The Alternative Certification of Science Teachers: Findings From the NSF-Funded STEM ACT Conference Morton M. Sternheim University of Massachusetts Amherst

The Alternative Certification of Science Teachers: Findings From the NSF-Funded

STEM ACT Conference

Morton M. SternheimUniversity of Massachusetts Amherst

[email protected]

NSF #0514620

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STEM ACT Conference

Science, Technology, Engineering and Math - Alternative Certification for Teachers

Funded by NSF - Teacher Professional Continuum Program May 5th-7th, 2006, Arlington, VA

Participants represented three communities: academic researchers and administrators policy makers in states and large cities alternative certification providers and teachers who have

gone through these programs

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Conference Organizers

Principal Investigators (all UMass)• Morton M. Sternheim, STEM Education Institute, Physics• Allan Feldman, Teacher Education and Curriculum

Studies• Joseph Berger, Educational Policy Research and

Administration

Staff Assistant• Yijie Zhao

Advisory Board

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Outline

Introduction• Conference Goals• Conference Format• Key point and question• Dissemination

Research Report Highlights Policy Report Highlights Practice Report Highlights Summary of Recommendations

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Conference Goals In-depth look at some existing programs and

models, including NSF funded alternative certification programs, plus district-based programs (e.g., Teach New York) and national programs (e.g., Teach For America).

Identify an agenda for future research questions on alternative certification to guide development and implementation of new programs.

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Conference Goals (cont.) Provide an overview of the existing policy on

alternative certification of secondary science teachers in the US, including key assumptions and questions.

Begin a synthesis of existing research on needs, methods, and outcomes of alternative certification for science teachers. Areas include• science learning• nature of science• context of schools• diversity and gender issues• teacher supply and demand• initial teacher education and development.

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Conference Format

Every attendee was a participant – a presenter and/or a responder to a paper read in advance

Friday night keynote (Ken Zeichner) Saturday plenaries, parallel sessions, posters Sunday morning, working sessions to define key

points Sunday afternoon, 3 writing committees plan the

research, policy, practice white papers

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Key Point: Ken Zeichner, keynote speaker

Teaching and teacher education are inherently complex and are not reducible to simple prescriptions for practice.

Much of what is believed to be associated with program excellence with regard to particular goals cannot currently be supported with empirical evidence

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Key Question: What is alternative certification?

Programs to put “career changers” in classrooms quickly?

Anything other than 4 year undergrad program?

Antoinette Mitchell (NCATE): Programs range from 5th year programs for students without education backgrounds, to programs designed for career-switchers, to programs designed for specific sectors of the community such as military personnel and para-professionals.

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Key Question: What is alternative certification?

Conclusion: We need a continuum of teacher preparation and support programs to support varied needs.

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Dissemination Plan

Produce 3 “white papers” plus overall summary Conference presentations

• Association for Teacher Education (ASTE)• National Association for Research in Science Teaching

(NARST)• American Association of Colleges of Teacher Education

(AACTE)• This meeting

Paper• Massachusetts Association for Supervision and

Curriculum Development Perspectives (September ’07) Web site www.stemtec.org/act

Issues for Researchers

STEM Alternative Certification

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Research White Paper Writing Committee

Abdulkadir Demir, University of Missouri, Columbia

Allan Feldman, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Chair

Jodie Galosy, Michigan State University, Co-Chair

Richard Iuli, SUNY Empire State College

Carole Mitchener, University of Illinois at Chicago, Co-Chair

HsingChi Wang, University of Calgary

Bruce Herbert, Texas A&M University

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Guiding question of STEM ACT conference:

"What do we know and what more do we need to learn about how to incorporate the results of more than 30 years of research on science teaching and learning into alternative certification programs?"

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Research on Alternative Certification

Mostly policy documents

• Need for, production, retention of teachers

• Generic, not subject or level specific

Other main body of literature is evaluation of specific AC programs

Third type of studies are comparative between “traditional” and “alternative”

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Focus on structural, rather than educational, differences

Pays little attention to teacher/student learning as an outcome

Does not take science subject matter into account

Draws little from research on science teaching and learning

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Comparative studies that lump AC and traditional programs into two undifferentiated groups are not productive:

• Alternative certification is ill-defined.

• There is at least as much variation within programs as between the two types (Wechsler, Humphey & Hough, 2006; Abell et al., 2006; Galosy, 2006; Lee, Olson & Scribner, 2006)

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Unhelpful Divides

Dividing teacher preparation into alternative and traditional is an example of unproductive divides that hamstring research on teacher education as

a field:• Science ed/general ed• Preservice/inservice• Licensing/education

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Rephrasing of guiding question for researchers

"What do we know and what more do we need to learn about science teacher education that takes into account the results of more than 30 years of research on science teaching and learning?”

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Reform Vision of good science teaching (NSES, AAAS, etc.)

Science classrooms are active and exciting places in which:

The science taught and learned is relevant and interesting to students’ lives;

Students’ curiosity for their world beyond their own experience is awakened;

Students are engaged in inquiry; and Students develop a commitment to responsible

citizenship.

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What, and how, do science teachers need to learn to enact reform-based science teaching in their classrooms?

The big question for practitioners

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What teacher beliefs, knowledge and skills support the Reform Vision? Science teachers need to know their subject. Science teachers need to have science subject

specific pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) Science teachers need to have knowledge about

science curriculum/instructional approaches Science teachers need to have practical

knowledge of running a lab, lab safety, etc. Science teachers need to have knowledge of the

students they teach and how students learn science

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What do science teachers need to know and be able to do to construct Reform Vision classrooms?

Lead author Beliefs/knowledge/skills/practices

Abell Content knowledge for teaching (CKT) and Pedagogical content knowledge for teaching (PCK)

Demir Inquiry-based teaching practices

Dern Teacher beliefs about student-centered teaching practices

Galosy Teachers’ expectations for their students’ science learning

Greenwood Teacher efficacy--belief that they can have positive impacts on student learning

Lee Active learning, collaborative learning, connecting science with students’ experience, misconceptions and learning difficulties, assessment

Mitchener Inquiry-based teaching beliefs and practices

Sterling Classroom management, planning, and instructional capacities

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Science teacher content knowledge:

Britton (2006): Science teaching is domain specific to the particular science discipline and to to the work of teaching that discipline.

Abell et al. (2006): Content knowledge for teaching science may be qualitatively different from academic science.

Wang (2006): College-level science courses may be major contributors to science teachers’ “fragmented and shallow” knowledge structures.

Nature of science – Knowledge of the discipline (McDonald, 2006)

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Science teacher pedagogical content knowledge

Understanding specific content within disciplinary and curricular contexts

Multiple ways of representing content How to design appropriate instructional tasks Ways of identifying students’ prior knowledge

and drawing on students’ experience/ideas Anticipating/identifying student errors and

addressing student misconceptions Assessing student understanding

(Abell et al., 2006; Britton, 2006; Greenwood et al., 2006; Kern et al., 2006)

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What pedagogies and pedagogical tools would help teachers develop reform-based teaching in classrooms?

Lead author Pedagogy/pedagogical tools

Abell Guided and independent internship models

Britton Science-specific mentoring and field experiences

Demir Inquiry-based experiences

Galosy Mentoring, coaching, workshops, literacy strategies

Greenwood Mentoring, field supervision

Mitchener Action research

Sterling Coursework, classroom coaching

Wang Coursework, field experiences, inquiry-based instruction

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Pedagogies: Induction and mentoring

Importance of the second year for action research (Mitchener, 2006).

Science specific district- or school-based mentoring (Galosy, 2006).

Both school-based and university-based mentors have important roles (Greenwood et al., 2006).

The novice teacher’s and mentor’s prior experience and knowledge should be taken into account in establishing mentoring relationships (Koballa et al., 2006).

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Mentoring

Effective programs have Trained mentors Provided mentors with time and resources Plan lessons and share curricula with mentees Demonstrate lessons to mentees; and Provide feedback from classroom observations.

(Humphrey, Wechsler, & Hough, 2006).

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Pedagogies

Ongoing, sustained interactions Collaborative work Practitioner inquiry - action research,

lesson study Field experiences Scientific research partnerships

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Recommendation - Research Agenda

Content and pedagogies of

teacher education

Teacher learning

Conceptual

Methodological Empirical

Student learning

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Research questions

What science and in what form do science teachers need to know?

How do we bridge traditional separations of preservice and inservice teacher education to create a professional continuum of science teacher education that includes the induction phase?

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Research questions

How do diverse teachers acquire beliefs, knowledge and skills across a variety of educational settings and opportunities?

• What coursework and field experiences lead to the development of knowledge and skills that help teachers, at various points in their professional development, bring reform visions into science classrooms (action research, institutional partnerships)?

• What roles can teacher collaboratives—groups of science teachers learning together—play in the continued education and production of professional knowledge? (e.g. mentoring, communities of practice)

What are the implication of what teachers learn for their students?

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Research questions

Who are the science teacher candidates? How do the following influence candidates’ development as science teachers?

• Age, race, ethnicity, gender• Prior experience• Science knowledge• Context and societal influences

Issues for Practitioners


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Report Authors

Barbara Austin, Northern Arizona University

Wendy Frazier, George Mason University

Anita Greenwood, UMass Lowell

Judith Hayes, Wichita State University

Charmaine Hickey, UMass Lowell

Kathy Shea, UMass Lowell

Morton Sternheim, UMass Amherst

Yijie Zhao, UMass Amherst

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What is alternative certification?

Antoinette Mitchell (NCATE): These programs range from 5th year programs for students without education backgrounds, to programs especially designed for career-switchers, to programs designed for specific sectors of the community such as military personnel and para-professionals.

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Program differences include Target recruitment audience Goals Structure Field-placement and field-placement support Mentoring support for interns

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Alternative certification teacher candidate differences include:

Prior classroom experience Career experience Life experience Education coursework experience

Because of these differences, “alternative certification” forms a continuum of teacher preparation to support varied needs of teacher candidates and schools or school districts

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Program Standards

National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) holds alternative certification programs to the same standards required of all programs in NCATE-accredited institutions as a way of making institutions accountable for the quality of their programs and for the quality of the educators they prepare.

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Alternative Certification Candidates

A greater percentage of older, life-experienced people wanting to enter the teacher profession when compared with traditional preparation models.

More of these mid-career switchers are male and/or are minorities interested in teaching in high-demand areas, in positions generally not sought by young, white females coming out of traditional schools of education.

Judith Hayes, Wichita: There’s been a dramatic shift in the profile of people studying to be teachers through alternative routes.

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Partnerships

Research indicates that teacher candidates working in alternative licensure programs with strong district – university partnerships perform better and stay in the profession longer.

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Partners

Primary partners• Hiring school districts, state licensing

authority, higher ed institution

Other partners – funding/recruiting • Corporations, e.g., Raytheon Teaching Fellows

Program• Federal agencies: NSF (Noyce Scholars), DOE,

…• Troops to Teachers, Teach for America, …

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Recruiting and Selecting Candidates

Depend on nature of the program Selecting and recruiting the right candidates for

admission to a particular program is important for the program’s success, because “investing resources in candidates unlikely to succeed is a lose-lose situation.”

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Selection

Usually require at least bachelor’s degree Screening process – tests, interviews, evidence of

content mastery, short demonstration lesson Often highly selective Some programs are committed to serving all

provisionally certified teachers in an area Humphrey et al: most alternative certification

programs bet on education background, work experience, previous classroom experience, or some combination of the three

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Recruiting

Many approaches, reflecting the programs Texas A&M: scholarships, job fairs, recruiting in

grad programs UT: All students in the College of Natural

Sciences are recruited. They receive a letter about it upon admission, hear about it during orientation, receive mailings each year. Student group presentations, media reports …

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Recruiting

Teach for America: Representatives visit many campuses, focus on selective colleges, accept only a small fraction of applicants

NYC Teaching Fellows program targets mid-career professionals as well as recent college graduates

Troops to Teachers program provides information and support to retiring military personnel, with offices in 32 states

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Candidates

Four groups of candidates1. Undergrads where there in no traditional certification

option2. Recent grads who opt to teach3. Career switchers or retired military4. Teachers who need courses to become “highly

qualified” in another subject

These groups have different needs Must match candidates and structure of the

program

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Need: Practical Teaching Knowledge

All need practical knowledge about navigating the current school environment: information about legal and ethical responsibilities, teaching to diverse populations, inclusion issues, and classroom management

Less important for group 4, those already teaching

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Need: Pedagogical Content Knowledge

Teachers not only need to understand science but teach in a manner that is consistent with what is known about how people learn science and reflects significant insights from recent educational research

Discipline-specific pedagogy issues – how to teach difficult concepts in a particular subject

Laboratory safety knowledge – chemicals, biomaterials, etc. – is critical for teachers to do hands-on science

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Need: Content Knowledge

Federal law mandates that teachers must have sufficient content knowledge as the major provision of being “highly qualified”

Mainly a need for group 4, teachers who need courses to become highly qualified

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Needs: Income, Non-traditional Delivery

Career changers and recent grads often need income during their training

Stipends, scholarships Non-traditional course delivery

• Summer immersion before placement• Subsequent summer courses• Evenings• Distance learning

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Mentoring

AC teacher candidates need mentoring support while they are in training

Mentoring for AC candidates is part of new teacher induction• Research: good induction programs cut attrition

Mentoring should reflect lack of education courses Mentors involved in AC programs need different

training from those in traditional certification programs so that they can address the subject specific needs of these individuals

When there is consistency between mentor and mentee in the conception of the mentor’s role, the mentoring relationship is productive

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The Challenge

Teaching and teacher education are inherently complex and are not reducible to simple prescriptions for practice.

Much of what is believed to be associated with program excellence with regard to particular goals cannot currently be supported with empirical evidence

Ken Zeichner, WisconsinKen Zeichner, Wisconsin::

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Oversimplified Views of Excellence (Zeichner)

Attempting to connect the surface features of teacher education programs (e.g., their length) to various teacher and student outcomes without accounting for the characteristics that candidates bring to their preparation

Attempting to define the characteristics of good teacher education programs by the mere presence or absence of certain program elements without addressing how these elements are defined and used and for what purposes

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Characteristics of Effective STEM ACT Programs

Needs-based design of the program • Tailored to needs of district or region• Tailored to needs of participants, backgrounds, etc.

High entrance standards• Screening, appropriate STEM backgrounds, match between

program design and background Intensive training focusing on professional expertise

• Subject content, pedagogical knowledge and skill training• Pedagogical content knowledge • Multicultural and special education issues

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On-site support during training• Comprehensive system of support from experienced,

trained mentors once the candidate begins working in a school.

• Candidates go through their training in cohorts at school so they have peer support

• Candidates have the opportunity of guided practice in lesson planning and teaching prior to taking full responsibility as a teacher

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Frequent program evaluation • Continuous monitoring, evaluation, and feedback of

individual and group performance to allow for program adjustment

• Candidates receive frequent evaluation of their teaching from well-trained mentors and faculty with strong STEM education backgrounds

• Faculty receives continual formal and informal evaluation of their instruction from the teacher candidates

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High exit standards• Standards tied to state standards for teaching• Candidates demonstrate that they have mastered the

knowledge, skills, and dispositions identified in state standards and can have a positive impact on student learning

Ongoing support of graduates after the program.• Structured, well-supervised induction period when the

novice receives observation and assistance in the classroom by an experienced teacher

• Ongoing professional development and reflection is supported by the school and/or the university through seminars, workshops, courses

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School – College Collaboration

Colleges, schools and the candidates have constant communication to ensure that teaching theory and practice are effectively integrated to address classroom and pedagogical issues.

School districts provide the teacher candidates in alternative certification programs with a supportive school environment to help them with effective transition to teaching.

The program prepares individuals for specific positions in specific schools, and should place participants in those positions early in the training.

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Effective STEM ACT Programs: Summary

• A program encompassing all these components may be an ideal, but these benchmarks provide a frame of reference for an effective AC program.

• These components are not an oversimplified checklist to measure the program quality. Rather, they serve as research directions for an in depth inquiry into the implementation and efficacy of these elements in achieving excellence in AC teacher preparation.


Issues for Policy-makers

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Writing Committee

Joseph B. Berger, UMass Amherst

Ted Britton, WestEd

Cassie Guarino, RAND

Jennifer Jackson, University of North Texas

Michael Marder, University of Texas at Austin

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Purpose of White Paper

Identification of key policies issues and strategies related to improving the alternative certification of science teachers.

Descriptive summary of the supply and demand issues associated with the certification of science teachers.

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Rising Above the Gathering Storm (2006)

“In a world where advanced knowledge is widespread and low-cost labor is readily available, U.S. advantages in the marketplace and in science and technology have begun to erode. A comprehensive and coordinated federal effort is urgently needed to bolster U.S. competitiveness and pre-eminence in these areas.”

RAGS recommends: Increase America's talent pool by vastly improving K-12

mathematics and science education; and With action steps that include improving the quantity and

quality of math and science teachers.

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Alternative Teacher Certification and Public Policy Historically the routes available for teacher

certification have been expanded beyond “traditional” on-campus postsecondary teacher training programs to a wider range of options.

State policies have increasingly moved towards providing a greater range of certification program options in order to address issues of quantity and quality in the production of new teachers.

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Defining Quantity and Quality

Quantity – the need for enough teachers – particularly in hard to staff:• Geographic areas (urban and rural) • Content areas (science, math, special ed)

Quality – need to ensure that science teachers are prepared and qualified to provide a high standard of teaching

Policy makers believe that there must be enough quantity before quality can be addressed.

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Framing the Quantity and Quality Problem

Public policy is concerned with addressing incentives and standards to ensure that there is a large enough supply of qualified teachers to meet the demands for quantity and quality

• Policies of Incentives to increase the quantity of teachers necessary to meet demand

• Policies of Standards to increase the quality of teachers

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Balancing Priorities in Policy Dilemmas

Quantity <–-> QualityIncentives <–-> StandardsShort-term <–-> Long-termHigh-need <–-> “Low-need” DistrictsPre-service <–-> In-service

Limited resources have been (and will be?) available to serve multiple (and sometimes competing) needs

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Shaping Policy - Sources of Influence on Supply and Demand Supply – what factors influence the

attractiveness of science teaching to potential workforce entrants?

Demand – what factors influence districts and schools to support certain numbers and types (e.g. certified, career-changers, etc) of science teacher positions?

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Supply and Demand Factors

Supply Entry Requirements Licensure Testing

Requirements Income/Compensation Working Conditions

Demand Accountability

Systems Screening and

Selection Career-changer Bias

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Supply - Requirements for entry to the profession

Teacher Education

• Pre-requisites (e.g. content knowledge, previous

experience, contextual congruence)• Length (number of courses, years, etc.)

• Cost (including foregone earnings and opportunity

costs)

• Degree of difficulty of program

• Value or quality (Perceived benefit in relation to cost)

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Supply – Licensure Testing Requirements

Cost of exams, applications, etc.

Difficulty of exams

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Supply – Income/Compensation

Entry Salary

Future Earnings

Salary Increments Gained Through Experience

Salary Increments Gained Through Career Advancement

Opportunities (e.g. master teacher, head of department,

etc.)

Retirement

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Supply – Working Conditions

Number of Preps

Supplies and Equipment

Curriculum Resources

Student Behavior

Parental/Community Support

Balance of Autonomy and Collegiality

Administrative Support

Mentoring, Induction Programs (etc.)

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Supply – Working Conditions (continued)

Class Size

Schedule Flexibility

Intrinsic Rewards

Professional Prestige

Community-to-community and State-to-state

differentials

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Demand – Accountability Systems

Difficulty of entry standards

Rigidity of subject-specific certification

requirements

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Demand – Resource Allocation

Funds allocated to:

• Public education

• Recruitment and retention

• Science teaching positions

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Demand – Screening and Selection

Resources allocated to screening and selection

processes

Higher entry standards reduce the quantity of

available teachers

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Demand – Context for Career-changers

Use of policies to recruit career-changers

In-school bias against career-changers

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Demand –Retention

In-profession

In-school

High Needs Districts

Retirements

Competing Opportunities

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Findings of STEM ACT Policy strand

In the process of balancing all these factors to determine demand, schools can make several tradeoffs.

There can be a quantity-quality tradeoff. A district can choose to employ fewer teachers but maintain high quality standards (e.g., increase class sizes and/or offer fewer courses but of higher quality).

Or the the district can sacrifice quality by employing as many teachers as possible in the district.

Or the district can sacrifice quality in science teaching to promote quality in other subject areas.

Or the district can sacrifice both quantity and quality just to stay solvent.

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Findings of STEM ACT Policy strand (continued)

Science is a relatively costly subject to teach. Laboratory or other types of experientially-

oriented teaching settings (e.g., field trips) require more resources than, say, English classes.

High quality science teachers may cost more, compared to other subjects (e.g., history)

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Findings of STEM ACT Policy strand

The quality of the science teacher employed in a school will depend largely on the total compensation package (by total compensation, we mean salaries, benefits, working conditions, and intrinsic rewards) that the school offers.

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Findings of STEM ACT Policy strand (continued)

Both the cost of high quality science teaching and the relatively low incentive to produce new science teachers can combine to exacerbate the shortage of good science teachers in the classroom.

Hard-to-staff schools are doubly challenged, needing to funnel scarce resources into the areas upon which their survival depends most heavily and being less likely to attract high quality science teachers than schools with more desirable working conditions for the same cost.

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Recommendations summarized

For researchers For practitioners For policy-makers

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Recommendations for policy makers

Need to balance attention to issues of supply and demand

Recognize trade-offs associated with quantity and quality

Science teaching must be a funded priority for states, districts and schools – resources need to be directed at improving demand (the number of positions offered)

Science teaching must be attractive enough for individuals to be willing to teach at a given level of overall compensation

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Recommendations for practitioners

Needs-based design of programs High entrance standards Intensive training focusing on professional

expertise On-site support during training Frequent program evaluation High exit standards Ongoing support of graduates after the program. School college collaboration

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Recommendations for practitioners, cont.

• A program encompassing all these components may be an ideal, but these benchmarks provide a frame of reference for an effective AC program.

• These components are not an oversimplified checklist to measure the program quality. Rather, they serve as research directions for an in depth inquiry into the implementation and efficacy of these elements in achieving excellence in AC teacher preparation.

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Recommendations for researchers

These questions need to be answered by research: What science and in what form do science

teachers need to know? How do we bridge traditional separations of

preservice and in-service teacher education to create a professional continuum of science teacher education that includes the induction phase?

How do diverse teachers acquire the beliefs, knowledge and skills across a variety of educational settings and opportunities?

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Recommendations for researchers, cont.

Who are the science teacher candidates? How do age, race, ethnicity, and gender; prior experience; science knowledge; and context and societal influences effect relate to candidates’ learning to be science teachers?

How do we transform credentialing programs into research-informed educational programs?

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More Information

www.stemtec.org/act• Proceedings (papers, PPT’s) online

This PowerPoint White papers (coming soon…)

Documents

The Alternative Certification of Science Teachers: Findings From the NSF-Funded STEM ACT Conference Morton M. Sternheim University of Massachusetts Amherst