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Alternate Route Preparation: New York

Expanding the Pool of Teachers Policy

Look at National Findings
Goal

The state should ensure that its alternate routes provide streamlined preparation that is relevant to the immediate needs of new teachers.

Meets goal in part
Suggested Citation:
National Council on Teacher Quality. (2011). Alternate Route Preparation: New York results. State Teacher Policy Database. [Data set].
Retrieved from: https://www.nctq.org/yearbook/state/NY-Alternate-Route-Preparation-7

Analysis of New York's policies

New York does not ensure that its alternate route candidates will receive streamlined preparation that meets the immediate needs of new teachers.

Candidates in New York's Transition B route must complete 200 clock hours of coursework, including 40 clock hours of field experiences. At least six of the field-based hours must be focused on meeting the needs of students with disabilities. The state has set a wide range of coursework for Transition B candidates to complete. In addition to learning about child development, instructional planning and classroom management, new teachers must also be instructed in such coursework as the historical, social and legal foundations of education and instructing students in the prevention of child abduction.

New York provides no specific guidelines about the nature or quantity of coursework for its Transition C alternate route. There is no limit on the amount of coursework that can be required overall, nor on the amount of coursework a candidate can be required to take while also teaching.

Both Transition B and C routes allow colleges to set the time frame for completion of their alternate route programs. Most programs are intended to be completed in two years, but this may vary, and some may require up to three years to complete. 

Transition C teachers must teach for three years in order to be eligible for standard certification. Transition B alternate route candidates are eligible to receive full certification within two years.

Transition B candidates receive intensive mentoring during their first eight weeks and receive continued support during the remainder of the time the candidate is enrolled in the program and teaching. Program faculty, the school principal, the mentor and the candidate are required to meet at least once every three months during the first year of mentored teaching and periodically thereafter.

Transition C candidates receive mentoring for two years. The state requires that daily mentoring occur for at least the first 20 days of teaching.

New York is commended for its mentoring program, which appropriately front-loads support for new teachers during their first weeks in the classroom.

Citation

Recommendations for New York

Establish coursework guidelines for alternate route preparation programs.
The state should articulate guidelines regarding the nature and amount of coursework required of candidates. Requirements should be manageable and contribute to the immediate needs of new teachers. Appropriate coursework should include grade-level or subject-level seminars, methodology in the content area, classroom management, assessment and scientifically based early reading instruction. 

Ensure that coursework is relevant to the immediate needs of new teachers.
The nature of coursework outlined for Transition B candidates seems to reflect the preparation typical of a traditional program, not a streamlined one designed to meet the immediate needs of new teachers. However constructive, any course that is not fundamentally practical and immediately necessary should be eliminated as a requirement.

Ensure program completion in less than two years.
New York 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.

State response to our analysis

New York recognized the factual accuracy of this analysis.

    • Best practice
    • Meets goal
    • Nearly Meets goal
    • Meets goal in part
    • Meets a small part of goal
    • Does not meet goal

  • New York

    New York map
Alternate Route Usage and Providers
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Delivering Well Prepared Teachers
Expanding the Pool of Teachers
Identifying Effective Teachers
Retaining Effective Teachers
Exiting Ineffective Teachers
Research rationale

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 Ducharme, E. R. & Ducharme, M. K. (1998). "Quantity and quality: Not enough to go around." Journal of Teacher Education, 49(3), 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 Miller, J. W., McKenna, M. C., & McKenna, B. A. (1998). Nontraditional teacher preparation: A comparison of alternatively and traditionally prepared teachers. Journal of Teacher Education, 49(3), 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 (2007): 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 at: http://www.mathematica-mpr.com/publications/pdfs/education/teacherstrained09.pdf

See also Alternative Certification Isn't Alternative (NCTQ, 2007) at: http://www.nctq.org/p/publications/docs/Alternative_Certification_Isnt_Alternative_20071124023109.pdf.

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