Over the past 20 years, alternative certification for teachers has emerged as a major avenue of teacher preparation. The proliferation of new pathways has spurred heated debate over how best to recruit, prepare, and support qualified teachers. Alternative Routes to Teaching provides a thorough and dispassionate review of the research evidence on alternative certification. It takes readers beyond the simple dichotomies that have characterized the debate over alternative certification, encourages them to look carefully at the trade-offs implicit in any route into teaching, and suggests ways to “marry” the proven strengths of both traditional and alternative approaches.

Criticisms of teacher education, the low economic and political costs of trying to reform schools by reforming teacher education, along with the difficulty of filling some teaching positions with persons certified in traditional ways, have fueled a movement to create alternative routes to teacher certification in the vast majority of states. This monograph seeks to inform the ongoing policy debate over when and for what purposes alternative certification of teachers should be employed and to develop lessons that might lead to increasing the effectiveness of both alternative certification and traditional programs of teacher preparation. Following an introduction, the publication consists of six articles: (1) "The Theory and Practice of Alternative Certification: Implications for the Improvement of Teaching" (Willis D. Hawley); (2) "Alternative Certification in Connecticut: Reshaping the Profession" (Traci Bliss); (3) "Alternative Certification: State Policies in the SREB (Southern Regional Education Board) States" (Lynn M. Cornett); (4) "Los Angeles Unified School District Intern Program: Recruiting and Preparing Teachers for an Urban Context" (Trish Stoddart); (5) "Teaching and Knowledge: Policy Issues Posed by Alternate Certification for Teachers" (Linda Darling-Hammond); and (6) "The Place of Alternative Certification in the Education of Teachers" (Gary D. Fenstermacher). Selected references for each chapter are included. (LL)

Written to address all grade levels, this K-12 classroom resource provides teachers with strategies to support their culturally and linguistically diverse students. This highly readable book by Dr. Sharroky Hollie explores the pedagogy of culturally responsive teaching, and includes tips, techniques, and activities that are easy to implement in today's classrooms. Both novice and seasoned educators will benefit from the helpful strategies described in this resource to improve on the following five key areas: classroom management, academic literacy, academic vocabulary, academic language, and learning environment. This updated 2nd edition is grounded in the latest research, and includes an updated reference section and resources for further reading.

This book locates recent developments in teacher certification in North America within a broader, international policy context characterized as hegemonic neo-liberalism wherein economic rationalism has begun to trump professional judgment. We focus on teacher certification because it addresses fundamental questions about who will teach, what are the required minimum levels of competence, and who will make those decisions. Such questions are central to teaching, constituting a new battleground for education in North America. Two ideas—economic rationalism and professionalization—have become pivotal to education policy. Economic rationalism finds its expression in a free market ideology. Professionalization has two meanings: professionalizing the practice of teaching (constructing a professional knowledge base); and professionalizing the status of teaching (through links with universities and self-regulation). These ideas’ contestation varies by setting. In the USA, neo-liberalism has attacked professional knowledge, questioning its scientific veracity. Professionalization advocates claim that the neo-liberalist aim is to undermine teaching as a profession. In Canada, neo-liberalist critics are heard but have limited impact on policy. Professionalization has emphasized teachers’ pedagogical development and a valuing of the field’s input into teacher preparation. Neo-liberalist economic rationalism plays itself out overtly in the USA as de-regulation; in Canada, it lies embedded within labor mobility agreements. In the USA, professionalization highlights professionalism in practice; in Canada, the governance of teaching. This book explores how economic rationalism is using labor mobility agreements in Canada as a covert operation analogous to de-regulation in the USA to assert its dominance in the battle to de-professionalize teaching in North America.

Describes alternative routes to teaching, covering how they were developed, national programs, and state certification requirements.