Alternate Route Preparation: California
Expanding the Pool of Teachers Policy
Analysis of California's policies
While California sets clear requirements for alternate route pre-service coursework, it does not do so for in-service coursework requirements. The University Internship Credential and District Intern Credential programs could, as a result, either be quite streamlined or could be structured similarly to traditional preparation programs.
University Internship Credential and District Intern Credential candidates must complete a pre-service component that is a minimum of 120 clock hours in general pedagogy including classroom management and planning, reading/language arts, subject specific pedagogy, human development and teaching English learners. Additional coursework is also required in the
culture and methods of English language learners. Elementary candidates must complete additional instruction in these areas during their first semester
of teaching.
Candidates in both alternate route programs are not provided a
practice-teaching opportunity. A minimum of 144 hours of support/mentoring and supervision shall be provided to each intern teacher per school year. Candidates must be assisted and guided throughout
the training program by either a person designated as a mentor teacher, a
teacher selected through a competitive process or a person employed by the
program to supervise student teachers.
The University Internship Credentials route offers one- and two-year programs.
District Intern Credential candidates can complete their program and earn full
certification in two years.
Recommendations for California
Establish coursework guidelines for all alternate route preparation programs.
Although California outlines its pre-service requirements, the state should do the same for its in-service alternate route requirements. California should ensure that coursework requirements are 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 new teachers are not burdened by excessive requirements.
While California is commended for limiting the length of its
alternate route programs, the state should ensure that programs do not
overburden the new teacher by requiring multiple courses to be taken
simultaneously during the school year.
Offer opportunities to practice teach.
In addition to intensive induction support, California may want to consider providing its candidates with a practice-teaching opportunity prior to their placement in the classroom.
State response to our analysis
California's Commission on Teacher Credentialing (CTC) was helpful in providing NCTQ with facts that enhanced this analysis.
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California
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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.