Evaluation of Clark County School District's Alternative Route to Licensure Program from the Program Participants' Perspectives

This evaluation assesses the Alternative Route to Licensure (ARL) program of the Clark County School District (CCSD), in Clark County, Nevada from the program participants' perspectives. The program was implemented to reduce teacher shortages in the school district and allow persons with non-education-related Bachelor's Degrees to obtain teaching certifications. Much as do participants in traditional teacher education programs, ARL participants take coursework in pedagogy and content if they are not already holding a degree major in the content area, and they must pass competency testing. The main difference between ARL and traditional programs is that ARL participants do not have to complete a semester of student teaching before entering the classroom. As such, a primary concern is that ARL participants, without the tutelage of a master teacher, literally learn on the job in the absence of the traditional student teaching experience. Most ARL candidates are enrolled in education-related courses at local colleges and universities and have a specific number of years to complete the required college coursework and obtain the content knowledge, methods, and pedagogy (e.g., Nevada ARL students have three years to complete coursework). Specifically, ARL programs are important to CCSD because they recruit and place teachers in difficult to fill, content specific classrooms, such as secondary English, science, math, and special education. The purpose of the study is to examine and analyze the experiences of ARL candidates; I provide the CCSD ARL administrators and staff with feedback that can be used for further development and improvement of the program. Specifically, I assess ARL candidates' preparedness once they enter the classroom and their perceptions of the strengths and weaknesses of the ARL program. Data was collected through surveys and focus groups of current and past CCSD ARL participants. ARL Participants who have been in or completed the program over the past five years were surveyed through anonymous internet-based surveys and a subset participated in focus groups. Through the survey instrument I collected both quantitative and qualitative data and from the focus groups primarily qualitative data. The study provided key information pertaining to CCSD's ARL program activities. Respondents indicated activities that were perceived as important and effective and rated them accordingly. The majority of the program activities were viewed favorably by the program participants excluding the Praxis II exams and the induction modules. The program as a whole was rated highly in all five areas; program completion, program implementation, program preparation, implementation efficiency, and program activities. These high percentages warrant commendations to the CCSD ARL program and staff. Holistically, the program has met the intent which its creators have set out to do--prepare these individuals to teach.