Education Commons^™

Nontraditional Alternative Teacher Certification Programs: Their Purpose, Design And Participants, Phyllis K. Adcock, Marc Mahlios

Essays in Education

When the subject of nontraditional alternative teacher certification programs is discussed among teacher educators, there seems to be a wariness due to the way in which nontraditional alternative teacher certification has been managed in the past. However, current research seems to bear out that quality nontraditional alternative certification programs are not only helping with teacher shortages, but are producing quality teachers who know how students learn and are effective in their roles as teachers (Ducharme & Ducharme, 1998).

Redesigning A Master’S For Teachers Program, Cathy Stockton

Essays in Education

This paper describes the process that one college of education used to redesign the master’s for teachers program. Post-baccalaureate programs were redesigned to incorporate requirements of No Child Left Behind, school improvement, empirical based researched practices, and student achievement. All redesigned courses reflect an increased emphasis on field experiences.

In February 2003, all private and public universities in the state of Louisiana received a mandate to redesign all master’s for teachers programs. The redesign committees were to include P-12 administrators, teachers, community representatives, current teacher professionals and representatives from other colleges in the process. The redesigned post-baccalaureate education program had …

Innovating Professional Development Standards: A Shift To Utilize Communities Of Practice, Teresa Foulger

Essays in Education

This paper is a report on the findings of an action research study that explored a non-traditional professional development process involving five elementary teachers and a professional developer working as a collaborative community. The interactions within the group focused on the creation and teaching of a three week thematic unit across grade levels and classrooms. Although technology integration was the proposed new learning, instructional strategies and innovative ways to collaborate were also explored. Qualitative data analysis indicated that when professional developers pay close attention to the social nuances and emotional needs of participants, communities of teachers coming together for a …