History of Alt Cert Teacher Programs in Illinois
For years, powerful teacher unions and tuition-rich
traditional programs at the universities kept alternative certification out
of Illinois...
Here is part of the history of how Alt Cert programs came to
Illinois...
Over the last 15 years, shortcuts to teacher certification,
once vilified by critics as a back door for substandard teachers, have
slowly but steadily gained acceptance among state legislatures and school
districts. Even teachers unions and universities, both bastions of
traditional teacher training, have begun to inch their way onto the
bandwagon.
Illinois has begun to go with this flow, but just barely.
Until 1997, the only way to start an
alternative-certification program in Illinois was to win approval from the
state’s Teacher Certification Board, composed largely of union and
university representatives. As a result, the state’s handful of
alternative programs are small scale. For example, DePaul University’s
nine-year-old partnership with the Glenview school district trains no more
than 18 interns a year.
"The colleges have been put in a difficult
position," observes Rob Sampson, division administrator of professional
preparation for the Illinois State Board of Education. "A four-year
curriculum brings in a lot of money for a school, and so they are reluctant
to get away from that."
In 1996, the Golden Apple Foundation sought approval from
the certification board for a program to bring industry professionals with
math and science expertise into Chicago classrooms without requiring them to
take the prescribed teacher education courses. "They laughed us
out," recalls Dom Belmonte, director of teacher preparation programs
for Golden Apple. "Having been rebuffed, we sought a response from the
legislature."
A year later, they got it. In 1997, the General Assembly
passed a law authorizing non-profit organizations to partner with colleges
and universities to establish alternative routes to teacher certification.
Separate provisions allow colleges and universities to establish their own
such programs for teachers and for administrators, excluding principals and
assistant principals.
Initially, alternative certificates obtained through
partnerships between non-profits and universities were valid only in
Chicago. "The larger of the teachers unions expressed the opinion that
it would not work actively against us if the certification were only for
Chicago," says Belmonte. (The Illinois Education Association is
Illinois’ largest teachers union.) Golden Apple’s response: "Let us
begin in this manner and change it later."
With help from state Sen. Dan Cronin (R-Elmhurst), they
won a change this summer. Now, partnership graduates are restricted to
Chicago’s public schools only during their first four years. Then, when
they renew their certificates, they may teach anywhere in the state.
"In this manner we get four years of them in
Chicago," notes Belmonte. "I originally wanted them to be
certified statewide right away, but it would allow these adults to be
prepared in Chicago and then skeddadle to the suburbs."
Under the law, there are three steps to an alternative
certificate.
First, qualified
candidates must complete an initial phase of study and practice teaching. If
they pass muster, they receive a one-year, non-renewable, provisional
certificate, which allows them to teach.
Second,
candidates fulfill a one-year internship, working full time as a teacher or
administrator under the guidance of a mentor.
Finally,
candidates are assessed by school, university and any other partners before
receiving a certificate.
In contrast, obtaining a regular elementary or high school
certificate requires 16 credit hours in specified education courses and at
least eight weeks of student teaching, among other things. Obtaining one
through a typical master’s program usually takes at least two years.
And for students working full time, it can take even
longer. "I was discouraged by the number of years it was going to
take," notes Caterina Plummer, who passed up conventional master’s
degree programs twice on the road to becoming a teacher. (See
story.)
Admission to an alternative teacher certification program
requires:
A bachelor’s
degree.
Passing the basic
skills and subject matter tests required of all teacher candidates.
At least five
years of employment in a field related to the area of study.
To enroll in an alternative program for administrative
certification, applicants must have a master’s degree in management or a
bachelor’s degree and equivalent life experience, as well as at least five
years of employment in a managerial position. They also must pass the basic
skills and administration tests.
So far, only Northwestern University has acted on the new
state authority. It is Golden Apple’s partner in the Golden Apple Teacher
Education program, called GATE for short. Martin "Mike" Koldyke is
the founder of the Golden Apple Foundation and a board member of
Northwestern.
Now in its second year, GATE has 25 interns and seven
graduates teaching in CPS. The program is looking to expand; the University
of Illinois at Chicago is the hottest prospect. "We are in conversation
with them," says Belmonte. "I have expressed an interest in
expanding GATE into other high-need areas—special education and bilingual
education."
UIC is a nationally recognized leader in bilingual
education. Also, as part of a major grant-supported overhaul of its teacher
preparation programs, the university has promised to start an alternate
route for math and science teachers. (See
story in Grants.)
Over the last seven years, the Chicago Public Schools have
had an alternative route to regular teacher certification. Called Teachers
for Chicago, participants take an introductory teaching course over the
summer and then go right into the classroom, working under the tutelage of a
mentor teacher. Unlike GATE participants, they take regular college
education courses "after school." In two years, they earn a
master’s degree in education and a certificate that allows them to teach
anywhere in the state.
The program is a partnership among CPS, nine local
universities, the Chicago Teachers Union and the Golden Apple Foundation.
"The real catalyst for the program was John Kotsakis
from the Chicago Teachers Union," says Fred Chesek, program manager of
Teachers for Chicago. Kotsakis, who died in 1994, "brought all these
disparate forces together and said, ‘There are shortages all over the
system. What can we do to address them?’" Chesek relates.
"This is an alternative route to certification, not
an alternative certificate itself," Chesek stresses. "Every one of
our people does everything any other teacher does."
From 1992 to 1997, Teachers for Chicago brought 621
teachers into the Chicago Public Schools. Nearly 90 percent of them stayed
in the system after completing their two-year internship.
"We believe the commitment they make is much stronger
than the commitment that a young person might make," says Chesek. The
average age of TFC interns is 35.
Chesek also credits the commitment of participating
schools and mentor teachers with a large share of TFC’s success. In order
to receive interns, a school must submit an application approved by the
principal, local school council chair, union delegate and Professional
Personnel Advisory Committee chair. These four key players also must approve
teachers chosen to mentor the interns. Each mentor is assigned four interns
and is released from classroom responsibilities for the two years it takes
the interns to complete the program.
CPS pays for Teachers for Chicago but keeps costs down by
hiring interns at $21,000 plus benefits. If the system hired certified
teachers for those classrooms, it would have to pay at least $34,824, which
is the starting salary in the union contract.
The savings give interns a big perk: free tuition at the
participating colleges and universities: Chicago State, Columbia, Concordia,
DePaul, Loyola, Northeastern Illinois, Roosevelt, Dominican and St. Xavier.
Joyce Lieberman, a visiting professor in UIC’s College
of Education, has been observing both GATE and TFC interns as the university
begins to prepare its own alternative certification programs. Although
Lieberman herself graduated from UIC’s traditional teacher preparation
program, she’s open to alternative certification. She also acknowledges
it’s a tough sell to some of her colleagues.
"I’ll tell you frankly, the problems I observed
them having were exactly the same problems first- year teachers from
traditional teacher preparation have," she says. "That’s
probably blasphemy."
Source: http://www.catalyst-chicago.org/11-99/119main.htm
This is from Catalyst, which provides
independent coverage of Chicago school reform.
Illinois
Alternative Certification Programs