Survey: Teachers Increasingly Take an Alternative Route

"Four out of 10 new public school teachers hired since 2005 came through alternative teacher-preparation programs, according to a survey just released by the National Center For Education Information. That's up from 22 percent of new teachers hired between 2000 and 2004," reports Education Week’s Teachers blog.

The blog reports the survey found that alternative-route teachers are more likely to favor reforms such as performance pay, tenure elimination, tying student achievement to teacher evaluations, and market-driven pay to strengthen the teaching profession than their traditionally prepared counterparts.

According to the blog:

[N]early all teachers, regardless of certification route, support removing incompetent teachers without concern for seniority. And all teachers "are slightly more satisfied with general working conditions and are more satisfied with the status of teachers in the community than were teachers surveyed in 2005, 1996, 1990, and in 1986," according to "Profile of Teachers in the U.S. 2011." This result stands in contrast to the sentiments expressed by those teachers attending the Save Our Schools Rally in Washington, D.C., the weekend of July 30-31.