DATE: 7/24/12
SUBJECT: Summary of House Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Elementary, and Secondary Education hearing
“Education Reforms: Discussing the Value of Alternative Teacher Certification Programs”
Witnesses:
- Ms. Jennifer Mulhern, Vice President for New Teacher Effectiveness, TNTP, Baltimore, MD
- Ms. Maura O. Banta, Director of Citizenship Initiatives in Education, IBM Corporation, Armonk, NY
- Ms. Cynthia G. Brown, Vice President for Education Policy, Center for American Progress, Washington, D.C.
- Mr. Seth Andrew, Founder and Superintendent, Democracy Prep Public Schools, New York, NY
Opening Statements:
Chairman Hunter (R-CA) opened by saying that teacher quality is integral to student achievement, and alternative teacher certification programs allow good teachers to get into classrooms more quickly and easily. He said that these programs are on the rise, and that one third of teachers hired annually now come from these alternative certification programs. Chairman Hunter called the Highly Qualified Teacher requirement (HQT) under No Child Left Behind (NCLB) counterproductive, saying it put emphasis on the wrong qualifications and made it more difficult for school districts to hire good teachers. He closed by saying that alternative programs were just as, if not more, effective than traditional programs, and they help teacher shortages by joining the public and private sectors together to solve the problem.
Ranking Member Kildee (D-MI) opened by saying that alternative certification programs provide a good service in getting teachers trained and into the schools where they are needed, but they still need to be held accountable to high standards and are not the end-all solution to the teacher shortage problem. He said systems are needed to measure the effectiveness of alternative programs.
Testimony:
Ms. Jennifer Mulhern said that teacher quality is the biggest factor in student achievement. She spoke about her program, TNTP, which accepts students into a teaching fellows program that offers pre-classroom training and mentoring through a teacher’s first few years. She spoke about the high bar set by her program, which will only certify teachers if they have proven effective after their first year of teaching.
Ms. Mulhern said her program is responsible for putting effective and diverse teachers in urban schools. She cited a study that showed there is no statistical difference between the effectiveness of teachers certified in traditional or alternative programs. [Full testimony]
Ms. Maura O. Banta spoke about her program at IBM that helped employees shift careers from IBM to teaching in STEM subjects. She said participants used a variety of alternative certification programs. She spoke about the importance of mentoring new teachers, and the service alternative programs offer for second career teachers who have different needs than recent graduates. [Full testimony]
Ms. Cynthia G. Brown spoke about how alternative certification programs can help alleviate the teacher shortage, but that the government needs to ensure these programs are high-quality. She recommended that Congress revise ESEA to allocate funds for teacher training, offer competitive grants, much like the i3 grants, to encourage innovation in teacher training programs, and increase accountability for both alternative and traditional certification programs. [Full testimony]
Mr. Seth Andrew spoke about the success of his charter school at maintaining high student achievement, and how the most important factor in his school’s success is teaching talent. He said Congress needs to remove high barriers to entry to the teaching profession because they place restrictions on the talent pool. He said HQT is counterproductive to an effort to welcome effective teachers into the schools they are needed. [Full testimony]
Question and Answer:
Chairman Hunter (R-CA) asked why these barriers to entry to the teaching profession exist if everyone agrees they are bad.
Ms. Mulhern responded that there needs to be a shift from focusing on a teacher’s credentials to a teacher’s outcomes.
Ranking Member Kildee (D-MI) asked how alternative programs prepare teachers for diverse student populations.
Mr. Andrew said it is important to offer continual training and support when a teacher is hired.
Ms. Mulhern said pre-training and mentorship are important.
Rep. Bobby Scott (D-VA) said teachers need higher salaries. He asked Ms. Banta what happened to IBM engineers’ salaries when they transition from the company to teaching.
Ms. Banta said IBM ceases to be their employer and they have teaching salaries.
Rep. Scott asked if it is more important to have content knowledge or knowledge of how to teach.
Ms. Mulhern said having good teaching technique is paramount.
Rep. Tom Petri (R-WI) asked what Congress can do to shift the focus from teaching credentials to teaching outcomes.
Mr. Andrew said reform handed down from the federal government often misses the mark, and that power to regulate and form standards for certification programs should be relinquished to local government.
Ms. Brown said Congress needed to scale back HQT, and that the federal government is able to play a role without being stifling.
Rep. Susan Davis (D-CA) asked about the federal role in principal preparation.
Ms. Brown said principals need to be held accountable for their performances just as teachers do.
Rep. Lynn Woolsey (D-CA) asked if any of the alternative programs made efforts to increase parental participation.
Ms. Banta said that parental participation is important but there were no formal efforts.
Rep. Martha Roby (R-AL) asked if traditional or alternative certification programs are more effective.
Ms. Mulhern said there is no difference.
Ms. Brown said both are uneven, and instead of choosing one over the other there should be a uniform system of judging quality.
Rep. Davis asked if National Board Certification can be used as a useful model for reforming teacher certification.
Ms. Brown said the teaching profession needs to develop a series of career ladders, and that National Board Certification is a useful standard for certain levels of accomplishment in the profession.
Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-NC) asked what the private sector’s role should be in alternative teacher certification.
Ms. Banta said more companies need to emulate the IBM model and tell employees that teaching is an important profession.