Generalist Dominance and Specialist Survival Among Alternate-Certification Teaching Programs in New Orleans

• In Event: Poster Session 7
  In Poster Session: Impacts of Teacher Policies and Reforms in the United States and International Contexts

Abstract

As an innovation to increase teacher training and supply and to circumvent traditional routes to certification, alternative certification (AC) programs today occupy a premier spot in the human capital pipeline. In this qualitative study of the eight AC programs in New Orleans, I explore the inter-institutional interplay that enables both small and large programs to coexist and survive. I apply resource partitioning theory from organizations literature to classify each program as generalist or specialist. I find that national-scope, large AC programs enjoy the most access to program resources, but that smaller, local programs can carve out niches by providing online credentialing, drawing on established HBCU-public school relationships, or asserting professional expertise by way of affiliation with a prestigious postsecondary institution.

Author

• Jennifer Lauren Nelson, Emory University