TRADITIONAL AND ALTERNATIVE TEACHER TRAINING PROGRAMS: A COMPARISON OF PERCEPTIONS OF TRAINING AND RETENTION OF FIRST-YEAR TEACHERS by Jo Lynn Suell Ed.S., Troy State University, 1998 M.S., Troy State University, 1993 B.S., Troy State University, 1991 A dissertation submitted to the Division of Teacher Education College of Professional Studies The University of West Florida In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Education 2005 TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ACKNOWLEDGMENTS..............................................................................................iii LIST OF TABLES .........................................................................................................vii ABSTRACT ..................................................................................................................viii CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION ............................................................................. 1 A. Statement and Relevance of the Problem ................................... 4 B. Purpose of the Study .................................................................... 5 C. Research Questions...................................................................... 5 D. Significance of the Study............................................................. 6 E. Definition of Terms...................................................................... 7 F. Limitations ................................................................................... 7 G. Basic Assumptions....................................................................... 7 CHAPTER II. REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE.................................................... 8 A. History of Teacher Certification.................................................. 8 B. Alternative Teacher Certification ................................................ 8 C. Need for Alternative Certification ............................................... 9 D. Secretary’s Annual Report........................................................... 11 E. History of Alternative Certification ............................................ 12 F. Effective Alternative Teacher Certification................................. 12 G. Studies on Alternative Certification Programs ............................ 14 1. Retention and Attrition ............................................................ 14 2. Minorities and Males ............................................................... 15 3. Areas of Need for Teacher Education...................................... 16 4. Importance of Mentors............................................................. 16 5. Importance of Experience........................................................ 17 6. Student Achievement............................................................... 18 H. Alternative Certification Programs.............................................. 19 I. Review of State Education Web Sites ......................................... 22 J. Florida Alternative Certification Programs ................................. 25 K. Self-Efficacy ................................................................................ 27 CHAPTER III. METHODOLOGY............................................................................ 28 A. Overview.................................................................................... 28 B. University Programs .................................................................. 28 1. Alternative Programs ............................................................. 28 2. Traditional Programs ............................................................. 30 3. Research Question 1 .............................................................. 31 4. Research Question 2 .............................................................. 31 5. Research Question 3 .............................................................. 32 6. Research Question 4 .............................................................. 33 C. Site and Participants................................................................... 33 D. Selection..................................................................................... 34 E. Research Design ........................................................................ 36 F. Instrumentation .......................................................................... 37 G. Procedure Method...................................................................... 39 H. Data Analysis............................................................................. 41 CHAPTER IV. ANALYSIS OF DATA ..................................................................... 44 A. Introduction........................................................................... 44 B Research Question 1.............................................................. 44 C. Research Question 2.............................................................. 47 D Research Question 3 .............................................................. 50 E. Research Question 4.............................................................. 52 F. Summary................................................................................ 53 CHAPTER V. SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS, AND IMPLICATIONS................. 55 A. Summary.................................................................................... 55 B. Research Question 1 .................................................................. 56 C. Research Question 2 .................................................................. 57 D. Research Question 3 .................................................................. 58 E. Research Question 4 .................................................................. 59 F. Limitations ................................................................................. 59 G. Conclusions................................................................................ 59 H. Implications ............................................................................... 60 I. Recommendations...................................................................... 61 REFERENCES .............................................................................................................. 62 APPENDIXES............................................................................................................... 76 A. Contract Between The School Board of Escambia County, Florida, and The College of Professional Studies at the University of West Florida ........................................................ 77 B. Information Letter...................................................................... 81 C. Informed Consent Form............................................................. 83 D. Demographic Survey ................................................................... 85 E. The Florida Educator Accomplished Practices Survey ............... 88 F. The Ohio State Teacher Efficacy Scale ........................................91 G. Permission from Superintendent of the School District of Escambia County..........................................................................94 H. Institutional Review Board Approval of the University of West Florida..................................................................................96 I. Interview Grid...............................................................................99 LIST OF TABLES Table Page 1. Variables and Indicators for Questions ................................................................40 2. Responses for Retention Items by Males .............................................................45 3. Responses for Retention Items by Minorities ......................................................46 4. Teachers Mean Scores for the Educator Accomplished Practices Survey...........48 5. Teachers Mean Scores on the Ohio State Teacher Self-Efficacy Scales ............50 6. Mean Scores of Traditional and Alternative Teachers on the Florida Educator Accomplished Practices Survey ...........................................................................53 The dissertation of Jo Lynn Suell is approved: ________________________________________________ _______________ William H. Evans, Committee Member Date ________________________________________________ _______________ Laura D. Tissington, Committee Member Date ________________________________________________ _______________ Jill T. White, Committee Member Date ________________________________________________ _______________ David L. Stout, Committee Chair Date Accepted for the Department Division: ________________________________________________ _______________ Joseph M. Peters, Chair Date Accepted for the College of Professional Studies: ________________________________________________ _______________ Janet K. Pilcher, Dean Date Accepted for the University: ________________________________________________ _______________ Carl A. Backman, Associate Vice President Date Academic Affairs ACKNOWLEDGMENTS My sincere appreciation to my committee chair, Dr. David Stout, and committee members, Dr. William Evans, Dr. Jill White, and Dr. Laura Tissington, for their encouragement and support throughout my doctoral program. I would also like to thank my friends and family for their patience and help. ABSTRACT TRADITIONAL AND ALTERNATIVE TEACHER TRAINING PROGRAMS: A COMPARISON OF PERCEPTIONS OF TRAINING AND RETENTION OF FIRST-YEAR TEACHERS Jo Lynn Suell This study was conducted to compare a new university alternative certification program