Alternative certification.(correspondence)(Letter to the editor)

I applaud Education Next for its research on ways in which nontraditional programs are recruiting individuals of color into the teaching field. The National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) has accredited Western Governors University, an institution committed to producing more teachers of color for hard-to-staff schools, especially in rural areas. NCATE has also just completed a study of urban teacher residency (UTR) programs. UTRs succeed in attracting teachers of color to teach in urban areas in shortage fields, which traditional programs have failed to do in large enough numbers. Moreover, unlike some other alternative programs, UTRs retain the teachers they have trained in these hard-to-staff schools. In short, NCATE is interested in accrediting break-the-mold programs of high quality.

However, Peterson and Nadler ("What Happens When States Have Genuine Certification?" check the facts. Winter 2009) define "genuine alternative route" as any program requiring under 30 credit hours of coursework; they note, "Of 21 states we consider to have genuine alternate certification, 7 required only that the person pass a test." While NCATE supports high-quality preparation programs, whether they are traditional or alternative routes, it does not support approaches that place unprepared individuals in classrooms on the ...