State Pushes For Stricter Rules On Alternative Certification Teacher Programs
Posted by admin
The State Board for Educator Certification, or SBEC, which licenses teachers, is considering a new rule requiring alternative certification programs to accept only students who maintained a 2.5 grade-point average or better in college. So-called “alt-cert” teachers also would be required to go through a set amount of training hours before facing students in the classroom.
The proposal is important because nearly one out of five public-school teachers in Texas – and roughly half of all new teachers each year – are products of alt-cert training programs. The numbers mirror a national trend.
Arrayed in favor of the new rules are state education officials, teachers colleges, teachers groups and most school district hiring officers. They say stricter state regulation will enhance teacher quality and improve public school student performance.
“There’s a battle going on between people who think we should have high entrance requirements before people get into the classroom versus free-market people who think we should let anyone into the classroom and then look at their students’ achievement and decide whether to keep them,” said Ed Fuller, a University of Texas education professor.
Alternative certification programs sprang up in the 1980s to compete with traditional university teacher training programs. They were intended to attract more job applicants for hard-to-fill subject areas such as math, science and bilingual education – areas for which universities are not producing enough teachers.
“I want to make teaching accessible to everyone,” said Diann Huber, iteachTexas director and a former University of North Texas education instructor.
Tags: education, education officials, educator, job, s college, teacher program