85% of ABCTE Teachers in Classroom 3 Years After Certification
ABCTE’s alternative route shows strong retention rate.
Washington, DC (Vocus) July 16, 2008
Today, ABCTE released the results of the 2nd annual survey (http://www. abcte. org/files/alumni_survey2008.pdf) of its program alumni. The survey, conducted by leading national research firm Mathematica Policy Research, Inc. (http://mathematica-mpr. com/), indicated that 85% of ABCTE teachers are in the classroom 3 years after completing the alternative certification program.
Mathematica conducted the survey during the winter of 2007 and received responses from 508 alumni (84% response rate). 69% of alumni surveyed indicated that they are currently teaching and of those in public schools in the U. S., 53% of those schools are Title I eligible. Comparing results from the first survey (http://www. abcte. org/files/Alumni_Survey2007.pdf) to this one, ABCTE Teachers are in more states teaching more subject areas to a more diverse population of students. Overall, the number of program alumni now teaching at the K-12 level in the U. S. increased by more than 130%.
ABCTE specializes in recruiting career changers to the teaching profession. The average age is 39 and 35% are male. 59% of survey respondents indicated they chose the program to move into teaching. Another 34% chose ABCTE to fulfill state certification requirements and continue teaching.
“The high retention rate of ABCTE teachers is yet another sign that our program is drawing dedicated career changers to the classroom,” remarked ABCTE President Dave Saba (http://www. abcte. org/about-abcte/staff/saba). “Now with over 1,000 alumni (http://www. abcte. org/pressroom/2008/07/abcte-celebrates-its-1000th-certification-traci-brown), our teachers are reaching tens of thousands of students every year.”
About ABCTE
The American Board for Certification of Teacher Excellence is a non-profit organization, dedicated to recruiting, preparing, certifying and supporting dedicated professionals to improve student achievement through quality teaching. ABCTE is an innovative teacher preparation and certification program for highly knowledgeable individuals who want to change careers and become teachers. For more information about ABCTE, please visit www. abcte. org.
About Mathematica
Mathematica, a nonpartisan firm, conducts policy research and surveys for federal and state governments, foundations, and private-sector clients. The employee-owned company has conducted some of the most important studies of education, health care, disability, early childhood policies, welfare, employment, and nutrition programs in the U. S. Mathematica strives to improve public well-being by bringing the highest standards of quality, objectivity, and excellence to bear on the provision of information collection and analysis to its clients. For more information about Mathematica’s education research, please visit www. mathematica-mpr. com/education (http://www. mathematica-mpr. com/education).
###
