Earlier this year, we ??tapped three young promising scholars for our new inaugural research grant program, known as the Fordham Scholars. Just this week, one of them---Daniel Nadler--- co-authored a fine study, already growing into the ???Scholar??? appellation. The study, published in this month's Education Next, examined alternative teacher certification programs and found that states that offered ?????true??? alternative certification programs???meaning the ones where would-be teachers didn't have to take the same number of courses as traditionally certified teachers???generally had a greater representation of minority teachers within the ranks, as well as higher student gains as measured by NAEP. The study created an index of representation, which was the ratio of the percentage of teachers of minority background to the percentage of the state's adult population of minority background. ??In the 21 states that offered genuine alternative certification routes, the weighted average index of minority representation was 0.6, but in states with ???symbolic??? alternative certification routes, it was just 0.2. It appears that if we want to recruit more minority teachers into teaching, we'd be wise to strike down some of the barriers that keep them out. The study authors explain, ???Hardly anyone bothers with an alternative certificate if the requirements are essentially the same as for the traditional one.??? There's much more to the intriguing study to be found here.
Congratulations Daniel.
