Alternative Teacher Certification and the Hiring Process: Finding Quality Candidates During a Teacher Shortage

Research has indicated a growing teacher shortage for decades. Alternative certification began as a tool to combat the dropping numbers of college students pursuing education degrees. Despite the availability of these programs, there are still far too many vacant teaching positions across the nation, and educational administrators must resort to hiring unqualified teachers to fill these empty classrooms. This problem briefly catches the attention of policy makers but continues to go unsolved. This analysis provides an up-to-date review of the existing research on alternative certification and presents questions about the need for reform in the area of teacher certification.