School districts across the country are faced with teacher shortages in critical need areas such as special education and bilingual education. Further complicating this shortage is the movement to augment the existing teaching force with minority teachers in order to more closely reflect the changing demographics of the student population. Many states/districts have turned to alternative routes to teaching certification as the answer to expedite the recruitment of teachers. A largely untapped resource for new teachers can be found among the talented paraprofessional employees already employed within the school districts. Paraprofessional employees working in today’s classrooms offer a wealth of classroom knowledge and experience in these potential teachers. Districts seeking to recruit these employees as potential students need information on how to support and promote the hiring of teachers representative of minority groups that reflect the demographic composition of the student population. The primary purpose of this study is to identify the obstacles faced by paraprofessionals in a large urban school district who aspire to become certified teachers by pursuing a bachelor’s degree. Using naturalistic inquiry techniques, paraprofessionals wishing to become teachers completed questionnaires and participated in individual interviews. The data were examined and categorized using qualitative techniques in order to identify recurrent and common emerging themes where community colleges and universities can work to increase their support of these students and where school districts can increase levels of supports.

School districts across the country are faced with teacher shortages in critical need areas such as special education and bilingual education. Further complicating this shortage is the movement to augment the existing teaching force with minority teachers in order to more closely reflect the changing demographics of the student population. Many states/districts have turned to alternative routes to teaching certification as the answer to expedite the recruitment of teachers. A largely untapped resource for new teachers can be found among the talented paraprofessional employees already employed within the school districts. Paraprofessional employees working in today’s classrooms offer a wealth of classroom knowledge and experience in these potential teachers. Districts seeking to recruit these employees as potential students need information on how to support and promote the hiring of teachers representative of minority groups that reflect the demographic composition of the student population. The primary purpose of this study is to identify the obstacles faced by paraprofessionals in a large urban school district who aspire to become certified teachers by pursuing a bachelor’s degree. Using naturalistic inquiry techniques, paraprofessionals wishing to become teachers completed questionnaires and participated in individual interviews. The data were examined and categorized using qualitative techniques in order to identify recurrent and common emerging themes where community colleges and universities can work to increase their support of these students and where school districts can increase levels of supports.

This is a study to ascertain the current qualifications and status of the industrial arts teachers employed in the elementary, junior, and senior high schools in the state of Texas. The purpose of this study is threefold: 1) to hypothesize that the qualifications and status of Texas industrial arts teachers have improved within the last fourteen years; 2) to hypothesize that those industrial arts teachers who were active in professional organizations have higher academic qualifications and status than those teachers who were not active in professional organizations; and 3) to hypothesize that industrial arts programs under the guidance of those teachers who were active members of professional organizations had a more complete industrial arts program and offer a wider selection of courses than those not.

The purpose of this study was to review the empirical research evidence on the effect of teacher certification on student achievement. An exploratory meta-analysis was conducted on studies that examined the effect of fully certified and less-than-fully certified teachers on student achievement. The meta-analysis focused on the areas of mathematics, science and reading and explored trends across areas of achievement, school level and research design. The study was directed towards (a) a synthesis of findings, and (b) recommendations for future research and policy decisions.The meta-analysis population consisted of five individual studies that generated twenty-seven effect size estimates. Three studies utilized either an individual level or class level of analysis and yielded twelve mean difference effect size estimates. Two studies utilized either a school or state level of analysis and yielded fifteen correlational effect size estimates. The majority of findings in mathematics favor the positive effect of fully certified teachers. In science, the findings pointed towards equivalent levels of student achievement for fully certified and less-than fully certified teachers. All the findings associated with reading favored the positive effect of fully certified teachers. It appears that certification may be more crucial to student achievement in reading and mathematics than in science. Across school levels, the overall trend suggests that full certification may be more crucial to student achievement in elementary school than middle or high school. Across levels of analysis and research design, studies that utilize an aggregate level of analysis yield a greater number of positive study outcomes than designs conducted at the individual or class level. A key finding is that given the specifications of the meta-analysis, direct evidence of the relationship between certification and student achievement is limited to five peer-reviewed, published studies. Additional findings illuminated several issues that are vital to improving the quantity and quality of research on teacher certification. Eight specific recommendations were directed towards academic researchers who plan to study the topic. Four recommendations are directed towards policy-makers at the state and federal level who are involved in setting standards and planning legislation for educator preparation.

A Survey Study of Career Ladder System for School Teachers in Pingtung County Abstract This study began with a literature review of career ladder system designated & performed by school districts in the United States. Then, it analyzed the contents of draft version for career ladder system suggested by the Ministry of Education, Taiwan. At the same time, it made a reference to empirical studies and interviews in our country, in order to establish career ladder certificate system for teachers. This system would not only benefit teachers to promote their professional status or push those who were in-service teachers, but also could sharpen their teaching skills and strengthen the qualification of teachers. The major purpose of this study was to estimate the feasible models of career ladder certificate system for school teachers in Pingtung County. In addition, they would like to conduct a survey towards the different backgrounds of the educational employees concerned, including the employees in the local education authorities, county councilors, PTA members(all were referred as ¡§non-teaching people¡¨), representatives of teachers¡¦ organization, full-time school teachers, full-time teachers with administrative duties, intern teachers, and substitute teachers. Most significantly, the researcher tried to interpret the subjects¡¦ attitude towards the career ladder certificate system and their perspectives towards the approaches to establish the system. The author, after reviewed the related literature, developed the instrument of questionnaire ¡§A Survey of the Opinions towards the System of Career Ladder and Professional Certification for School Teachers¡¨ and mailed to 1455 subjects in total. 925 of them responded. Then, the data were analyzed through methods of t-test, one-way ANOVA, chi-square test, distribution and percentage analysis. The conclusions of this study were as follows: 1.As to the questionnaire, the establishment of career ladder certificate system for teachers could push teachers to study, encourage them to conduct life-long learning, provide career ladder opportunities and reflect on their professional knowledge. 2.The subjects thought that the content of the career ladder certificate system should not be exclusive to one another. Additionally, containing the rules and regulations such as career ladder, terms of service for each ladder , hands-on teaching experiences and the tenure of service in teaching could avoid the system being monopolized by those who were held good relationships. Although the non-teaching people occupied the highest ratio for saying no to the system, they did think that the system was helpful for planning the human resource in schools and for enhancing the quality of teachers. 3.Teachers who worked at a school with a scale of 49~60 classes occupied the highest ratio for supporting the system. 4.On the management of career ladder and certification, the subjects were apt to the way that the central education authorities to develop the codes and regulations for the system and to take on the duties of reviewing and issuing certifications. 5.As for the renewing the tenure of certificates for each ladder, most subjects claimed necessary to have an expiring term to each certificate in order to match the requirements for continuing education and to establish a renewing term system. The renewing term, as the survey showed, ranged from 5 to 10 years. 6.The criteria for promotion among the different ladders and of course their certificates were referred to the followings: the review of applicants¡¦ education and expertise, the credits gained thru in-service education programs, applicant¡¦s creative performance in the design of instructional methods and materials, and the performance of the applicant¡¦s research. 7.When asked about the reviewers in the process of certification, colleague teachers and building principals were the most favored representatives for internal evaluation committee. As for the external evaluation committee, professional education groups and people were trusted the most. 8.Whether or not the career ladder certificate system for school teachers must be established, the subjects chose to set up a hierarchy system for teachers, and three levels of hierarchy were more referred to than the others. 9.As for the reciprocal agreement for career ladder certificate issued by various local education authorities, a high percentage of subjects tended to support that the certificates were universal around the country. 10.In the system of canceling career ladder and certification, it might happen due mainly to three causes: psychological, moral and teaching abilities. Furthermore, it was emphasized that only concrete and substantial evidence should be presented as the basis to make the decisions. 11.As to the difficulties encountered while executing the system of career ladder and certification, the subjects thought that the major doubts were respectively: insufficient support for the career ladder system, the credibility of those who might be responsible for the system, and lack of the codes and regulations concerned. 12.As for the related measures to put the career ladder certificate system into practice, most subjects recommended the establishment of in-service education & training system for teachers, revision of related codes & regulations, modification of teachers¡¦ salary scale, and setting up a task-oriented unit for the system. Based upon the conclusions of this research, the author then proposed suggestions not only to educational authorities, teacher training institution, all levels of schools, but also to the teachers at schools and future researchers. On the other hand, the research also provided a feasible reference for other local education authorities while considering to develop the career ladder certificate system for teachers.

The purpose of this study was to review the empirical research evidence on the effect of teacher certification on student achievement. An exploratory meta-analysis was conducted on studies that examined the effect of fully certified and less-than-fully certified teachers on student achievement. The meta-analysis focused on the areas of mathematics, science and reading and explored trends across areas of achievement, school level and research design. The study was directed towards (a) a synthesis of findings, and (b) recommendations for future research and policy decisions.The meta-analysis population consisted of five individual studies that generated twenty-seven effect size estimates. Three studies utilized either an individual level or class level of analysis and yielded twelve mean difference effect size estimates. Two studies utilized either a school or state level of analysis and yielded fifteen correlational effect size estimates. The majority of findings in mathematics favor the positive effect of fully certified teachers. In science, the findings pointed towards equivalent levels of student achievement for fully certified and less-than fully certified teachers. All the findings associated with reading favored the positive effect of fully certified teachers. It appears that certification may be more crucial to student achievement in reading and mathematics than in science. Across school levels, the overall trend suggests that full certification may be more crucial to student achievement in elementary school than middle or high school. Across levels of analysis and research design, studies that utilize an aggregate level of analysis yield a greater number of positive study outcomes than designs conducted at the individual or class level. A key finding is that given the specifications of the meta-analysis, direct evidence of the relationship between certification and student achievement is limited to five peer-reviewed, published studies. Additional findings illuminated several issues that are vital to improving the quantity and quality of research on teacher certification. Eight specific recommendations were directed towards academic researchers who plan to study the topic. Four recommendations are directed towards policy-makers at the state and federal level who are involved in setting standards and planning legislation for educator preparation.

The purpose of this study is to investigate perceptions of the teaching profession and education in the political debate concerning teacher certification. I have, based on the purpose, issued three question that form the basis of this study. They are: To what extent does the participants in the debate perceive the teaching profession as a profession? Based on the perception that the teaching profession is a profession, to what extent and how is the requirement for certification being justified? Which perceptions regarding education are being expressed in the debate? The method used to carry out this study is an idea analysis, which is generally used when analysing political debates. The purpose of using this method is to obtain clarity of what is said in a debate. Furthermore, the theoretical concepts that are relevant for the implementation of this study are profession and education. The result of this study shows that the debaters define a professional as a person who is motivated, has an education, is suitable to practice his/her profession, has the knowledge required in his/her profession and has received a certification. The result also indicates that the aim of introducing a teacher certification is to strengthen the teacher profession as a profession. However, there are some flaws with the certification that might leave the aim of it unfulfilled. Finally, the result of the study shows that education is left in the dark in the debate.

A study was conducted to determine the relationship between the credentials held by science teachers who taught at a school that administered the Science Texas Assessment on Knowledge and Skills (Science TAKS), the state standardized exam in science, at grade 11 and student performance on a state standardized exam in science administered in grade 11. Years of teaching experience, teacher certification type(s), highest degree level held, teacher and school demographic information, and the percentage of students who met the passing standard on the Science TAKS were obtained through a public records request to the Texas Education Agency (TEA) and the State Board for Educator Certification (SBEC). Analysis was performed through the use of canonical correlation analysis and multiple linear regression analysis. The results of the multiple linear regression analysis indicate that a larger percentage of students met the passing standard on the Science TAKS state attended schools in which a large portion of the high school science teachers held post baccalaureate degrees, elementary and physical science certifications, and had 11-20 years of teaching experience.

The reporting of scores on educational tests is at times misunderstood, misinterpreted, and potentially confusing to examinees and other stakeholders who may need to interpret test scores. In reporting test results to examinees, there is a need for clarity in the message communicated. As pressure rises for students to demonstrate performance at a certain level, the communication of scores to the public needs to be examined. Although public school student testing often is placed in the spotlight, this study examines score reporting in teacher certification, which may not have the same complexities of student test score reporting, but does have the equally critical need to effectively communicate scoring information. The purpose of this study was to create multiple teacher certification examinee score reports based on findings in the literature on educational test score reporting, as well as marketing and design principles, and to conduct interviews and focus groups to gather feedback on the comprehension and preferences in interpreting the designed score reports and results. Different approaches for reporting test scores were used to design the score reporting materials for a hypothetical teacher certification testing examinee who had not passed. Educators and educational testing professionals were convened and interviewed to review the score reports and offer feedback, suggestions and discussion. The findings are covered in great detail. Using the findings, a final model score report was designed, which was then reviewed with doctoral students in educational measurement. Through this process, some clear patterns and differences arose. Overall, there was a desire on the educator and doctoral student end to provide as much information as possible, where supported by sound measurement principles. The reporting of raw performance information, as well as accommodating comprehension styles by providing performance information in contextual, statistical and visual ways were requested. Upon addressing these requests, two areas that may not have full clarity and direction remained: The process of converting raw score performance to a scaled score (participants wanted more information on this process), and information provided that could address candidate weak areas, directing examinees to materials that could improve their studies, understanding, and examination performance.

The purpose of this study was to determine whether students taught by certified teachers and those taught by uncertified teachers had significantly different achievement on a state Algebra I End of Course examination. The specific research questions were: (1) Does type of teacher certification impact Algebra I End of Course (EOC) Exam scores for high school freshman when controlling for students' past mathematics success as measured by 8th grade TAAS mathematics test scores and teachers' years of experience? (2) Does type of teacher certification impact Algebra I End of Course (EOC) Exam passage rates for high school freshman when controlling for students' past mathematics success as measured by 8th grade TAAS mathematics test scores, socio-economic status, ethnicity, gender, and teachers' years of experience? This research was conducted in a large north Texas suburban school district. The entire population (N=1,433) of freshman students enrolled in year-long Algebra I was included for this study. Three statistical tests were used in data analysis for the first question. Analysis of covariance using student as well as teacher as the unit of analysis and hierarchical multiple regression were used to analyze students' specific scores. Logistic regression was used for the second research question. This study found that students in classes with non-certified teachers scored eight points lower on the Algebra I EOC Exam than those in classes with certified teachers. However, when controlling for students' prior mathematics achievement and other variables, the difference was of no practical significance. There was no practical significance in a student's odds of passing the examination between students in certified teachers' classrooms and those in uncertified teachers' classrooms. The results of this study offer further understanding of the debate over type of certification.