This qualitative phenomenological study was designed to examine the lived experiences of teachers who obtained their licenses through nontraditional routes to identify factors that contribute to teacher success. Public schools in the United States are experiencing a teacher shortage. To staff these shortages, alternative paths to licensure will be…

Within South Carolina, many programs encourage and support teachers in their first year of teaching. In addition, extensive research describes the importance of support for alternatively certified teachers. However, alternatively certified teachers have received less educational training than teachers following a traditional pathway. Individual…

Lortie's original conception of the apprenticeship of observation was one of conservative schooling practice and negative impact on teacher learning for school change. Schooling practices have changed in the 60 years since the original research that established the apprenticeship of observation as launch pad to teaching, changing prospective…

The number of teachers entering the profession through alternative teacher licensure pathways has increased dramatically in the last 10 years. The preparation these teachers receive can vary widely, making specially designed novice teacher induction programs crucial for their success. This professional practice dissertation examined the…

Utilizing Wenger's (1998) work of Communities of Practice and hermeneutic phenomenology, the purpose of this study was to examine the phenomenon of participation among alternatively certified agriculture teachers in the agriculture teacher community of practice. Two themes emerged as we interpreted the findings: (1) we're all in this together, and…

The purpose of this quantitative study was to determine how certification status impacts turnover intention, to research provided assistance, and to meet professional learning needs in novice teachers in eastern Kentucky. Understanding differences in needs of teachers, based upon certification type, is critical in reducing the rate of attrition…

In the United States, there exists a significant disparity between the racial demographics of teachers and students, with a majority of educators being white. This mismatch underscores the critical shortage of teachers of color (TOC). While race does not determine teacher quality, a teacher's race, ethnicity, and language do shape the experiences…

This research investigated the impact of teacher certification pathways (traditional vs. alternative) on teacher self-efficacy levels; it explicitly focused on elementary teachers in Title I and non-Title I schools. The research context addressed the prevalent issue of teacher shortages in U.S. school districts, which often led to reliance on…

The purpose of this quantitative study was to determine how certification status impacts turnover intention, to research provided assistance, and to meet professional learning needs in novice teachers in eastern Kentucky. Understanding differences in needs of teachers, based upon certification type, is critical in reducing the rate of attrition…

This qualitative case study delved into the experiences of the first cohort of teachers who completed the Teacher Accelerator Program's (TAP) summer internship, exploring the professional development training provided to novice teachers by this newly established alternative teacher preparation program. Originating as a response to the local…

Both early-career teachers (ECTs) and alternatively prepared teachers (APTs) have been shown to have an exceptionally high attrition rate as they attempt to adjust to a new and strange profession, leaving early-career alternatively prepared teachers as an especially at-risk cross-section of the teaching force (Podolsky et al., 2019). Yet much of…

The purpose of this study was to gain an understanding of how novice, nontraditionally certified teachers learn classroom management skills and address challenging student behaviors. Alternative teacher preparation programs aim to prepare entry year teachers for the classroom as quickly as possible. While alternative certification programs aim to…

The present study investigates whether alternatively and traditionally certified teachers differ in their teaching quality. We conducted doubly latent multilevel analysis using a large-scale dataset with student ratings on the quality of instruction provided by 1550 traditionally and 135 alternatively certified secondary school mathematics…

Teacher preparation programs are institutions where future teachers acquire the pedagogical content knowledge needed to deliver quality instruction that promotes student achievement. Teacher preparation is the best-determining factor for student achievement. As of 2018-2019, there were 2,172 teacher preparation providers: 1,453 traditional and 495…

After the COVID-19 pandemic, many states expanded alternative teaching licensure to address nationwide teacher shortages. This manuscript sought to compare the effectiveness of traditional preparation programs and alternative certification programs but found the comparison to be inconclusive because those categories were too broad. This analysis…