Are there alternative ways to get a teaching credential for people who have a college degree?
Forty-one states and the District of Columbia have developed some type or types of alternative routes for certifying teachers. And they range all over the place. The only thing they have in common is that the person has to already have at least a bachelor’s degree in order to get into an alternative route. But the alternative routes in the ’90s — every year that went by — have resulted in ever more refined and, I think, improved, alternate route programs. So that now we do see the development of programs that are really quite well-defined and really do incorporate all of those qualities that I mentioned earlier. You know, they get people in classrooms early working with mentor teachers. The college/university personnel are involved in teaching the theoretical courses that are not necessarily required but needed in order for someone to really become a good teacher. And the programs generally last a year or two.
