The flexibility of alternative certification accommodates the rigors of work and family life. For those who have considered leaving their current professions or are looking for work after college, alternative certification programs exist to ease the transition into the education field. With the time constraints of work and tending to a family, individuals may not have the time to embark on inflexible, rigorous, time-consuming college courses. Classes for alternative certification often meet several nights a week or on weekends, and the programs usually run for one to two years. In teacher-shortage school districts, administrators may accept program enrollment as emergency certification in lieu of teaching credentials, so prospective teachers can teach while going through the program.
Alternative certification reaches out to people who are underrepresented in the teaching field such as men and racial minorities. These groups typically focus on fields other than education while in college and tend to work in non-teaching fields. The alternative certification route also appeals to people who majored in foreign languages, mathematics or the sciences and have chosen to work in their fields after graduation. Teachers with these backgrounds are in short supply and thus in high demand. The non-traditional certification programs offer these individuals a chance to become teachers without having to go back to school to earn another four-year degree. Many people who have pursued alternative certification have a tendency to work in areas that are predominantly minority or poverty stricken.
Because alternative certification does not take as much time to complete as traditional methods, its costs range significantly less. Most states have certification programs that cost about $5,000 or less, which would be significantly less than majoring in education at a four-year institution. The average tuition for undergraduates at a public four-year institution is a little more than $8,000 for the 2011 to 2012 school year, according to the College Board website. Multiply that amount by four years, and education majors would have paid roughly $32,000 in tuition for their bachelor’s degree. In addition, many alternative certification programs accept payment plans or subtract a certain amount from the teacher’s monthly paycheck once she has begun teaching. In some programs, the hiring school district may pay for half of the certification training.
In certain areas, the need for teachers has become so desperate that alternative certification programs in the region do not exhibit much selectivity. Alternative certification is often no different than emergency certification. Teachers become certified as soon as possible, usually within a couple of years. Many of these programs are willing to accept almost any candidate who possesses a bachelor’s degree; candidates may even be admitted with GPAs of lower than a C average. These programs do not require any prerequisite courses having to do with subject matter or education. The candidates admitted into the program, and later thrust into the classroom to interact with children, may not be the most prepared to enter the classroom.
Many alternative teacher certification programs have condensed the coursework designed to mold future educators into the span of a year or two. Because of time constraints, alternative certification will no address some of the coursework of traditional teacher certification programs. The mediocre alternative programs present little more than a hodge-podge of what administrators believe the new teacher will encounter in the classroom. Alternative certification may scarcely touch on pedagogy, the science of teaching children and a significant part of the coursework in traditional certification. With the condensed coursework and neglect of pedagogy, some teachers going the alternative route may not feel prepared to step into the classroom.
After receiving certification, a teacher graduating from an alternative certification program often does not have the new teacher support typical of the traditional methods of certification. New teachers coming from alternative certification programs find themselves lacking a support system or teacher induction period. These fresh teachers may not have had the chance to observe classrooms or sit down with an experienced mentor teacher or school educational specialist before facing her first students. The new teacher often finds herself in a “sink or swim” situation, having neither mentor nor aides and garnering little feedback from the administration.