When alternative certification
programs first got started, the theory was that ed schools were driving away
the very people who could make the best teachers – talented individuals with
deep background knowledge of the subjects they would teach.
Thirty years later, it turns out that
alt cert programs are by and large lowering
the bar on who gets into the profession. And they generally provide very little
feedback and support to candidates in their critical first few months of
training to boot.
In our pilot study of 85 secondary
alternative certification providers, only one out of 85 earned high marks (Teach For
America, Massachusetts). Comparing their grades on what are pretty much the same standards to the performance of traditional graduate secondary programs (themselves fairly mediocre), it’s
clear that alternative certification programs are not living up to their
promise.
There’s no sugar coating the fact that alternative
certification programs need to rapidly ramp up admission standards, expectations
for candidates’ subject-matter expertise and the level of support and feedback
they give to their candidates.
Find out more about our
assessment of alternative certification programs here.
