Pathways Toward Teacher Certification

Pathways Toward Teacher Certification

Introduction^[1]

High-quality, well-prepared educators are the foundation of our educational system. Well-prepared teachers are more effective in the classroom and tend to have higher retention rates, meaning they choose to stay in the teaching profession (Darling-Hammond, 2010). You can become a teacher in several ways, depending on where you are in your life and career. These pathways toward teacher certification fall into two general categories: traditional or alternative preparation. Traditional preparation involves an undergraduate or graduate degree program affiliated with an Educator Preparation Program (EPP). In contrast, alternative preparation can take many forms, including provisional certification or residency programs like Teach for America. No matter how you obtain your teaching license, you will have to renew the license periodically.

Traditional Preparation: Educator Preparation Program (EPP)

The most traditional way to earn your teaching certificate is through an Educator Preparation Program (EPP). An EPP could offer a few different programs that would culminate in your teaching certificate. Two popular options are an undergraduate degree program or a graduate degree program.

Undergraduate Degree Program

In this pathway toward teacher certification, participants enter a 4-year degree program knowing they want to become a teacher upon graduation. Exact majors vary: sometimes, you might major in education or a specific form of education (like elementary education). If you want to teach elementary school, you are expected to be more of a generalist: you will likely teach all content areas to your students. Therefore, you will take education classes in all of these areas. Suppose you want to teach middle or high school or become a related arts teacher (arts, language, etc.). In that case, you will major in your future area of specialization, such as history, if you want to teach social studies or music, if you want to be a music teacher. Regardless of the exact structure of the specific program, participants take classes that help them learn about pedagogy (the art and science of teaching), along with specific methods of instruction (such as how to teach the structures of different disciplines like literacy, math, science, or social studies).

Completing coursework is just one part of becoming a traditional undergraduate degree program teacher. There are also tests that future teachers must pass to prove they are prepared to teach. Some of these tests occur early in the degree as entrance requirements to an education program to assess basic literacy and math skills; some of these tests occur at the end of the degree as a culmination of all courses. These tests, run by ETS, are called Praxis tests. Check out requirements by your state. It is important to note that only 46 states use these tests; four states, including Florida, Arizona, Illinois, and Michigan, use a different test.

Bias in Standardized Assessments

One of the most important parts of preparing to become a teacher is getting practice working in actual classrooms with actual students. In a traditional undergraduate degree program, you will most likely engage in two different types of field placements.

The first type of field placement is sometimes called practicum, a part-time placement often tied to specific courses (like methods classes, where you learn how to teach specific content areas like language arts, math, science, or social studies). You attend practicum a few hours a week in between your other coursework. In these practicum placements, you get to try out what you are learning in class with actual classrooms, teachers, and students. Sometimes, you observe to learn more; other times, you actively lead instruction in one-on-one, small-group, or whole-group settings. Your various practicum placements will typically be in different schools and grade levels to give you experience working with many kinds of students and teachers.

The second type of field placement is called student teaching or an internship. This full-time placement occurs at the very end of your degree program. You spend all day, every day, at your placement, just like the classroom teacher does. As the semester progresses, you will take on more and more responsibility for planning and teaching. By the middle of the semester, you will usually be responsible for all of the planning and teaching for all content areas for several weeks. After those few weeks, you pass the instructional responsibilities back to the classroom teacher.

Both practicum and student teaching will require you to work closely with the classroom teacher, who may be called your mentor teacher. Neither type of field placement is an official job, so you should not expect to be paid for these experiences.

In addition to practicum and student teaching, some schools have a third kind of field placement called early field experience. In early field experience, students complete observation hours in a classroom, focusing on whatever content the specific course is teaching, like classroom management, for example.

After completing all of your undergraduate coursework, field placement hours, and state’s required testing, you will earn your teaching certificate and be ready to apply for your first teaching job.

Graduate Degree Program

The first graduate, or post-baccalaureate, degree programs were developed in the 1970s as Masters of Arts in Teaching (MAT) programs (Darling-Hammond, 2010). A post-baccalaureate degree program is designed for people who want to become teachers, but who have already completed their undergraduate coursework in a field other than education. Therefore, a post-baccalaureate degree program allows people to learn how to become teachers while earning a master’s degree. In a post-baccalaureate degree program, courses are often offered in the evenings to cater to the needs of adult students who may be working or have family commitments during the day. Even though its structure is a little different, a post-baccalaureate degree program also has the field experiences explained above (practicum and internship).

After completing all of your post-baccalaureate coursework, field placement hours, and state’s required testing, you will earn your teaching certificate and be ready to apply for your first teaching job. The master’s degree you will earn in a post-baccalaureate program can result in higher teacher pay in some states. (Even if you earn your teaching credential in an undergraduate program, you can still earn a master’s degree in education and get a pay increase in many states.)

Accreditation Of EPPs

Research has shown that teachers who earn their teaching certificate through an educator preparation program (EPP) feel significantly more prepared to meet their students’ needs than those who pursue other routes toward licensure (i.e., Darling-Hammond, Chung & Frelow, 2002). One reason for this finding lies in the high standards EPPs must meet. EPPs must be accredited by either state or national agencies. Accreditation means that the programs have met specific standards of high-quality teacher preparation programs.

The first national credentialing agency was the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE), founded in 1954. By 2016, NCATE was replaced by CAEP (pronounced “cape”), the Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation. CAEP’s mission states: “CAEP advances equity and excellence in educator preparation through evidence-based accreditation that assures quality and supports continuous improvement to strengthen P-12 student learning” (CAEP, 2020b, “Mission”). To receive CAEP accreditation, EPPs have to demonstrate evidence of their success in five areas or standards: (1) content and pedagogical knowledge; (2) clinical partnerships and practice; (3) candidate quality, recruitment, and selectivity; (4) program impact; and (5) provider quality, continuous improvement, and capacity. When you enroll in an EPP with CAEP or state-level accreditation, you know you are in a high-quality program that has provided evidence of meeting rigorous standards to prepare teachers.

Alternative Preparation

Sometimes, you decide to become a teacher after earning an undergraduate degree in another field. Perhaps you’ve worked in another field for several years and realized you want to become a teacher instead. While each state has different policies and programs for preparing teachers beyond undergraduate coursework, a few common approaches include provisional certification and residency programs like Teach for America.

Provisional Certification

Some schools face shortages of teachers in specific content areas or more urban settings, which means they need teachers as soon as possible–even if those teachers aren’t officially certified yet. A provisional teaching license allows an individual to become a teacher temporarily. At the same time, they work with their employer to arrange to meet the requirements of earning a teaching license (such as taking the required Praxis tests). These licenses might be valid for a period ranging from one to three years and typically are not renewable, meaning that if you do not meet the licensure requirements before your certificate expires, you will not be able to continue teaching. Provisional certification is sometimes called emergency certification since it is designed to meet an immediate need.

Residency Programs

Residency programs are another alternative pathway to receive a teaching credential. Typical participants in a residency model already have a bachelor’s degree before beginning a residency program. During the residency program, future teachers work simultaneously on a master’s degree in education while being placed in a school full-time. Typically, residents do not serve as the teacher of record in the classroom, meaning they are not solely responsible for all instruction. Residency programs are particularly popular in high-needs areas where there is high teacher turnover, and recruitment and retention of teachers are challenging, such as in urban centers. Some critiques of residency programs center on the short-term, intense nature of the experience: while a traditional undergraduate pathway toward a teaching credential takes around four years, a residency may last only one year, with the field experience occurring concurrently with coursework (NYU Steinhardt, 2018).

Teach for America (TFA) is one well-known residency program. TFA recruits undergraduate completers, mostly from programs other than education, to complete intensive training in the summer immediately following their graduation and prior to assuming their teaching position. Teach for America places candidates in higher-needs areas while incentivizing the program by offering candidates a free master’s degree in education. At the same time, they complete two years of teaching in the program. However, fast-tracked, alternative certification programs like Teach for America tend to have lower retention rates (Hegarty, 2001). Retention refers to how long teachers stay in the field of education. Higher retention rates lead to higher-quality teachers since you will keep growing in your competency as a teacher the longer you stay in the profession. Therefore, some alternative certification programs like Teach for America receive critiques for their short-term placement of teachers in schools for a couple of years instead of long-term teaching careers.

Maintaining A Teaching License

Once you have earned an initial teaching license, you can teach for a period before you must renew it. Usually, you will have to renew your license every three or five years; each state sets its regulations, and different licenses sometimes have different timespans. Renewing your teaching license is important because teaching and learning are constantly changing and evolving, and you will best serve your students by being current on the latest information. You can earn renewal credits in various ways, including taking graduate courses, attending conferences, attending professional development opportunities in your district and beyond, and more. The year your license expires, you must submit a request to renew your license to your state Department of Education, including evidence of how you met your continuing education requirements. You cannot be a teacher with an expired license, so remember to keep your teaching license current.

Each state has its own policies for becoming a teacher, so what happens if you earn a teaching license in one state and then must move to another state? Many state Departments of Education have reciprocity with other states, meaning your license could be transferred to a new state without starting over completely. You might have to meet a few additional requirements unique to your new state, such as Praxis tests, but you don’t have to go back to school to get another degree in education. Learn more about reciprocity from the Education Commission of the States.

Licensure and Reciprocity Policies

Conclusion

As this chapter has explained, there are many pathways to becoming a teacher. Most importantly, as a future teacher, you must be aware of the educational and licensure requirements needed to become a teacher. With these things in mind, you also must keep in mind that these requirements vary state by state, so if you plan to relocate after completing your education and becoming licensed, you will want to check to ensure that you are in compliance with the state you are relocating to. Navigating these pathways can be a challenge, but know that you are not alone in your journey! Lean into the support networks offered at your college, including your advisors, instructors, and peers, to ensure you stay on your pathway to becoming a teacher.

Pathways Toward Teacher Certification

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