ALTERNATIVE CERTIFICATIONS:

SUBSTITUTE, EMERGENCY,
ALTERNATIVE, BUSINESS AND
INDUSTRY, OTHER…
BY: VALERIA OJEDA
ROBERT SHKORUPA
EDU 202 - 2001
 QUESTIONS OF THE DAY
• What is an ALTERNATIVE • What does ALTERNATIVE
TEACHER TEACHER
CERTIFICATION? CERTIFICATION mean?
ALTERNATIVE TEACHER CERTIFICATION IS…

• A process by which a person is awarded a teaching license, even though that person has
not completed the traditional teacher certification program.
• In the U.S. traditional teacher certification is earned through completing a bachelors or
masters degree in education, taking standardized tests (usually a Praxis test), and fulfilling
additional state requirements.
• Alternatively certified teachers typically posses a bachelors degree from an accredited
college or university and are completing (or have completed) an alternative certification
program while teaching full-time.
 BACKGROUND OF ALTERNATIVE
CERTIFICATION PROGRAMS
• Alternative certification programs first appeared in the 1980s.
• These programs were initially introduced to fill critical teacher shortages.
• States began to search for a way to recruit and train people who had already earned a
four-year degree and wanted to become teachers.
• Today, alternative certification has been widely adopted as a way to recruit talented
individuals in all subjects who have a passion for teaching but do not have backgrounds in
education.
 REQUIREMENTS FOR ALTERNATIVE
CERTIFICATION
• The minimum requirement for alternative teacher certification in Nevada is a bachelor’s
degree.
• For most licensure pathways, candidates must also complete a teacher preparation
program to earn full licensure.
• Alternative teacher preparation programs in Nevada can be completed in as little as one
year as a post-graduate certificate.
 TESTING REQUIREMENTS

• In most cases, candidates for Nevada alternative teacher certification must pass the
Praxis Core Academic Skills for Educators exam and the Praxis II Subject Assessments.
• Candidates will also need to pass the University of Nevada-Reno exams in Nevada
School Law, the Nevada Constitution, and the US Constitution or take approved
coursework in these subjects to waive the exam requirement.
ALTERNATIVE TEACHING CERTIFICATION
STATISTICS AND FACTS
• Of the 3.8 million public school teachers working in school year 2015–16, approximately
676,000 (18 percent) had entered teaching through an alternative route to certification
program.
• 70% of those entering teaching through alternate routes are older than 30 years of age,
38% are male, and 30% are non-white.
• Nearly half of those who enter teaching through alternate routes were working in a non-
education occupation the year prior to entering an alternative route program.
• Nearly half of those who became teachers through alternate routes state that if these
alternate routes had not been available, they would not have entered the teaching field.
• Approximately 18 percent of public-
school teachers in 2015–16 had
entered teaching through an
alternative route to certification
program. Compared to those who
entered through a traditional route, a
higher percentage of alternative route
teachers were Black (13 vs. 5 %),
Hispanic (15 vs. 8 %), and of Two or
more races (2 vs. 1 %),
 REFLECTION
• What did you learn? • What did you find the
most interesting, useful, or
surprising?
 RESOURCES

• “Guide to Alternative Teacher Certification in 2020.” Teacher Certification Degrees, 30 Nov.

2020, www.teachercertificationdegrees.com/alternative/.
• “Teaching CERTIFICATION.COM Making the Process Easy...” Alternative Teaching
Certification, www.teaching-certification.com/alternative-teaching-certification.html.
• The Condition of Education - Spotlights - 2018 Spotlights - Characteristics of Public School
Teachers Who Completed Alternative Route to Certification Programs - Indicator May (2018),
nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/indicator_tlc.asp.
• U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, National Teacher
and Principal Survey (NTPS), “Public School Teacher Data File,” 2015–16.