Alternative Teacher Preparation Programs: Examination Through a Marketing Lens

Abstract

This investigation used the 7 P’s Service Marketing Mix (i.e., product, price, place, promotion, people, physical evidence, and processes) to review development and recruitment strategies of special education alternative teacher preparation programs. Articles published between 1997 and 2018 were reviewed to identify alternative teacher preparation programs developed to tackle the chronic teacher shortage in special education across the United States. A total of 17 articles met the inclusion criteria, 10 of which specifically targeted rural areas. Results indicated people (94%), place (94%), and product (88%) were most consistently addressed in program design. However, price (59%) and promotion (41%) were addressed least. Overall, 1,419 teacher candidates were recruited into the 17 special education alternative teacher preparation programs, with 460 recruited from rural areas.

A Comparison of Service Time and Racial Categories within Traditional and Alternative Route Internship Programs for Special Education Licensure

“…Ultimately, states provide the regulatory framework for ARs to exist, and some states have embedded additional training into the AR pathways. Because different types of ARs make comparisons difficult (Chamberlin-Kim et al, 2019; Whitford et al, 2018), we purposely selected a single state that used a consistent definition for ARs. Virginia was selected for two reasons.…”

“…As such, the program is codified in law as a pathway to licensure program for individuals with bachelor’s degrees (in any subject) who are assigned as teachers of record in special education classrooms, under the mentorship of a fully licensed SET, while the individual attends and completes coursework in an approved university program (Virginia Teacher Licensure, 2006). Like similar programs, the Virginia program aims to increase the general supply and diversity of SETs while meeting the conditions defined in IDEIA (Chamberlin-Kim et al, 2019; Fenstermacher, 1990; Karge & McCabe, 2014; Myers et al, 2020; Pennington et al, 2019; Scott, 2019).…”

Pathways to Teacher STEM Certification in Texas: A Case for Addressing the Minority Teacher Shortage

“…Although researchers have indicated traditional pathways produce higher student outcomes (Anderson, 2006;Marder et al, 2020;Ruiz de Castilla, 2018;Schmidt et al, 2020), most states have responded to teacher shortages in various subject areas with alternative certification programs (Humphrey et al, 2008;Mentzer et al, 2019). Such programs more effectively alleviate the shortage of qualified minority STEM teachers and improve STEM learning outcomes for all students (Chamberlin-Kim et al, 2019). Since higher percentages of underrepresented minorities pursue alternative pathways over traditional certification (National Center for Education Statistics, 2018a), we posit alternative certification programs provide the most viable pathway to address the minority teacher shortage.…”