 2000

Beginning Teacher Attrition Is a Serious Problem

14% 24% 33% 40% 46%0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

1st Year 2nd Year 3rd Year 4th Year 5th Year

Source: Richard Ingersoll, adapted for NCTAF from “The Teacher Shortage: A Case of

Wrong Diagnosis and Wrong Prescription.” NASSP Bulletin 86 (June 2002): pp. 16-31.

12.6

12

12.8

13

11.6

20.7

28.1

27.3

25.7

25

0 5 10 15 20 25 30

Training inSelection/Use of

Materials

Training in ChildPsych./Learning

Theory

Observation of OtherClasses

Feedback onTeaching

Practice Teaching

No Training

Training

Teacher Preparation Reduces Attrition of First-Year Teachers

% of teachers leaving after one year

Average Retention Rates For Different Pathways Into Teaching

100

9084

100

70

53

100

80

34

0

20

40

60

80

100

% WhoCompleteProgram

% WhoEnterTeaching

%WhoRemainAfter 3Years

0

Five-year program (B.A. in subject field and M.A.

education)

Four-year program (B.A. in subject field

or education)

Short-term alternative

certification program (B.A. and summer training)

Source: No Dream Denied A Pledge to America's Children. National Commission on Teaching and America's Future, January, 2003.

The Relationship between California Elementary School API Scores, Student Socioeconomic Status,

and Teacher Qualifications, 2000

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

API Score

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

% EmergencyCredentialedTeachers

% Low SESStudents

Source: No Dream Denied A Pledge to America's Children. National Commission on Teaching and America's Future, January, 2003.

$35,736

$44,362

$26,639

$23,231

$20,000

$25,000

$30,000

$35,000

$40,000

$45,000

$50,000

1994 1999

Engineering

Computer Science

Math/Statistics

Economics/Finance

Business

Marketing

Chemistry

Accounting

Liberal Arts

Teaching

Trends in Starting Salaries Across Professions

United States, 1994-1999

The Teachers We Want

Do we find them or prepare them and do we focus on…

• Individual talent or Preparation ?• Content knowledge or Pedagogy ?• Focus on outcomes or Focus on inputs ?• Alternative or Traditional programs ?

The Teachers We Want

The choices are not a real choices, but:

• Higher education must build more developmentally appropriate and accessible entry routes into teaching

• States must develop better policies and programs that support the success of teachers regardless of entry route

Significant Growth in Alternative Licensure

Approximately 200,000 alternative certifications granted since 1985

A significant increase in alternative certifications began in the mid-1990s

Since 1998, approximately 25,000 people per year were certified through alternative routes

Source: The National Center for Education Information, http://www.ncei.com/2003/executive_summary.htm

Which States Offer Alternative Licensure/Certification Programs?

*West Virginia ---allows institutions of higher education to offer alternative certification programs, however, no institutions have currently implemented a program.

Source: ECS State Teacher Preparation Policy Database, http://www.tqsource.org/prep/policy

Yes (45 states* and DC)

No (5 states)

Types of Alternative Programs

University Based: Southeastern Louisiana University Master of Arts in Teaching program; Project ACT, East Carolina University

University System: CalTeach (CSU) and NC TEACH (UNC) primarily recruit mid-career professionals

Community Colleges: BS degree-completion programs (Miami-Dade & St. Petersburg CC) ; 2+2 degree completion programs (NCCC-UNC)

Types of Alternative Programs

State Sponsored: New Jersey enacted legislation to create alternative certification in 1984.

District Based: the Alternative Certification Program by the Houston Independent School District

Federal: Troops To Teachers

Independent: Teach for America; the American Board for Certification of Teacher Excellence

Who Enrolls in Alternative Programs?

California: 53 alternative programs have certified over 10,000 teachers; 48% ethnic, 29% male; retention for the first 5 years was 86%

New Jersey: 20-25% of all new teachers hired are from its alternative programs; they are older & more ethnically diverse

Texas: 27 alternative teacher certification programs produce over 14% of new teachers hired; 41% are minority

C. Emily Feistritzer, President,National Center for Education Information, 1999

How Should "Alternative Licensure" be Defined?

“There is – or ought to be – a distinction made between alternative licensure and alternative routes to licensure.

The latter concerns the preparation program path a candidate takes to become licensed, but there is no difference between the license this person receives as a beginning teacher and that of a more traditionally prepared teacher.

The former implies a different set of criteria applied to grant licensure to an alternative candidate.”

Michael Allen, Project Director, ECS Teaching Quality Policy Center

NCLB & Alternative Route Programs

Teachers not fully certified, but participating in alternative route licensure shall be considered “highly-qualified” if they:

(1) receive high-quality professional development that is sustained, intensive, and classroom-focused in order to have a positive and lasting impact on classroom instruction before and while teaching;

(2) participate in a program of intensive supervision that consists of structured guidance and regular ongoing support for teachers, or a teacher mentoring program;

NCLB & Alternative Route Programs

Teachers not fully certified, but participating in alternative route licensure shall be considered “highly-qualified” continued:

(3) assume functions as a teacher for a specified period of time not to exceed three years; and

(4) demonstrate satisfactory progress toward full certification as prescribed by the State.

USDE, Improving Teaching Quality, Non-Regulatory Guidance, Revised Draft, September 12, 2003

Why the Increase in Alternatively-Licensed Teachers?

While there may not be an overall shortage of teachers generally - nationally there is a shortage of math, science, bilingual education, and special education teachers.

A number of alternative route programs have been set up specifically to recruit and prepare people to teach in these fields.

Why the Increase in Alternatively-Licensed Teachers?

"The simultaneous occurrence of the bad economy and the Sept. 11 attacks which made people sit up and rethink their lives, has certainly contributed to this trend."

Emily Feistritzer, President of the National Center for Education Information

How Effective are Alternative Licensure Teachers?

Alternatively PREPARED teachers from good programs can perform as well as traditionally prepared teachers – eventually - if (1) given good induction and mentoring and (2) solid collateral coursework while they are in the first year or two of teaching.

Michael Allen, Project Director,ECS Teaching Quality Policy Center

How Effective are Alternative Licensure Teachers?

Alternatively LICENSED teachers, on the other hand, may not be as effective as licensed teachers teaching in their field of certification.

Michael Allen, Project Director,ECS Teaching Quality Policy Center

How Effective are Alternative Licensure Teachers?

Research comparing the effectiveness of traditional and alternative certification teachers has mixed results. For example:

Lutz and Hutton (1989) evaluated the Dallas Independent School District's alternative certification program and found that,of the 54% who completed the intern year, that supervisors’ perceptions were positive.

The Texas Education Agency evaluation reported (traditionally trained) beginning teachers as more knowledgeable than alternative teachers.

Schram, Feiman-Nemser, and Ball (1990) did not find any significant difference between the two groups.

Source: Alternative Teacher Certification--An Update (1991),

Teachers Matter: Polar Opposites Agree

Linda Darling-Hammond and Checker Finn agree on two things:

That smart, caring teachers can help students overcome background problems like poverty and limited English proficiency.

That the sun will likely rise tomorrow!

ECS Fall Steering Committee Meeting, Cheyenne, WY, November 1999.

State Data Collection on Teachers is Inadequate

• State Data Collection on Teachers is Inadequate

• Current state data collection efforts tend to be disjointed

• State databases often fail to provide a comprehensive, longitudinal view of teacher career paths.

• Few states collect data on individuals who complete an alternative teacher training program

• Data often is not available on a teacher's undergraduate major or minor or on undergraduate performance.

Source: SHEEO, Data Systems to Enhance Teacher Quality, 2003

ECS Recommendations on Alternative Licensure

• States with alternative route programs should:

Provide solid induction and mentoring

Require collateral coursework

Give new teachers manageable placements

Use incentives to get more experienced teachers to take the tough assignments

Require rigorous data collection to aid in program evaluation for all alternative route programs

• States should not:

Regard alternative route programs as suppliers of teachers for tough schools

Give new, alternatively prepared teachers the toughest job assignments

Make alternative license program completion requirements less rigorous than traditional licensing routes

ECS Recommendations on Alternative Licensure