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Policy Context
As states consider the adoption of alternative certification tracks for teacher education, it is important that programs be built and approved on the basis of appropriate standards of teacher knowledge and performance. New alternative certification programs should be judged on whether their programs lead to desired outcomes. This should be the case whether the program is offered through a four-year college, school district, community college or other non-traditional provider.
Policymakers should also consider the following recommendations adapted from a report by the National Association of State Boards of Education (NASBE):
- Policymakers should ensure that the standards for alternative programs are the same as those for traditional licensure. Furthermore, to develop a coherent system, ACPs should be linked to the state’s student academic standards.
- State boards should establish approval guidelines for ACPs that require key components of a quality program, including ensuring that programs provide a trained mentor for each candidate, provide subject-specific instruction in pedagogy and classroom management, and provide feedback, job coaching and further professional development support to new teachers.
- State policymakers should ensure that ACPs are adequately funded. Poorly funded programs can evolve into nothing more than emergency licensure programs.
- State board members and other policymakers should work together to defuse the political rhetoric around ACPs. State leaders should collaborate with higher education boards, university and community college leaders, deans of colleges of education and school district officials to successfully implement alternative certification programs that will meet local needs.
- Policymakers should require that state departments of education track the characteristics of alternative certification program graduates, their performance in the classroom and their willingness to stay in the profession beyond five years. (3)
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