Alternate Route Preparation: Iowa
Expanding the Pool of Teachers Policy
Analysis of Iowa's policies
Teachers
participating in Iowa Teacher Intern License programs must complete
16 credit hours of coursework. Twelve credit hours must be completed prior to
the first year of teaching, and four credit hours are taken during the internship
year. Additional coursework to secure a content endorsement may also be
required. The preinternship coursework includes learning environment/classroom management, instructional planning, instructional strategies, student learning, diverse learners, collaboration and assessment.
Candidates must complete at least 50 hours of field experience prior to
their internship year. During the internship year, the new teacher participates in a mentoring and induction program.
The Teacher Intern License is valid for one year. Individuals may apply for a standard initial
teaching license upon program completion.
Recommendations for Iowa
Ensure that coursework meets the immediate needs of new teachers.
While requiring some preparation prior to entering the
classroom is important, Iowa directs alternate route candidates to take a
considerable amount of coursework before they begin teaching, much of which is
more typically associated with a traditional preparation program. All
coursework requirements should be manageable for career changers and other
nontraditional candidates and contribute to the immediate needs of new
teachers. Appropriate coursework should include grade-level or subject-level
seminars, methodology in the content area, classroom management, assessment and
scientifically based early reading instruction.
Strengthen the induction experience for new teachers.
Although Iowa is commended for requiring all new teachers to
work with a mentor, there are insufficient guidelines indicating that the
mentoring program is structured for new teacher success. Effective induction
strategies include practice teaching prior to teaching in the classroom,
intensive mentoring with full classroom support in the first few weeks or
months of school, a reduced teaching load and release time to allow new
teachers to observe experienced teachers during each school day.
State response to our analysis
Iowa recognized the factual accuracy of this analysis. The state also noted that its standards for alternative licensure programs are being updated. This work is expected to be completed in 2016.
The state commented that the Iowa Teacher Leadership and Compensation system is in the second year of a three-year phased implementation across the state. This program will significantly improve the mentoring, induction and professional growth of beginning and experienced teachers.
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Iowa
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Delivering Well Prepared Teachers
- Admission into Teacher Preparation
- Elementary Teacher Preparation
- Elementary Teacher Preparation in Reading Instruction
- Elementary Teacher Preparation in Mathematics
- Early Childhood
- Middle School Teacher Preparation
- Secondary Teacher Preparation
- Secondary Teacher Preparation in Science and Social Studies
- Special Education Teacher Preparation
- Special Education Preparation in Reading
- Assessing Professional Knowledge
- Student Teaching
- Teacher Preparation Program Accountability
Expanding the Pool of Teachers
Identifying Effective Teachers
- State Data Systems
- Evaluation of Effectiveness
- Frequency of Evaluations
- Tenure
- Licensure Advancement
- Equitable Distribution
Retaining Effective Teachers
Exiting Ineffective Teachers
Pensions
Research rationale
Alternate route
programs must provide practical, meaningful preparation that is sensitive to a
new teacher's stress level.
Too many states have policies requiring alternate route
programs to "backload" large amounts of traditional education
coursework, thereby preventing the emergence of real alternatives to
traditional preparation. This issue is especially important given the large
proportion of alternate route teachers who complete this coursework while
teaching. Alternate route teachers often have to deal with the stresses of
beginning to teach while also completing required coursework in the evenings and
on weekends. States need to be careful to require participants only to meet
standards or complete coursework that is practical and immediately helpful to a
new teacher.
Induction support is
especially important for alternate route teachers.
Most new teachers—regardless of their preparation—find
themselves overwhelmed on taking responsibility for their own classrooms. This
is especially true for alternate route teachers, who may have had considerably
less classroom exposure or pedagogy training than traditionally prepared
teachers. While alternate route programs will ideally have provided at least a
brief student teaching experience, not all programs can incorporate this into
their models. States must ensure that alternate route programs do not leave new
teachers to "sink or swim" on their own when they begin teaching.
Alternate Route Preparation: Supporting Research
For
a general, quantitative review of the research supporting the need for states
to offer an alternate route license, and why alternate routes should not be
treated as programs of "last resort," one need simply to look at the
numbers of uncertified and out of field teachers in classrooms today, readily
available from the National Center for Education Statistics. In addition, with
U.S. schools facing the need to hire more than 3.5 million new teachers each
year, the need for alternate routes to certification cannot be underestimated.
See also E.R. Ducharme and M.K. Ducharme, "Quantity and quality: Not enough to go around." Journal of
Teacher Education, Volume 49, No. 3, May 1998, pp. 163-164.
Further,
scientific and market research demonstrates that there is a willing and able
pool of candidates for alternate certification programs—and many of these
individuals are highly educated and intelligent. In fact, the nationally
respected polling firm, The Tarrance Group, recently conducted a scientific
poll in the State of Florida, identifying that more than 20 percent of
Floridians would consider changing careers to become teachers through alternate
routes to certification.
We
base our argument that alternative-route teachers should be able to earn full
licensure after two years on research indicating that teacher effectiveness
does not improve dramatically after the third year of teaching. One study
(frequently cited on both sides of the alternate route debate) identified that
after three years, traditional and alternatively-certified teachers demonstrate
the same level of effectiveness, see J.W. Miller, M.C. McKenna, and B.A. McKenna, "A comparison of alternatively and traditionally prepared teachers". Journal of Teacher Education, Volume 49, No. 3, May 1998, pp. 165-176. This finding is
supported by D. Boyd, D. Goldhaber, H. Lankford, and J. Wyckoff, "The Effect of Certification and Preparation on Teacher Quality." The Future of Children, Volume 17, No. 1, Spring 2007, pp. 45-68.
Project
MUSE (http://muse.jhu.edu/), found that student achievement was
similar for alternatively-certified teachers as long as the program they came
from was "highly selective."
The
need for a cap on education coursework and the need for intensive mentoring are
also backed by research, as well as common sense. In 2004, Education Commission
of the States reviewed more than 150 empirical studies and determined that
there is evidence "for the claim that assistance for new teachers, and, in
particular, mentoring [have] a positive impact on teachers and their retention."
The 2006 MetLife Survey of the American Teacher validates these conclusions. In
addition, Mathematica (2009) found that student achievement suffers when
alternate route teachers are required to take excessive amounts of coursework.
See An Evaluation of Teachers Trained
Through Different Routes to Certification: Final Report at: http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED504313.pdf
See
also Alternative Certification Isn't Alternative (NCTQ, 2007)
at: http://www.nctq.org/p/publications/docs/Alternative_Certification_Isnt_Alternative_20071124023109.pdf.