Alternative Teacher Certification and the New Professionalism

• In Event: Assessing Diversity in Alternative Certification Programs

Abstract

Alternative teacher certification programs have surfaced as a popular remedy to alleviate anxieties about the quality of teachers in hard-to-staff schools and in such high needs areas as mathematics. Yet the particulars of such programs remain largely unexamined. This study addresses this situation by investigating the preparation of mathematics teachers in the New York City Teaching Fellows (NYCTF) program, an alternative route program of national prominence. It draws on analyses of survey, interview, policy, and program data to examine the preparation of mathematics candidates in NYCTF program and the state and district policies that shaped it. We find that these policies, NYCTF preparation, and program participants generally endorse a technical approach to teacher preparation and teaching.

Author

• Andrew M. Brantlinger, University of Maryland