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| Vol. 17, No. 6 | Oct. 9, 1997 |
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| Vol. 17, No. 6 | Oct. 9, 1997 |
Persons with degrees in certain secondary school disciplines can now pursue Delaware teacher certification through the Alternate Routes to Certification (ARTC) Program, coordinated by Linda Hughes.
"This is an exciting opportunity for qualified persons to enter the teaching profession and for school districts throughout the state to be able to hire teachers in areas of need," Hughes said.
An innovative program, ARTC helps address the problem of shortages of certified teachers in specific disciplines, and it encourages persons from diverse backgrounds to enter the teaching profession, giving them the tools and instruction they need to become effective in the classroom, Hughes said.
The program, authorized by the Delaware General Assembly in 1996 and implemented in July 1997, involves the University, Delaware State University and the state Department of Education, and permits public and charter secondary schools to hire individuals who have completed degrees in their disciplines but lack the education coursework required for certification. Like all teachers in Delaware, they must pass a basic skills examination and receive clearance on background and health checks.
"ARTC was designed to answer a statewide need for highly qualified teachers in such areas as foreign languages, science, math, business and technology education, formerly industrial arts," Hughes said. "One of our goals is to work with school districts, helping recruit candidates whose educational and professional backgrounds can help meet those needs. I will be traveling throughout the state this next year to work with school districts to develop the program."
Unlike some other alternative certification programs, a person already must have been hired by a school district to qualify for ARTC. If someone is interested in entering the program, Hughes can suggest ways to assess the match between their qualifications and certification requirements, and how they might seek employment.
Ideal ARTC candidates know the content of their fields, but lack the courses in pedagogy that are the foundation of teaching, according to Hughes. ARTC provides the education-related coursework they need to become certified. Their teaching experience in the classroom-under the guidance of an experienced teacher/mentor-allows them to satisfy the practice teaching requirement. Some candidates also may need to complete some additional coursework in their content areas.
The first group of teachers participated in ARTC in August in an intensive, three-week program, which is to be followed by required coursework and monthly professional development seminars during the school year. They came from diverse backgrounds and cultures, and many had previous classroom experience. They said they appreciated the program's hands-on approach to classroom teaching and found the courses to be useful and informative.
The summer program covered such topics as classroom management, instructional design and delivery, working with adolescents, teaching strategies and discipline. Everard Cornwall, Delaware State University, and Edwina Haring, an instructor in educational studies, served as core faculty.
"Innovative teaching skills, such as problem solving and teamwork, are important and effective tools in today's classroom. For example, in technology education in middle schools, students used to just build a birdhouse. Now they do research on birds, design the birdhouse, test it and build it-learning how to design and develop projects and work with others from start to finish, which is good preparation for the future," Hughes said.
At the conclusion of the yearlong program, the participants receive Delaware certification in their content area.
Hughes, who has a doctorate from the University of Pennsylvania, has taught in the areas of developmental and educational psychology.
For further information about ARTC, call Hughes at 831-4598 or 831-1100 or contact her by e-mail at hughesla@del.edu.
-Sue Swyers Moncure
