More Education Plays

Any parent knows that having good teachers is critical to a child's learning. But too many teachers in America's public schools lack content knowledge in their subject or are not suited to the classroom. As schools struggle to meet the No Child Left Behind Act's requirement to ensure all teachers are "highly qualified," state policymakers need to take a hard look at their teacher preparation and licensure systems. The current approach to training and licensing teachers deters and disqualifies many people interested in teaching, yet still does not adequately guarantee the quality of teachers who are licensed. The problem is that our current approach creates "paper barriers" instead of connecting would-be teachers with opportunities to get the skills they need to begin teaching and helping them develop a professional career path.

To attract more talented and qualified people to the teaching profession, policymakers are experimenting with an array of innovations. One approach is to eliminate the barriers that often deter talented students and professionals from pursuing teaching jobs. Instead of mandating that teaching applicants have a degree in education, this approach requires potential teachers to have: 1) a bachelor of arts or sciences degree from an accredited university; 2) a passing grade on a competency test in the subject they seek to teach; and 3) a clean criminal record. The premise of this approach is to allow any applicant who meets these criteria to be considered for the job, whether or not they are prepared to start teaching.

"This is a great opportunity for individuals with experience outside of teaching to switch career paths and share the valuable lessons they've gained outside the classroom with our children. The education we provide our young people will be enhanced as they learn from teachers who have a passion and a perspective that can inspire them." -- U.S. Sen. Evan Bayh, Indiana

Instead of focusing on barriers to teaching, policymakers should emphasize induction and training activities for the teachers. While research finds that traditional education courses do not impact student achievement, emphasizing quality, ongoing professional development shows much more promise. Meaningful recruitment and induction programs can include mentoring projects with fellow teachers (see the "Teacher Induction and Reduction Play"), additional coursework, and professional collaboration. Policymakers can also fuel excellence by allowing schools of education, community colleges, nonprofit organizations, and other providers to compete for these new, expanded opportunities to train teachers.

Depending on their needs and values, states and cities will take different approaches to eliminating statutory and financial barriers to applying for teaching jobs, but all states and the District of Columbia now offer some type of alternative certification. These alternative routes vary significantly state-to-state both in quality and in the degree to which they make teaching accessible to talented applicants.

The National Center for Alternative Certification, at www.teach-now.org, was established in 2003 to serve as a one-stop comprehensive source of information about alternate routes to teaching for aspiring educators and interested policymakers. Dr. C. Emily Feistritzer, president and CEO of the Center, estimates that 50,000 teachers per year are now coming through alternative routes. They compose one-third of all new teacher hires in America. According to the Center, by 2005, 47 states were already implementing alternative routes to teaching while two others were seriously considering the idea.

Before teacher shortages reach crisis proportions, policymakers ought to draw from one another's innovations to break down paper barriers to certification and make successful alternatives the norm.

Additional Reading

Frederick Hess, "Tear Down This Wall: The Case for a Radical Overhaul of Teacher Certification," The Progressive Policy Institute, November 2001
www.ppionline.org/ppi_ci.cfm?
knlgAreaID=110&subsecID=135&contentID=3964

"Idea of the Week: Ending Teacher Certification As We Know It," DLC, November 30, 2001
www.dlc.org/ndol_ci.cfm?
contentid=250025&kaid=131&subid=207

Leo Klagholz, "Growing Better Teachers in the Garden State: New Jersey's 'Alternate Route' to Teacher Certification," Thomas B. Fordham Foundation
www.edexcellence.net/library/newjersey/new%20jersey.html \

National Center for Teacher Quality
www.nctq.org

Natioanl Center for Alternative Certification
www.teach-now.org

Contacts

Dr. Frederick Hess
Resident Scholar and Director of Education Policy Studies
American Enterprise Institute
1150 Seventeenth Street, NW, #401
Washington, DC 20036
(202) 828-6030
rhess@aei.org

Kate Walsh
National Council on Teacher Quality
1341 G Street, NW
Washington, DC 20005
(202) 393-0020
(202) 478-0838 (fax)
www.nctq.org
kwalsh@nctq.org

Dr. C. Emily Feistritzer
National Center for Education Information
National Center for Alternative Certification
1901 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW Suite 201
Washington, D.C. 20006
(202) 822-8280
(202) 822-8284 (fax)
emilyf@ncei.com

Andrew J. Rotherham
Co-Founder and Co-Director
Education Sector
1201 Connecticut Avenue, NW
Suite 850
Washington, DC 20036
(434) 973-2173
arotherham@educationsector.org