Overview of the NAAC conference

The National Association for Alternative Certification’s (NAAC) fourteenth annual conference was held at the New Orleans Hyatt on March 28-31. Educators and students from across the country met to further define what Alternative Certification means in the United States.

While, the main focus was on the increasing challenges of preparing teachers for positions in special education, and meeting the needs of rural, urban, or high poverty schools, participants also looked at many of the current issues and policies on the federal level. Although federal policies do not affect the states rights to determine who prepares teachers, the No Child Left Behind Act does require certification standards.

Michael McKibbin, the president of NAAC and project officer for alternative certification for the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing, spoke about how support, research, leadership, and the overall health of alternative certification will determine what role NAAC will play.

In addition, Michael Petrilli, Associate Deputy Under Secretary of Education, discussed how the No Child Left Behind Act relates to Alternative Certification.

Jeanne M. Burns, associate commissioner for teacher education initiatives for the Louisiana Board of Regents and Office of the Governor was joined by Glenny Lee Buquet, a member of the state's Board of Elementary and Secondary Education, and Paula Byrd a Southeastern alternative certification intern, who spoke about the “Louisiana State Perspective on Alternative Certification.”

Various “working” sessions by geographic regions allowed participants to discuss their concerns with alternative certification in hopes of coming up with solutions to strengthen the varied programs.

Going forward, the greatest challenges alternative certification faces are to tell its own, unique story, to create an organization that is more than a boutique shop, to collect good data, and to define itself.

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