Comparison of Teaching Attitudes, Teacher Efficacy, and Teacher Performance of First Year Teachers Prepared by Alternative and Traditional Teacher Education Programs

Debate about teacher supply and demand has been renewed in recent years by an increased concern about the reduced numbers of students entering teacher education programs and the resulting teacher shortage. An important aspect of this debate is the alternative certification approach that rests on the premise that many non-education majors would enter the teaching field if they did not have to take many undergraduate education courses and go through student teaching as required under regular certification procedures.