Alternative Certification Survey 2017 Terry Hibpshman Martin School

Sample 7500 emails sent 1625 responses This is a 21% response rate Typical for an email survey

Ten Most Common Previous Occupations Student 9.3% Paraprofessional 8.5 % Human/social services` 7.9% Substitute Teacher 5.6% Kentucky certified teacher 5.3% Business (non-managerial) 5.2% Financial occupations 4.8% Business (managerial) 4.6% Sales 3.7% Scientist/engineer 3.6%

Motivation In-system mobility 27.0% Education avocation 13.8% Altruism ` 9.9% Limited job prospects/displaced workers 8.8% Certification upgrade 7.5% Love/want to work with children 7.2% Personal convenience 5.6% Coaching 3.6% Love of content 2.8% Disability interest 2.5% Unclassifiable 2.5% Family tradition/influence 2.3% Social service mobility 2.2% TFA/Teach Kentucky 1.9% District staffing strategy 1.2% God 1.1%

Challenges None 35.0% Balancing work/school/personal life 15.0% Awkwardness/inefficiency of administrative procedures 8.9% Cost 8.7% Institutional requirements 6.4% Finding a job 4.8% Passing Praxis or other assessment 4.6% Misleading information 4.0% School/district administrative problems 2.5% Observation hours/unavailability of mentors 2.8% Lack of previous experience in the classroom 2.3% Availability of required classes 1.8% Second-class status 1.8%

Would You Recommend? Emphatically Yes 11.1% Yes 62% Qualified Yes 15.4% Neutral 4.4% Qualified No 2.5% No 3.8% Emphatic No 0.8% 88.5 % Positive

In Summary More than anything else, alternative certification programs serve as an upward mobility route for persons already involved in education. Persons who meet the original intent of these programs represent a significant, but small, proportion of participants. The cost of participation is a significant problem for many participants. The majority of participants are positive about their experience in alternative certification programs.

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Survey Questions What was your occupation prior to becoming a Kentucky teacher through an alternative certification route ? What college degree program did you complete prior to pursuing teacher certification in Kentucky ? At what institution? What motivated you to become a Kentucky teacher? How did you first learn that an alternative route to teacher certification existed in Kentucky? What/who was your primary source of information regarding the alternative route certification process? What obstacles, if any, did you encounter while pursuing alternative route teacher certification? How could EPSB motivate others like you to become a teacher? What do you think would most likely inspire professionals outside the field of academics to become educators in regions with teacher shortages? Would you recommend alternative certification for others? Why or Why not ?