Alternate Routes to Certification:
Removing Roadblocks to Teacher Quality

  • Research shows that children with high-quality teachers significantly outperform those with low-quality teachers.1
  • Teach for America teachers are two to three times as effective as traditional teachers, especially in math and science, according to a 2008 Urban Institute study.2
    • 150 Teach for America corps members teach in Hartford, New Haven, and Stamford public schools.
  • Urban Connecticut districts struggle to recruit high-quality teachers, particularly in subjects such as math and science. Bridgeport has recently had to recruit math and science teachers from India. Many children are stuck with long-term substitute teachers.
  • Connecticut’s cities need urgently more highly effective teachers, particularly in math and science.
    • ln Hartford, just 12 percent of 10th grade students perform at grade level in science compared to 78 percent in neighboring Avon.

Problem 1: TFA Alternative Certification at Risk

  • The State Department of Education is considering possible changes to alternative certification provisions which will put Teach for America’s ability to recruit and train high-quality teachers at risk.
    • Teach for America depends on a 90-day grace period after the first day of school for certification.
    • The State Department of Education is considering removing this window.
  • Of the 24 states in which it operates, Connecticut is the only state that restricts TFA in this fashion.

Solution

  • At no cost to the state, allow Teach for America to establish a one-year resident teacher certificate.
  • Extend the alternative certification deadline from the first day of teaching to one year with a resident certificate.
  • Teachers who commit to working in high-need districts earn certification over the course of a year-long residency.

Problem 2: Subject Area Requirements Too Rigid

  • Connecticut law prevents excellent candidates from teaching simply because they do not have a college major in a given subject area—regardless of their mastery of the material in that field.

Solution

  • Sixteen states, including Massachusetts and New Jersey, allow subject knowledge tests in lieu of college coursework, which satisfies the No Child Left Behind “highly-qualified” teacher standard.
  • At no additional cost to the state, Connecticut should allow prospective teachers who score high on the Praxis II exam to bypass college credit requirements in high-need subject areas (e.g. science, math, world languages).
  • Secondary teaching certificate candidates would have two ways to demonstrate their subject-area knowledge:
    • College major (30 credits of coursework), OR
    • Mastery on Praxis II, a rigorous subject-area test already in use as part of the state’s certification process.

1 “The Effects of Teachers on Longitudinal Student Achievement,” Heather Jordan, Robert Mendro, and Dash Weerasinghe, 1997.

2 This study concluded that “disadvantaged students were better off with TFA teachers, especially in math and science, than with fully-licensed teachers with three or more years of experience.” “Making a Difference? The Effect of Teach for America on Student Performance in High School,” Urban Institute, Zeyu Xu, Jane Hannaway, Colin Taylor, March 2008.