Alternate Route Preparation: Massachusetts
Expanding the Pool of Teachers Policy
Analysis of Massachusetts's policies
There are no coursework or clock hour limitations for alternate route programs
in Massachusetts. All classes must be directly linked to state standards and
include classroom management and observations of other teachers. Elementary
candidates must also complete coursework in mathematics, English and reading
instruction.
Candidates complete a prepracticum experience prior to entering the classroom. All individuals in educator preparation programs shall assume full responsibility for the classroom for a minimum of 100 hours. Candidates are required to complete a 300-hour minimum practicum or practicum equivalent and are provided a mentor throughout the school year. Release time is provided
for the new teacher during the first five months of employment.
Candidates can receive full certification after three years.
Recommendations for Massachusetts
Establish coursework guidelines for alternate route preparation programs.
Massachusetts is commended for the nature of its coursework
requirements, but the state does not ensure that alternate route candidates
receive streamlined preparation. The state should articulate guidelines
regarding the amount of coursework required of candidates. Too many courses can
be counterproductive to a teacher's success. The state should ensure that a new
teacher's workload is limited to one course at a time while teaching.
Requirements should be manageable and contribute to the immediate needs of new
teachers.
Ensure program completion in less than two years.
Massachusetts should consider shortening the length of time
it takes an alternate route teacher to earn standard certification. The route
should allow candidates to earn full certification no later than the end of the
second year of teaching.
Strengthen the induction experience for new teachers.
While Massachusetts is commended for requiring all new
teachers to work with a mentor and for providing release time to new teachers,
there are insufficient guidelines indicating that the induction program is
structured for new teacher success.
State response to our analysis
Massachusetts asserted that in order to approve candidates for licensure, programs must meet specific review criteria. These include expectations that candidates receive more than a mentor but rather receive effective advising, necessary supports to improve (if identified as at risk of not meeting standards), and effective guidance from Supervising Practitioners and Program Supervisors.
In addition, the state indicated that the Massachusetts Regulations for Educator Licensure do not specifically require three years of preparation to be endorsed for licensure; rather they set minimum semester hours of Subject-Matter Knowledge requirements.
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Massachusetts
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Delivering Well Prepared Teachers
- Admission into Teacher Preparation
- Elementary Teacher Preparation
- Elementary Teacher Preparation in Reading Instruction
- Elementary Teacher Preparation in Mathematics
- Early Childhood
- Middle School Teacher Preparation
- Secondary Teacher Preparation
- Secondary Teacher Preparation in Science and Social Studies
- Special Education Teacher Preparation
- Special Education Preparation in Reading
- Assessing Professional Knowledge
- Student Teaching
- Teacher Preparation Program Accountability
Expanding the Pool of Teachers
Identifying Effective Teachers
- State Data Systems
- Evaluation of Effectiveness
- Frequency of Evaluations
- Tenure
- Licensure Advancement
- Equitable Distribution
Retaining Effective Teachers
Exiting Ineffective Teachers
Pensions
Research rationale
Alternate route
programs must provide practical, meaningful preparation that is sensitive to a
new teacher's stress level.
Too many states have policies requiring alternate route
programs to "backload" large amounts of traditional education
coursework, thereby preventing the emergence of real alternatives to
traditional preparation. This issue is especially important given the large
proportion of alternate route teachers who complete this coursework while
teaching. Alternate route teachers often have to deal with the stresses of
beginning to teach while also completing required coursework in the evenings and
on weekends. States need to be careful to require participants only to meet
standards or complete coursework that is practical and immediately helpful to a
new teacher.
Induction support is
especially important for alternate route teachers.
Most new teachers—regardless of their preparation—find
themselves overwhelmed on taking responsibility for their own classrooms. This
is especially true for alternate route teachers, who may have had considerably
less classroom exposure or pedagogy training than traditionally prepared
teachers. While alternate route programs will ideally have provided at least a
brief student teaching experience, not all programs can incorporate this into
their models. States must ensure that alternate route programs do not leave new
teachers to "sink or swim" on their own when they begin teaching.
Alternate Route Preparation: Supporting Research
For
a general, quantitative review of the research supporting the need for states
to offer an alternate route license, and why alternate routes should not be
treated as programs of "last resort," one need simply to look at the
numbers of uncertified and out of field teachers in classrooms today, readily
available from the National Center for Education Statistics. In addition, with
U.S. schools facing the need to hire more than 3.5 million new teachers each
year, the need for alternate routes to certification cannot be underestimated.
See also E.R. Ducharme and M.K. Ducharme, "Quantity and quality: Not enough to go around." Journal of
Teacher Education, Volume 49, No. 3, May 1998, pp. 163-164.
Further,
scientific and market research demonstrates that there is a willing and able
pool of candidates for alternate certification programs—and many of these
individuals are highly educated and intelligent. In fact, the nationally
respected polling firm, The Tarrance Group, recently conducted a scientific
poll in the State of Florida, identifying that more than 20 percent of
Floridians would consider changing careers to become teachers through alternate
routes to certification.
We
base our argument that alternative-route teachers should be able to earn full
licensure after two years on research indicating that teacher effectiveness
does not improve dramatically after the third year of teaching. One study
(frequently cited on both sides of the alternate route debate) identified that
after three years, traditional and alternatively-certified teachers demonstrate
the same level of effectiveness, see J.W. Miller, M.C. McKenna, and B.A. McKenna, "A comparison of alternatively and traditionally prepared teachers". Journal of Teacher Education, Volume 49, No. 3, May 1998, pp. 165-176. This finding is
supported by D. Boyd, D. Goldhaber, H. Lankford, and J. Wyckoff, "The Effect of Certification and Preparation on Teacher Quality." The Future of Children, Volume 17, No. 1, Spring 2007, pp. 45-68.
Project
MUSE (http://muse.jhu.edu/), found that student achievement was
similar for alternatively-certified teachers as long as the program they came
from was "highly selective."
The
need for a cap on education coursework and the need for intensive mentoring are
also backed by research, as well as common sense. In 2004, Education Commission
of the States reviewed more than 150 empirical studies and determined that
there is evidence "for the claim that assistance for new teachers, and, in
particular, mentoring [have] a positive impact on teachers and their retention."
The 2006 MetLife Survey of the American Teacher validates these conclusions. In
addition, Mathematica (2009) found that student achievement suffers when
alternate route teachers are required to take excessive amounts of coursework.
See An Evaluation of Teachers Trained
Through Different Routes to Certification: Final Report at: http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED504313.pdf
See
also Alternative Certification Isn't Alternative (NCTQ, 2007)
at: http://www.nctq.org/p/publications/docs/Alternative_Certification_Isnt_Alternative_20071124023109.pdf.