| Read a Post for Insights into Alternative Certification: Initial Findings From a National Study | | | | Reply to this Post | | | New Paper by Daniel Humphrey and Marjorie Wechsler | | Posted By: Sanford Lake on September 9, 2005 | | | With all due respect, I submit [i.e., it is my opinion] that there is no correlation between the quality of teachers in the aggregate who are the products of alternative certification programs and those who attain credentials through the traditional teacher preparation route [howsoever we agree on the criteria by which "quality" is to be defined.] Rather, the following statement by the authors is equally as applicable to matriculants in approved, traditional teacher certification programs as it is to alternatively certified teachers:
"Alternative certification program participants are a diverse group of individuals who defy generalization. In addition, we find a great deal of variation between and within alternative certification programs. In contrast to simplistic characterizations, we find teacher development in alternative certification to be a function of the interaction between the program as implemented, the school context in which participants are placed, and the participants’ backgrounds and previous teaching experiences."
Were there reliability between and among traditional teacher preparation programs and the cache of the credentials granted thereby, there would be virtually no need for standardized teacher certification assessments.
Sanford E. Lake
slake2@nycap.rr.com |
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