Preparation for the Classroom: Rhode Island
Alternate Routes Policy
Analysis of Rhode Island's policies
Rhode Island offers an alternate route to certification through its Alternate Route Preliminary Certificate. Currently, there is only one program approved by the state to offer a full route to alternate preparation, Teach For America (TFA). Rhode Island requires all alternate route candidates to first obtain the Alternate Route Preliminary Certificate, and then teach for one year as the teacher of record while completing the alternate program requirements to earn Initial Certification.
Coursework Requirements: Rhode Island offers minimal guidance regarding the nature and quantity of alternate certification program coursework. The state bases alternate certification program approval on the Rhode Island Program Approval (RIPA) Standards that are used to approve traditional programs. Programs are approved based on how well they meet the state's five standards for educator preparation, including the standards for professional knowledge. This includes preparation on content knowledge, pedagogy, and standards-driven instruction. Rhode Island also requires alternate certification programs to provide a preservice experience for a minimum of five weeks that includes instruction in classroom management and pedagogy. Candidates are also required to participate in seminars and courses throughout the first year of teaching, although no additional guidelines are provided for the nature or quantity of coursework to be provided.
Induction Support: Rhode Island requires that Alternate Route Preliminary Certificate candidates are provided with a district-assigned mentor who is responsible for modeling effective practice and providing feedback focused on improving performance. Program and district personnel are expected to provide candidates with on-going feedback, field-based support, and supervision aimed at supporting candidates' development.
Supervised Practice Teaching Requirements: Rhode Island requires that all Alternate Route Preliminary Certificate candidates participate in a preservice field experience, which includes practice teaching, for a minimum of five weeks.
Recommendations for Rhode Island
Establish coursework guidelines for alternate route preparation programs.
Rhode Island should articulate guidelines regarding the specific nature of coursework required of candidates. Requirements should be manageable given the time constraints of a novice teacher 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. Simply mandating coursework without specifying the purpose can inadvertently send the wrong message to program providers—that "anything goes" as long as credits are granted. However well-intentioned, any course that is not fundamentally practical and immediately necessary should be eliminated as a requirement.
Strengthen the induction experience for new teachers.
While Rhode Island is commended for requiring all new
teachers to work with a mentor, and for explicitly articulating that mentors should provide feedback, the state should expand its induction experience to ensure that new teachers will receive the support they need to facilitate their success in the classroom. The state should provide for intensive mentoring with full classroom support in the first
few weeks or months of school, a reduced teaching load, and release time to
allow new teachers to observe experienced teachers during each school day.
State response to our analysis
Rhode Island was helpful in providing NCTQ with the facts necessary for this analysis.
The state also asserted that candidate participation in an alternate route program is contingent on being hired as a teacher of record.
Updated: December 2017
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Rhode Island
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General Teacher Preparation
- Program Entry
- Teacher Shortages and Surpluses
- Program Performance Measures
- Program Reporting Requirements
- Student Teaching/Clinical Practice
- Teaching Methods
Elementary Teacher Preparation
Secondary Teacher Preparation
- Middle School Content Knowledge
- Middle School Licensure Deficiencies
- Adolescent Literacy
- Secondary Content Knowledge
- Secondary Licensure Deficiencies
Special Education Teacher Preparation
Alternate Routes
Hiring
- Requirements for Out-of-State Teachers
- Provisional and Emergency Licensure
- Licensure for Substitute Teachers
- Supporting New Teachers
Teacher and Principal Evaluation
Teacher Compensation
Retaining Effective Teachers
Early Childhood Preparation
How we graded
5B: Preparation for the Classroom
- Practice Teaching: The state should require a supervised practice-teaching experience.
- Induction: The state should require that all new teachers receive intensive induction support.
- Manageable Coursework: The state should ensure that the amount of coursework it either requires or allows is manageable for a novice teacher. Anything exceeding 12 credit hours may be counterproductive, placing too great a burden on the teacher. This calculation is premised on no more than six credit hours in the summer, three credit hours in the spring, and three credit hours in the fall.
- Targeted Coursework: The state should ensure that all coursework requirements are targeted to the immediate needs of the new teacher (e.g., seminars with other grade-level teachers, classroom management techniques, training in a particular curriculum, reading instruction).
The total goal score is earned based on the following:
- Full credit: The state will earn the full point if all four elements are required for all alternate route programs.
- Three-quarters credit: The state will earn three-quarters of a point if three elements are required for all alternate route programs.
- One-half credit: The state will earn one-half of a point if two elements are required for at least some of the state's alternate route programs.
- One-quarter credit: The state will earn one-quarter of a point if one element is required for at least one of the state's alternate route programs.
Research rationale
Alternate route programs must provide practical, meaningful preparation that is sensitive to a new teacher's workload and 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.[1] 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.[2] That is, while advanced pedagogy coursework may be meaningful for veteran teachers, alternate route coursework should build on more fundamental teaching competencies such as classroom management techniques, reading instruction, or curriculum delivery.
Most new teachers—regardless of their preparation—find themselves overwhelmed by taking on 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.[3] States must ensure that alternate route programs do not leave new teachers to "sink or swim" on their own when they begin teaching. It is critical that all alternate route programs provide at least a brief student teaching or other supervised practice experience for candidates before they enter the classroom, as well as ongoing induction support during those first critical months as a new teacher.[4]
[1] Constantine, J., Player, D., Silva, T., Hallgren, K., Grider, M., & Deke, J. (2009). An evaluation of teachers trained through different routes to certification. Final Report. NCEE 2009-4043. National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance. Retrieved from http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED504313.pdf
[2] Walsh, K., & Jacobs, S. (2007). Alternative certification isn't alternative. Thomas B. Fordham Institute, National Council on Teacher Quality. Retrieved from http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED498382.pdf
[3] Greenberg, J., Walsh, K., & McKee, A. (2014). Teacher Prep Review: A review of the nation's teacher preparation programs. Retrieved from http://www.nctq.org/dmsView/Teacher_Prep_Review_2014_Report
[4] For a further review of the research on new teacher induction, see: Rogers, M., Lopez, A., Lash, A., Schaffner, M., Shields, P., & Wagner, M. (2004). Review of research on the impact of beginning teacher induction on teacher quality and retention. Retrieved from http://www.newteacher.com/pdf/ResearchontheImpactofInduction.pdf