Testimony in Support of Alternative Certification

Testimony in Support of Alternative Certification

Good afternoonChairLehner,Vice Chair Hite, Ranking Member Sawyer, distinguished members of the Senate Education Committee, and guests.

I am Gautham Kaveti, a teacher from Columbus and a member of StudentsFirst Ohio. I am writingin support of alternative certification for Ohio teachers. Ohio needs to reform its alternative certification requirements to allow talented and caring professionals to enter the classroom.

I want to thank the committee for providing me the opportunity to address my concerns.

Current Ohio law requires mid-career professionals entering the classroom through alternative certification to complete an overly burdensome coursework requirement. The coursework is unnecessary since passing a content exam is one of the requirements for alternative certification. Also, the coursework requirement is not tied to effectiveness in the classroom. Prospective teachers should be able to demonstrate their mastery of a subject area by passing the content exam without having to complete an overly burdensome and unnecessary coursework requirement.

For example, if a professional chemist is interested in teaching high-school chemistry, she should be able to show her subject matter expertise through the content exam. There is no reason to require her to complete additional chemistry courses.

Compared to teachers who attend traditional teacher-preparation programs, teachers who come from high-quality alternative-certification programs produce comparable gains in student learning. In addition, alternative-certification programs bring more diversity to the teaching profession with increased numbers of male and minority candidates. Lastly, alternatively certified teachers are more likely to teach shortage subjects, namely math and science, and are more willing to teach in urban, high-needs areas.

My own experience supports a casefor alternative certification. I came from the Teach For America program and am in my fifth year teaching. Although Ohio allows for alternative certification of Teach for America alums, I believe there are many more talented, qualified professionals ready to make an impact on students lives. The example above is a great case for the type of expertise required in the type of specialization required these days. Making alternative pathways to the classroom will broaden and deepen the pool of talent that our kids need.

This is why I urge you to support alternative certification.

Thank you for taking the time to listen to my concerns.I hope you vote to amend Senate Bill 3 so prospective teachers can be alternatively certified by passing the content exam to demonstrate their mastery of a subject area without having to complete an overly burdensome and unnecessary coursework requirement. Expanding the pathways of alternative certification will allow Ohio’s talented and caring professionals to enter the classroomand help ensure every student in Ohio has a great teacher.