Study: Alternate Route Teaching Benefits Districts, Needs Improvement

Study: Alternate Route Teaching Benefits Districts, Needs Improvement

A study released last week found New Jersey’s alternate route to teacher certification has helped prevent teacher shortages and has diversified the profession—but is still in need of improvement.

More than a third of all new teachers use the alternate route, according to the first-ever review of the program since 1985, when New Jersey became the first state to offer an alternate route for teachers. The program allowed professionals from outside the education field to begin teaching while they studied pedagogy in education classes on nights and weekends.

Alternate route teachers have enabled school boards find candidates for hard-to-fill subjects like math, science and world languages, according to the study, performed for the state by The College of New Jersey. The alternate route has attracted more male and minority candidates to teaching, and half of alternate-route teachers work in urban districts.

Shortcomings Cited While alternate route teachers were considered having a greater mastery of their subject area, the study found many have poorer classroom-management skills. In addition, the alternate route teachers interviewed in the study did not feel as well prepared as their traditional-route peers, with many finding inconsistent mentoring from district to district.

Many alternate route teachers said it was difficult to handle complex issues such as teaching students with limited English proficiency or emotional or learning disabilities.

Administrators interviewed in the study often cited a lack of understanding of children’s learning and developmental styles. Administrators also reported greater satisfaction with alternate route teachers working at the high school and middle school levels.

The New Jersey Department of Education has posted the full report online.