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

• Main Author: Bales, Barbara L
• Format: Report
• Language: English
• 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

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)