This document discusses alternative teacher certification programs in Texas. It notes that while these programs have seen rapid growth in the number of teachers produced, there are concerns about their effectiveness. The purpose of the study was to examine how alternatively certified teachers perceive their own effectiveness, particularly regarding classroom management, curriculum knowledge, lesson planning and time management. The results showed areas of difficulty for these teachers in their first year, including lesson planning and understanding students. The conclusions indicate that alternative certification programs should provide more hands-on classroom experience to better prepare teachers.

1. Alternative Certification
The Difference Between What You See and What
You Hear

2. Marketing Genius
Want to Teach?
When Can You Start?
We’ve all seen this billboard
from a certain alternative
certification program (ACP),
which boasts that aspiring
teachers will quickly get a job
and be teaching in a
classroom.

3. Marketing Genius
In fact, the billboard and
marketing tools of this
ACP and the ACP’s
success at building their
“brand” (the number of
web hits and
applications submitted)
make it a “success” story
for their marketing firm!

4. Professional Opinions
A high school principal commented, “I know I’ve passed on
good teachers before, but I will not consider a resume from an
alternatively certified teacher.” (Bradley, K, personal communication, 20
Oct, 2010).
A local high school teacher commented, “We want our
teachers to student teach. We’ve had too many bad
experiences with unprepared alternatively certified teachers
to consider hiring an alternatively certified teacher who has
not done student teaching.” (L. Waters, personal communication, 18 Nov,
2010).

5. Problem Statement
As many parties seem to have a strong opinion on
alternatively certified teachers, the purpose of this
study is to determine the perceived effectiveness of
secondary alternative certification teachers in their first
year of teaching.

6. Terminology
Alternative certification (AC)
teachers are considered to be
teachers who have an
undergraduate degree in a
field other than education,
went through either a
privately-owned or university-
based program to obtain
certification, and completed an
internship.

7. Terminology
Effectiveness is based on
self-perceptions of:
classroom management,
curriculum knowledge,
ability to create lesson plans
and teach those plans, and
time management.
Effectiveness is not
measured by TAKS scores.

8. Increase of Alternatively
Certified Teachers
“A business called I-Teach Texas recently churned out
more than 1,400 new teachers through an Internet-
based program that requires no observation or
teaching in schools. During the same period, the
University of Texas at Austin prepared 142 new
teachers, or approximately 10 percent the number
produced by I-Teach Texas (U.S. Department of
Education 2009)” (Baines, 2010).

9. Growth of the Alternative
Route to Certification
(Texas Teachers of Tomorrow, 2011).
The ease in which teachers can sign up for and enter the
classroom coupled with the number of teachers using the
alternative route is a cause for concern as some questions are
left unanswered and research points to varying results in
terms of alternative certified teacher effectiveness.

10. Why is this Important?
According to Sokal, Smith and Mowat (2003), “research
shows that teacher education is a necessary aspect of quality
instruction... some researchers claim that AC teachers have
more difficulty learning to teach than do traditionally trained
teachers (Barry, 2001; Shen, 1997).”
According to pre-service teachers, “their frustration with their
inability to manage student behavior is left unaddressed by
their co-operating teachers... as well as by their faculty
advisors” (Sokal, Smith and Mowat, 2003).

11. Purpose for Investigating Self-
Perceptions of AC Teachers
This study aims to explore the perceived effectiveness
of secondary alternative certification teachers, and in
turn, shed new light on the measures that must be
incorporated into alternative certification programs.

12. Significance
This study is significant in that it identifies an accurate
self-perception of the effectiveness of AC teachers in
the state of Texas and allows programs to equip
potential teacher candidates with the knowledge they
need most to be an effective educator.

13. Study Results
Areas of Difficulty for First-Year Alternatively Certified Teachers
in Texas
14
12
10
Teachers
8
6
4
2
0
Lesson Classroom Student Teaching the
Planning Management Perception Curriculum (Lott, A., 2011)

14. Study Results
Areas of Improvement for Alternative
Certification Programs in Texas
14
12
10
Teachers 8
6
4
2
0
Teach Realistic Age Level Hands-On
Scenarios Specific Experience Required (Lott, A., 2011)

15. Conclusions
The teachers identified that they struggled most in knowing
what and how to teach their students. Even though teachers
passed the content area test, they didn’t know what they were
supposed to teach once they got into the classroom.
About half of the teachers had an inaccurate perception of
their students and this caused some classroom management
issues. These teachers repeatedly mentioned that they were
surprised by the immaturity of their students or how
irresponsible their students were.

16. Implications for ACPs
The teachers repeatedly said that observations (before they
actually had their own classroom) did not work.
Potential teachers need to have the experience dealing with
the everyday classroom management issues, have an
understanding of all of the different types of students that are
in the classroom and instructional content, which can only be
gained through hands-on classroom experience. Additional
research is needed to gather information on how to
accomplish this feat.

17. Works Cited
ACT Houston. (2011). ACT Houston. Retrieved from http://www.acthouston.com/
Baines, L. (2010). The disintegration of teacher preparation. Educational Horizons,
88(3), 152-163. Retrieved from ERIC database (EJ887226).
Hawkins, B. (22, Feb. 2011). Texas offers reasons for caution as Minnesota debates
alternative teacher licensure. MinnPost.com. Retrieved from http://
www.minnpost.com/learningcurve/2011/02/22/26007/
texas_offers_reasons_for_caution_as_minnesota_debates_alternative_teacher_licen
sure
LevelTen Interactive. (2007). Texas teachers. Retrieved from http://
www.leveltendesign.com/portfolio/success-story/texas-teachers
Lott, A. (2011). Reflections of an alternatively certified first-year teacher and recommendations
to improve alternative certification programs. Unpublished manuscript, College of
Education, Sam Houston State University, Huntsville, Texas.

18. Works Cited
Ott, Adrian. (2010). TAKS: Texas assessment of knowledge and skills. A history of high
stakes testing in Texas. Retrieved from https://classes.lt.unt.edu/Spring_2010/
CECS_5420_020/lao0041/Assign%203/taks.html
Sokal, L., Smith, D.G., & Mowat, H. (2003). Alternative certification teachers’ attitudes
toward classroom management. High School Journal, 86(3), 8-16.
Texas Teachers of Tomorrow. (2011). Our company’s history and overview. Retrieved from
http://www.texasteachers.org/our-company/program-history/
Texas Teaching Fellows. (2009). Texas teaching fellows. Retrieved from http://
www.texasteachingfellows.org/