Strange Bedfellows? Title I Funding, Alternative Teacher Certification Programs, and State Teacher Standards

This paper discusses the need to build instructional capacity in high poverty, low performing schools using Title I funding and integrate the corresponding federal policy requirements with state teacher education policies to allow states and districts to develop locally designed partnerships with al...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author Bales, Barbara L
Format Report
LanguageEnglish
Published 01.02.2002
Subjects
Accountability
Alternative Teacher Certification
Disadvantaged Youth
Educational Finance
Elementary Secondary Education
Elementary Secondary Education Act Title I
Financial Support
Higher Education
Low Achievement
Pedagogical Content Knowledge
Poverty
Preservice Teacher Education
State Standards
Teacher Competencies
Teacher Knowledge
Teacher Qualifications
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Summary:This paper discusses the need to build instructional capacity in high poverty, low performing schools using Title I funding and integrate the corresponding federal policy requirements with state teacher education policies to allow states and districts to develop locally designed partnerships with alternative certification agencies. It recommends building instructional capacity by allowing alternative certification programs to place certified and qualified teachers into high-poverty, low-achieving schools using Title I funding. Two interrelated strategies that alternative certification programs need for building instructional capacity in high poverty schools include cultivating programs that certify teachers' content knowledge and providing those teachers with pathways to develop the pedagogical and pedagogical content knowledge needed to improve the quality of their instruction. The paper suggests specific policy recommendations for holding alternative certification programs accountable to state performance-based teacher standards and student assessment results. Implementation issues that influence such efforts include time (quality teachers are needed immediately) and concentration of alternatively-certified teachers in already high-poverty, low-performing schools. (Contains 43 references.) (SM)