The purpose of this study was to report the status of alternative teacher certification in each of the 50 states and the District of Columbia and to provide a descriptive analysis of alternative certification programs and participants. Descriptive survey research was used in this study. state Offices of Teacher Education and Certification in each of the 50 states and the District of Columbia were contacted and surveyed to obtain the data. It was determined that 30 states had enacted alternative certification provisions and were implementing alternative certification programs. Eleven additional states and the District of Columbia were found to be considering or having proposed provisions for alternative certification. The majority of alternative certification programs in operation were established during the 1980s, and over 50% of the states implementing alternative certification programs cited a shortage of teachers as a rationale for the programs' establishment. An analysis of the characteristics of alternative certification programs revealed that all programs required a bachelor's degree for admission into the program. Formal instruction often required some type of prescribed coursework, and field experience in the majority of programs allowed participants to assume full time teaching responsibilities prior to completing the program. The length of alternative certification programs ranged from 1 to 5 years. Data on alternative certification program participants were limited. From the demographic data obtained, it was determined that most participants were Caucasian and were female. Based upon data received from ten states, it was further determined that 3,249 participants had achieved regular certification after completing an alternative certification program. The provider of an alternative certification program was identified as either a local school district, an institution of higher education, a state education agency, or a collaboration of these entities. No differences were found in the programs' characteristics or the gender and the ethnicity of the participants, based on the provider. / Ed. D.