Alternative Certification in Special Education: Efficacy of a Collaborative, Field-Based Teacher Preparation Program

The severe and increasing shortage of personnel, particularly those from traditionally underrepresented groups, to teach students with mild and moderate disabilities has prompted teacher educators to explore alternative means of preparing certified and qualified special education teachers. Johns Hopkins University, in collaboration with two urban local education agencies and the Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE), developed a field-based, 2-year experimental program leading to certification and a Master's degree in special education. This program possessed several unique features: special recruitment procedures, intensive on-the-job university-based supervision, and local school mentoring. Efficacy data were collected from university supervisors, mentors, and building principals to assess the impact of the program. Direct observation instruments, interviews, and self-report questionnaires were used to collect dependent data. Comparisons were made with beginning special educators who had completed traditional programs. We found that (a) Alternative Certification (AC) teachers were performing at, or exceeding, satisfactory levels in their first year of teaching; (b) AC teachers demonstrated specific instructional and management competencies at better than satisfactory levels; and (c) there were no significant differences between ratings of AC teachers and those from the control group.