Center for Alaska Education Policy Research, University of Alaska Anchorage
Abstract
Alternative teacher certification (ATC) encompasses a broad range of programs that prepare
teachers in non-traditional, accelerated ways (Suell and Piotrowski 2007). The number of
teachers prepared through alternative routes has increased considerably in the past decade. As of
2011, 16% of public school teachers nationwide had entered the profession through some kind of
alternative program, and in the last five years, 40% of new hires have come through ATC
programs (Feistritzer 2011).
In this brief I offer a short overview of research on the outcomes of alternative certification
programs compared with traditional certification, summarize findings about what makes for
effective alternative certification programs, and describe ATC programs in Alaska.
Generally, ATC programs are aimed at people who are interested in becoming teachers and have
at least a bachelor’s degree, as well as extensive life experience. But how these programs are
defined and what they include varies considerably (Humphrey and Wechsler 2007). In this brief,
alternative certification is defined as a program in which teacher candidates work as the
instructor of record while completing their teacher certification. These programs are considered
to be both a means of alleviating teacher shortages and a way of improving the quality of the
teaching workforce. In addition to shortening the preparation time and being more flexible for
working participants, ATC programs also typically incorporate mentoring (Mikulecky,
Shkodriani et al. 2004; Scribner and Heinen 2009). The programs range from initiatives run by
school districts and state departments of education to university-operated efforts run alongside
traditional teacher preparation programs (Yao and Williams 2010)