Transcript Eliminating Barriers to Improving Teaching

META Alternate Licensure
Program for Special Education
Teachers
Terry Dozier, Director
VCU Center for Teacher Leadership
Wednesday, May 24, 2006
National Comprehensive Center
for Teacher Quality
Metropolitan Educational Training
Alliance (META) – February 2001
Hanover
County
Schools
Chesterfield
County Schools
VCU’s School
of Education
META
Henrico
County
Schools
Richmond
City Schools
META provides a framework
for its partners to. . .
 identify
needs and opportunities for
collaborative professional development
activities;
 plan and to implement professional
development activities;
 share information and resources; and
 seek additional resources necessary to
carry out activities.
META Projects

Developing Teacher Leaders -- focused on recruiting and
supporting teachers who seek advanced certification through
the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards

Developing Future Teachers Out of the Ranks of
Instructional Assistants -- focused on instructional assistants
with a bachelor’s degree who want to be special education
teachers

Ensuring Highly Qualified Paraprofessionals – partnership
with JSRCC to help paraprofessionals meet federal
requirements

META Teacher Development and Retention Project – five
year federal grant to improve the preparation and retention of
teachers in the metro-Richmond area; targeted to the highest
need schools
META Alternate Licensure
Program for Special Education
 Targets
instructional aides in META
schools.
 Works with cohorts of students over 6
semesters (Summer Year 1 through
Spring Year 2= 21 months)
 Provides Year 1 coursework while
serving as an instructional aide
 Offers Year 2 seminars while serving
as the teacher of record
META Roles and Responsibilities
VCU shall:
 Provide a cohort program with a prescribed
sequence of courses.

Offer all courses to participants at the “offcampus” course rate.
 Allow
participants the opportunity to earn an
M.Ed. degree by allowing up to 15 credit
hours from the cohort program to count
toward the M.Ed. degree
META Roles and Responsibilities
Participating school systems shall:
 Identify and recommend qualified
instructional aides for the META program.
 Provide
a list of qualified and willing
instructors to teach:
 TEDU
500
Language and Reading Disabilities
 TEDU
681
Investigation and Trends in
Teaching: Special Education Law
Seminar I
Seminar II
 TEDU
500
 TEDU 500
META Roles and Responsibilities
Participants shall:
 Have a contract as an instructional aide with
one of the four META school divisions.

Be employed as a special education
instructional aide during the first year of the
program.

Take the prescribed courses as a cohort and
sign up only for META-specified courses or
course sections.
Results to Date
 42
instructional aides have participated in the
META Alternate Licensure Program for
Special Education since it’s inception in 2002.
 35
3
have been hired by the META divisions.
graduates have been selected as the “New
Teacher of the Year” for their schools
Guidelines for Setting Up Effective
Alternative Route Programs*
 Establish
planning committee that should
include:
 person
who will oversee the program
 faculty members who will likely teach courses to
participants
 representative from the Dean’s Office
 representative from the district personnel office
 principals from partnering districts

Assess district’s need for qualified teachers -be very specific in terms of subject areas and
candidate characteristics
Guidelines for Setting Up Effective
Alternative Route Programs*
 Set
goals – Specify the numbers and types of teachers
program aims to produce
 Identify
pool from which you will draw new
recruits
 Publicize program
 Select candidates
 Adapt teacher education curriculum to:
 value
diversity
 build bridges between home and school
 prepare candidates to be role models
 make connections between theory and practice
 improve knowledge of content
Guidelines for Setting Up Effective
Alternative Route Programs*

Meet the needs of participants by:
 giving
credit for experience
 addressing potential barriers to student teaching
 expanding course offerings
 providing financial incentives (scholarships that
pay tuition, fees, and books are essential)
Guidelines for Setting Up Effective
Alternative Route Programs*

Support participants through:
 consistent
academic advising or monitoring
 academic tutoring
 preparation for certification exams
 classroom supervision and feedback
 mentoring
 cohort building
 family support

Calculate costs and promote efficiency
*Ahead of the Class: A Handbook for Preparing New Teachers from New Sources,
Clewell and Villegas
Questions?