|
Key Issues
There are a number of challenges to offering viable alternative teacher certification programs. Some of these challenges are specific to community colleges, some are more general to all ACPs.
Quality of Alternative Certification Programs and Lack of Research
Many professionals in the education community are concerned that too many policymakers see alternative certification programs as ‘quick and easy’ substitutes for traditional teacher education programs. Faculty members who have come through traditional preparation programs may view their training as more rigorous than that provided by alternative routes.
The growth of alternative certification programs has occurred simultaneously with demands to raise standards of teacher quality. Some observers worry that programs place too much emphasis on quantity – filling slots – rather than teacher quality. While more than 130,000 teachers have been trained nationwide during the past five years through alternative certification programs, there hasn’t been sufficient research reported to answer lingering questions regarding the quality of such programs. This ambiguity makes it difficult to judge whether alternative certification programs provide quality preparation comparable to traditional routes to teaching.
Concerns over the quality of alternative certification programs can be further exacerbated when a community college is authorized to offer such programs. Many in the education community are unconvinced that a community college, with its emphasis on lower division education, can offer the pedagogical and upper division subject matter content needed by classroom teachers. Community college teacher education proponents argue that community colleges have a long tradition of developing and offering quality customized education to meet the needs of business and industry in a wide range of fields. That broad experience of educating and/or training working adults could make community colleges ideal providers of programs for non-traditional teacher candidates with college degrees and hands-on work experience.
Funding and Support
State legislatures have a mixed record in appropriating funds to support various types of teacher training efforts. States typically have only provided fiscal support to traditional university-based teacher education programs and, as programs have become more diverse, states have been able to fund fewer of them. In many states, specific legislation has been passed making community colleges eligible to receive state funding to support their teacher training programs. University proponents argue that such state support for community college teacher training efforts diverts much-needed resources from university-based colleges of education at the very time when they are most under fire to improve quality. Community college advocates respond that their alternative teacher certification efforts are cost-effective, community-based responses to meet a real demand.
National Reporting System
The 1998 reauthorization of the Higher Education Act, Title II, created a national reporting system on the quality of teacher preparation in the United States. Programs must report test data to the U.S. Department of Education on candidates completing alternative certification programs in each state, including those offered by community colleges. Yet performance data from ACPs in the past has been reported in the aggregate, making it impossible to examine the quality of individual programs.
Standards
Many states do not have standards that define teacher competencies and skill sets to reflect the states’ PK-12 student learning standards. Once states define these standards for teachers, the next logical step would be to require that all programs, including those at community colleges, demonstrate the ability to prepare candidates to meet those standards. For example, all educator preparation programs accredited by the Texas State Board for Educator Certification are required to include a minimum of 12 weeks of supervised, full-day classroom teaching. The state board has also developed educator standards for each subject area and grade level based on the Texas public school curriculum. Teacher candidates must pass a state exam before they are issued certification.
As alternative certification programs have moved into the spotlight, the National Council for the Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) reviewed its policies related to the types of organizations that may seek NCATE accreditation. In 2003, NCATE changed its constitution to include organizations or institutions that use alternative techniques to prepare new teachers. NCATE will soon begin considering applications to accredit community colleges to train teachers, in particular those with alternative certification programs.
| 
