Alternative routes into teaching, particularly in urban school districts, are becoming increasingly prevalent. Four features capture the range of variation in these programs: the nature of the provider, specific labor market needs, the timing and focus of coursework and fieldwork, and the focus of recruitment and selection. The issue of student…

A former Teach for America recruit who completed her training in a university-based program compares the two approaches to teacher preparation. In Teach for America, she learned how to design units and prepare lesson plans; in her university-based program, she had the time to learn from master teachers and build valuable skills, then practice…

The assumption behind movements to get alternatively certified teachers quickly into classrooms as full-time teachers is that high-performing college graduates with content knowledge can become good teachers through a summer of training and full-time, evening, teacher training courses. But when the authors asked new, precertified teachers who were…

In this wide-ranging interview with Educational Leadership, Stanford University Professor of Education Linda Darling-Hammond discusses the kind of preparation and support new teachers need to survive their critical first years in the classroom. Among her central recommendations are more intensive mentoring that lasts through the first year of…

Responding to Joe Smith's unfavorable comments concerning Texas' alternative certification program in the November 1991 issue of "Educational Leadership," this article claims the Texas program is highly successful, thanks to school-university cooperation and closely supervised teacher interns. New Jersey's failures cannot be likened to…

Argues that many alternative teacher-preparation and -certification programs do not produce effective classroom teachers. Dispels four myths about these alternative programs: They emphasize content knowledge, attract better candidates, produce more effective teachers, and have no effect on teacher retention. Describes characteristics of…

Describes an English major's alternative route to second-language instruction in Texas schools. Alternative certification programs offer a more accessible route to teaching for a diverse population, including degreed graduates with content specialties, midcareer individuals eager for a change, and minority and male candidates largely…

Schools and districts rarely have a fair distribution of teacher talent. Poor children and black children are less likely to be taught by the strongest teachers and more likely to be taught by the weakest. Several districts have implemented programs to reduce the teacher quality gap. Hamilton County, Tennessee, launched an initiative that included…

Reviews research comparing teaching performance of certified and uncertified teachers. Concludes that certified teachers perform better in the classroom than do uncertified teachers. Furthermore, teachers completing many alternative-teacher-certification programs may not perform any better than uncertified teachers. Empirical study finds that…

Discusses two separate studies showing that New Jersey's alternative route to teacher certification taxes schools' resources while failing to provide adequate teacher training. Although Texas schools have acknowledged that their program drains their resources and have cut back on the number of teachers trained in alternative routes, New Jersey…

Argues that conventional approaches to teacher training and certification deter interested and talented people from entering the teaching profession. Suggests combination of alternative certification programs and school-level accountability may help to increase the supply of quality teachers. (PKP)

Without profession-based quality control, well-meaning legislators are actually reducing the quality of our nation's teachers by implementing alternative certification laws allowing individuals with no preparation except a college degree to become teachers. Until teachers are well educated and carefully licensed, education reform will not succeed.…

The Teacher Education and Learning to Teach (TELT) study examined not only preservice and inservice programs but also induction programs and alternative teaching routes. Findings are summarized for subject matter knowledge, accommodation of diverse learners, mentoring, alternative certification programs, preservice programs, and improvement of…

For almost as long as teacher education programs have existed, there has been controversy about the appropriate balance between liberal arts and pedagogy, theory and practice, and university experiences and school-based experiences. The author of this article, a member of the American Educational Research Association's Panel on Teacher Education,…