The Effects of Teachers Trained through Different Routes to Certification. NCEE Evaluation Brief. NCEE 2009-4070

The No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act provides support "to ensure that teachers have the necessary subject matter knowledge and teaching skills in the academic subjects that the teachers teach." Title II of the act allows funds to be used for "carrying out programs that establish, expand, or improve alternative routes for state certification of teachers," as well as for "reforming teacher certification (including recertification) or licensing requirements." This study informs that effort by rigorously examining the effect of alternative-route program teachers on student achievement and classroom practices. It also investigates whether certification training experiences are associated with teacher performance. The study found no benefit, on average, to student achievement from placing an alternative-route program teacher in the classroom when the alternative was a teacher certified through a traditional route, but there was no evidence of harm either. In addition, the experimental and nonexperimental findings together indicate that while individual teachers appear to have an effect on student achievement, the study could not identify what about a teacher affects student achievement. Variation in student achievement was not strongly linked to the teachers' chosen preparation route or to other measured teacher characteristics. (Contains 1 figure.) [For the full report, "An Evaluation of Teachers Trained through Different Routes to Certification. Final Report. NCEE 2009-4043," see ED504313.]