by Vicky S. Dill, Ph.D. and Delia Stafford-Johnson
The National Center for Alternative Teacher Certification

Scarred but not humbled. Autobiography certainly isn’t research, but it can be so telling! In 1984, the Texas legislature approved House Bill 72, a sweeping reform effort that included truly alternative routes to teacher certification - completely new ways to become a teacher. At the time, Vicky Dill was an employee at the Texas Education Agency whose responsibility was to monitor traditional teacher education programs. In Houston ISD, Delia Stafford would soon be appointed, by then Superintendent Dr. Billy Reagan, to direct what was to become the largest school-based teacher education program in America. It was the first in Texas and was considered exemplary by the Texas Education Agency monitoring team during the 1993-94 school year under Staffords directorship. The Houston Alternative Certification Programs continue to produce large numbers of qualified teachers for the students in Houston ISD.

One morning late in 1987, shortly after Vicky Dill arrived to work in the teacher education division, a colleague said, “You’ll be monitoring and developing alternative teacher certification programs.”

“What are they?” Vicky asked.

Little could the two of us have known at the time that his answer and the tsunami later known in Texas as “alternative teacher certification” would 1) totally change our life, direction, and mission and 2) become one of the most significant innovations in state as well as national educational history.

The mid ‘80’s were an arresting eye-opener for all educators. School districts in dire need of teachers in shortage areas could develop programs, collaborate with institutions of higher education and service centers, get them approved by the State Board of Education, and certify their own teachers! It was a revolution in monopoly-busting, and the resistance wasn’t pretty.

Deans and professors protested thoroughly and at length. Alarms sounded almost universally. “Interns,” as the novice teachers who were moving from career to teaching were called, were often met in the teachers’ lounge by derogatory graffiti; state department representatives, including the two of us, were unceremoniously ushered out of meetings. Doom was predicted; every inch of change resisted.

Full throttle ahead. Yet change has occurred in the last fifteen or sixteen years, and that change has been dramatic and radical. Teacher certification change in Texas has been turned absolutely topsy-turvy; completely upside down. The plethora of routes to certification in Texas attests to the perseverance of educators of good will to be inclusive, compromise, and carve out numerous ways to become certified that will simultaneously ensure quality while erecting no barriers. During the last decade and a half, directors of alternative routes in the state of Texas have shown that there are many routes, but only one goal -- high quality, caring teachers who will stay on the job longer. Where has this precipitous journey led?

The experiment in Texas gives full testimony to the power of policy. The alternative teacher certification rule was modified repeatedly. The highest and most powerful body, the State Board of Education, closely watched the programs and shaped policy to fit performance outcomes data. The result of the grassroots movement in Texas was the stunning realization that many people, especially mid-career switchers, wanted to teach but simply did not have access to user-friendly credentialing programs. When those programs were offered, lines of interested candidates wended around multiple city blocks in urban areas , in Houston 6,000 applicants the first year; early on and much to the shock of program directors, many more people want to teach than program resources could support! At first, observers thought it was the economy; the unemployed wanted to teach. Quickly, however, the opposite became apparent. The mid-career switchers these programs were attracting were coming because 1) they wanted to give something back to society; they had matured enough to want to make a difference, particularly in the lives of at-risk students, and 2) they frequently had enough income from an early retirement they could now afford to be teachers. And while the economy in Texas improved, the candidates pools did not substantially shrink.

Alternative programs remain more selective than traditional and many programs use the Haberman Star Teacher Interview which now is being taught nationwide by The Haberman Foundation staff and consultants..

The numbers are holding. As recently as 1995, Texas has issued 19,000 alternative certificates and its programs are a model for other states (www.nctq.org/states/tx.html <http://www.nctq.org/states/tx.html> Overview 1999-2000). Nationwide, some 125,000 individuals have been certified through alternative routes (www.ncei.com/NRO20300.htm <http://www.ncei.com/NRO20300.htm> February 3, 2000). Nearly all states, a total of 43, have some form of legislation on the books. However, many of the rules guiding these types of programs remain considerably more restrictive than those in Texas. Currently, the same guidelines for program development exist in Texas for both traditional and alternative routes. By stipulating the results, the outcomes, Texas programs have spawned creative hybrids from consortia programs run by multiple colleges, service centers, private corporations such as the Sylvan Learning Corporation , universities, to local school district programs run primarily on line. And Texas’ experience is not singular. In California, Massachusetts, New York, and Colorado, creative certification programs are selecting from large pools of mid-career switcher candidates.

A different kind of teacher. Research now indicates that mid-career alternative teacher certification interns are generally qualitatively different from traditionally educated novices. Because these individuals already have baccalaureate degrees, they tend to be older and bring more work experience to the classroom. Statistically, they are more diverse, bringing to schools more teachers of color and men (www.ncei.com/NR020300.htm <http://www.ncei.com/NR020300.htm>. February 2000). Further, retention is increased because, as mid-career teachers, these individuals have made a decisive move to teach at a critical time in their lives. The advantages are many, while the downsides - as programs improve - shrink.

The literature is growing. Many years of research now support the notion that teachers can succeed while being trained in a variety of ways. When these individuals are screened for the ability to build relationships with students (we recommend using The Haberman Star Teacher Interview), they may enter a dazzling array of field-based, often Internet-assisted environments and acquire an excellent background enabling recommendation for certification. Using a variety of techniques, California now educates nearly 20% of its teachers alternatively; Texas nearly 30%.

Full Circle. Colleges of education now heartily request the privilege to participate with school districts in alternative teacher certification programs. Truly teacher education in several innovative states has experienced a thorough paradigm shift; alternative teacher certification has come of age!

Next column. In the next column, we’ll talk in more detail about the types of individuals who select alternative teacher certification programs and some of the results they are achieving.

For further information about how your school or university can develop Alternative Teacher Certification programs, please contact The National Center for Alternative Teacher Certification Information at http://www.altcert.org or call 713-667-6185.
Vicky S. Dill, Ph.D. Delia Stafford-Johnson

For many years Dr. Dill worked at The Texas Education Agency reviewing traditional teacher education programs and building alternative program and has many years of experience in teacher education in colleges and university. Dr. Dill authored A Peaceable School: Creating a Culture of Non-Violence published by Phi Delta Kappa (1999). Dr. Dill is currently Associate Director of Special Programs for Round Rock ISD (Round Rock, TX) and Senior Researcher for The Haberman Foundation/NCATCI. Delia Stafford-Johnson is President and CEO of The Haberman Educational Foundation/National Center for Alternative Teacher Certification Information (NCATCI). For ten years, she was Director of the first alternative teacher certification program in Texas started in the Houston Independent School District and has twice been honored by President Bush at the White House for her work in teacher education.