Enhancing the Instructional Capacity of Alternative Certified Career and Technical Education (CTE) Teachers

Some children dream of becoming a teacher. They even go as far as knowing the kind of teacher they want to be. Some young athletes dream of becoming a high school football coach one day. They soon realize most coaches are also teachers. They then want to become a teacher. Some people teach Sunday School or perhaps volunteer with a local youth group. They become invested in the lives of young people and desire to make an impact in their local community. Still others choose teaching as a second career because they want to try something different. To the outsider, teaching seems easy enough that they think anyone can do it. Individuals new to the teaching profession often struggle during their first year in the classroom. Some teachers join the profession through the traditional path of an accredited Educator Preparation Program (EPP). Others obtain alternative certification via an approved alternative certification program (ACP). With the implementation of Districts of Innovation (DOI), Local Education Agencies (LEA) now have the flexibility to recruit and hire industry professionals that possess expertise in hard-to-fill teaching assignments by issuing a school district teaching permit (SDTP). The reality is industry expertise does not replace the need for pedagogy knowledge and experience. The purpose of this study is to examine the challenges faced by alternative certified Career and Technical Education (CTE) teachers entering the profession without pedagogy experience and the factors that impact self-efficacy of instructional capacity for the new teachers to the profession.