Alternative Licensure Pathways Recruit Prepare Working Groups

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1 Alternative Licensure Pathways Recruit Prepare Working Groups September 26, 2014 Executive Summary Alternative Licensure Pathways is used in many ways. All definitions refer to alternatives to the traditional four-year baccalaureate program or fifth year post-baccalaureate program designed for individuals who are simultaneously earning a degree and initial licensure. Alternative Licensure Pathways is used broadly to refer to any pathway designed to help an individual achieve licensure through something other than the traditional baccalaureate programs historically available from a university. They generally follow one of the following models: Expedited Programs - evening, week-end, and/or summer courses that allow an individual to pursue licensure while employed full-time in a field other than teaching; Online Delivery or Blended (hybrid) Programs - face-to-face (optional) and distance learning sessions that allow an individual to access courses from any location; On-the-Job Programs - individuals complete preparation and earn initial licensure while they are teaching in a Minnesota classroom; Individualized Programs - shaped after an assessment of the prospective teacher s education and experiences; and Two-Plus-Two Programs - pathways from two-year colleges, where students complete the first two years of a licensure program, to four-year institutions where students complete a baccalaureate degree and licensure requirements. Since their introduction in the 1980s, alternative route to licensure (ARL) programs have continued to expand, and most states now offer nontraditional licensure programs (Haselkorn & Hammerness, 2008; McConney, Price, & Woods-McConney, 2012; Stephens, 2007). In 2011, the Minnesota Legislature passed an alternative teacher certification law, and the

2 Board of Teaching established guidelines for the alternative pathways to licensure. Under the law, candidates can obtain training through an organization other than a college or university, including a school district or nonprofit, provided the training program is approved by the Board of Teaching. Alternative pathways to teacher licensure allow those who already have an undergraduate degree and have been in the work force to switch gears and pursue a teaching degree while working as a teacher in a Minnesota school district. Although the Board of Teaching has not approved any alternative teacher preparation programs in the state, policies and rules are in place for enactment once a program is approved. Included in these rules and policies are minimum requirements that will be applicable as these programs are developed. See Appendix A. ARL programs are designed to attract a more diverse population of participants than traditional pathways. A profile of ARL teachers found that 37% of ARL participants were male compared to 25% of the teaching force, and 32% were non-white compared to 11% of the teaching force (Feistritzer, 2005). Alternative licensure pathways minimize barriers to the profession that have discouraged minority participation. Regardless of program type, participants are typically older than traditional college age, male, ethnically diverse, likely to make more money teaching than in previous jobs, and express intent to remain in the field. Additionally, paraprofessional stepup programs hold a lot of promise (Sindelar, et al., 2012). In some programs, career changers, paraprofessionals, and military veterans are specifically targeted (AIR, 2005). ARL programs are designed to provide a non-traditional path to licensure. Requirements vary across programs; however, most programs are notably different from traditional pathways in the areas of structure, presentation, and participant population (Rosenberg & Sindelar, 2005). Our proposal includes multi-faceted instruction, robust hands-on experiences, supportive mentoring, and effective partnerships. Need/Purpose/Fit to TPI Mission The Alternative Licensure Pathways would be focused on meeting several needs for future teachers in Central Minnesota: more teachers in high needs licensure areas; more experienced teachers in high needs schools; and teachers of color in all our schools.

3 The first need in P-12 schools continues to be for ELL, SPED and STEM teachers with licenses in these respective areas. Surveys of principals continue to report that they have difficulty hiring licensed teachers in these areas. Second, we also need teachers who want to work in high needs schools and who continue to do so for their careers. New teachers are leaving the field in greater and greater numbers with the attrition rate for years of teaching being lowered to the first year of teaching. Too often, experienced teachers move to more affluent, low needs schools from high needs schools, and too often high needs schools are hiring ELL, SPED, and STEM teachers on emergency licenses, and more of these teachers are teaching outside their licensure areas in these high needs schools. Third, we need more teachers of color, as our teacher corps continues to be mostly white, the student population has become more diverse culturally, ethnically, and linguistically. The teacher corps today is 85% white while more and more school districts no longer have student populations that are dominated by one racial, cultural, ethnic, or linguistic group. Minnesota now has students from 100 different languages in our P-12 school system, but the majority of our teachers are monolingual and from the same cultural, ethnic, and racial group within our society. Fourth, in teacher preparation, the teacher educators in the higher education institution needs to collaborate more with master teachers, coaches, and curriculum specialists in the P-12 system to keep teacher education relevant in our changing world. Objectives: This proposal would have three basic objectives: First, the proposal would focus on providing our P-12 partners with highly prepared teachers in high needs areas. Second, the proposal would design alternative licensure pathways using a partnership model between St. Cloud State University and its P-12 partners by Fall This program would be for a specific set of students: 1) For the partnership, the P-12 partners would apply for Alternative Licensure through the

4 current Minnesota laws for such a program and would do so in collaboration with SCSU; 2) For participants, the program would be designed for: a. high achieving BA graduates in high needs content areas with a 3.0 GPA; b. high achieving general BA graduates in all areas with a 3.0 GPA; c. working adults seeking undergraduate and graduate licensure; d. students who need flexible courses offerings in a two year cycle with courses offered online, in the evening or on weekends and/or summer e. paraprofessionals and similar school employees: Cultural Navigators, Bilingaul Aides, etc. 3) Participants would follow a residency or half-residency model where each participant spends half the week in schools teaching and tutoring and half the week in classes preparing. 4) All field experiences would be completed within the residency program; 5) The program could be completed in two years with all courses and experiences completed within this time frame; 6) The P-12 partners would provide activities that would cover Standards of Effective Practice; 7) SCSU would provide content courses related to the specific license. Third, the resulting alternative licensure program would double the following high need licensure completers by 2020: a. For SPED, ELL, and STEM; b. For underrepresented groups i. Men in the early grades; and ii. Minority teacher candidates. c. For paraprofessionals and others currently working or volunteering in school and who seek licensure, and d. For Veterans seeking licensure. Methods: This method would marry the residency model with content courses for the high needs areas of ELL, SPED, and STEM. 1) Possibilities/considerations a. Flexible scheduling: online, evening, weekends, and/or summer b. On P-12 site course and workshop offerings c. Residency (medical model): stipend with field experience

5 1) courses 2) With full-time job on emergency license 3) With half-time job with para, bilingual aide or cultural navigator or similar funding d. In a cohort 2) Supports a. MTLE Basic Skills support b. Writing support from Write Place at SCSU, c. Tutoring support in content areas. d. Other 3) Partnerships a. Funded residency program where students receive para-like funding for teaching and tutoring in the schools with SCSU GA-like support; b. Academic support from both SCSU in courses and from P-12 partners from coaches and program directors; c. For future hiring, P-12 partners are able to get to know prospective hires in great detail before hire.

6 4) Models Group Liberal Ed Content Methods Field Experiences (FE) & Student Teaching (ST) Special Education MN Transfer Credit for Prior Learning Credit for Prior Learning On site, through job Paraprofessional Curriculum Cohort Model Cohort Model Programming (for ABS) CLEP Testing Evenings/Weekends Evenings/Weekends 2 summers (ST) + Non-Degree Not Licensed Special Education Non teacher with Bachelor Degree (for ABS) Bachelor s Degree Not Licensed Special Education Licensed (non-sped) Teachers with at least 1 year teaching experience (for LD, EBD, ASD, DCD) Bachelor s Degree Licensed Credit for Prior Learning Evenings/Weekends Evenings/Weekends Cohort Model Evenings/Weekends Cohort Model Already in place, consider enhancing alt delivery Evenings/Weekends Cohort Model SPED Methods Only Evenings/Weekends Cohort Model Already in place, consider enhancing alt delivery academic year (FE) District Stipend TC/CT (for high need areas) Possible Funding Support Grant Support Center for Partnership Options (FE and/or ST) FE & ST Residency Model District Stipend TC/CT (for high need areas) Possible Funding Support Potential GA Opportunities Grant Support Center for Partnership FE waived (ST) FE & ST Residency Model District Stipend TC/CT (for high need areas) Possible Funding Support Potential GA Opportunities Grant Support MTLE edtpa All All MTLE - SPED Content Only No edtpa

7 Center for Partnership Group Liberal Ed Content Methods Field Experiences (FE) & Student Teaching (ST) STEM Related Careers Passing MTLE Content Credit for Prior Learning Year Long Residency Career Changers Credit for Prior Learning Evenings/Weekends Portfolio Review Degree in Content Assessment of Prior Bachelor s Degree Degree Year Long Residency Possible Funding Support Not-Licensed Admissions Review Condensed Courses Potential GA 3.0 GPA Minimum o ED300 Opportunities TOEFL o CEEP262 & 361 Grant Support Writing Sample o IM422 Center for Partnership Interview o HLTH301? Written Plan to o SPED203 Pass MTLE o ED/ENGL460 Group Liberal Ed Content Foundations Field Experiences (FE) & Student Teaching (ST) TESL Graduate TESL and Foundations course work integrated Year long residency District workshops and coaching Year long residency Possible funding sources: GAlike funding: stipend from district/tuition waiver from SCSU MTLE edtpa All MTLE edtpa All

8 Evaluation Evaluation of Alternative Licensure Pathways could include the following: Do Alternative Licensure Pathways correlate with increases in highly qualified candidates across high need areas? Do participants maintain a positive progression toward licensure? Do participants maintain the eligibility criteria? Do participants meet admission criteria to enter or continue in the major? Other Timeline The Recruit Prepare Working Groups recommend implementation of Alternative Licensure Pathways for the Academic Year to double the following high need licensure completers by 2020: a. For SPED, ELL, and STEM; b. For underrepresented groups i. Men in the early grades; and ii. Minority teacher candidates. c. For paraprofessionals and others currently working or volunteering in school and who seek licensure, and d. For Veterans seeking licensure.

9 References American Institutes for Research. (2005). Transition to teaching grant program: 2002 cohort case studies. Washington, DC: American Institutes for Research. Feistritzer, C. E. (2005). Profile of alternative route teachers. Washington, DC: National Center for Education Information. Haselkorn, D., & Hammerness, K. (2008). Encore performances: Tapping the potential of midcareer and second career teachers. Princeton, NJ: The Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation. McConney, A., Price, A., & Woods-McConney, A. (2012). Fast track teacher education: A review of the research literature on Teach for All Schemes. Perth: Murdoch University, Centre for Learning, Change and Development. McGuire, K. (July 8, 2012). Minnesota s alternative path for aspiring teachers still is untraveled. Star Tribune. Overview: Alternative Pathways to Teacher Licensure in the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities System. (2005). Rosenberg, M. S., & Sindelar, P. T. (2005). The proliferation of alternative routes to certification in special education: A critical review of the literature. The Journal of Special Education, 39, Sindelar, P. T., Dewey, J. F., Rosenberg, M. S., Corbett, N. L., Denslow, D., & Lotfinia, B. (2012). Cost effectiveness of alternative route special education teacher preparation. Exceptional Children, 79(1), Stephens, M. W. (2007). A comparison of student academic achievement between alternatively and traditionally certified teachers. (Dissertation)

10 Appendix A Minnesota Department of Education: Alternative Pathways to Teacher Licensing Once a program is in place, candidates will work directly with the program provider to apply, enroll and to complete the approved alternative program. The BOT has developed criteria in accordance with the law for program providers who wish to seek approval. The Board of Teaching welcomes applications from potential providers and encourages interested parties to review the information on the Board s website (Preparing Teachers in Minnesota). As programs are approved, they will be listed on the Minnesota Department of Education and BOT websites. The general program requirements of this law and what will candidates need to evidence once a program is in place in order to be admitted and complete an approved program: Bachelor's Degree with a 3.0 GPA Basic Skills in math, reading, and writing Content based Pedagogy exams Content based performance assessments Content/Subject specific rigorous exam Minimum of 200 instructional hours Student Teaching Mentoring, Induction, and evaluation Candidates will be members of the local collective bargaining unit and must abide by all district requirements of new teachers and evaluation After completing the program, candidates must be recommended by a school site team of teachers, principal, and higher education faculty in order to obtain a standard license. The BOT must evaluate programs and may revoke the approval of programs that are proven ineffective.