Volume 2 - Issue 1 - DBU Journal of K-12 Educational Research - Page 72

70 campus leaders were relatively divided in their responses pertain- ing to the sufficiency of alternatively certified teachers’ overall preparedness. When asked to elaborate on perceived differences in beginning teacher preparation based on certification path, cam - pus leader themes included: the value of field experiences/student teaching during educator preparation, the importance of content knowledge, the perception of traditionally certified beginning teachers as exhibiting a greater understanding of professional ex- pectations and of classroom management, and the advantage and disadvantage of alternatively certified teachers’ life experience. A larger percentage of traditionally certified beginning teach - ers rated themselves as Sufficiently Prepared or Well Prepared than did alternatively certified beginning teachers in all areas except positive communication and relationships and working with special populations. At least one-third of both groups of beginning teachers expressed a lack of preparedness to work with special populations while greater than 90% of each group felt prepared to exhibit professionalism. Moreover, classroom management , content knowledge , and instructional planning and delivery reflect areas in which approximately one-third of alternatively certified beginning teachers did not report at least a sufficient level of preparedness. Cumulatively, 23% of alterna - tively certified beginning teachers perceived a sufficient degree of overall preparedness in comparison to 91% of traditionally certified beginning teachers. Campus Leader Perceptions When asked to rank the areas of greatest need for beginning teachers by certification route, campus leaders ranked classroom management and instructional planning and delivery as one and two, respectively, for each route. The third greatest area of needed support for alternatively certified beginning teachers was content knowledge while the third area for traditionally certified begin - ning teachers was positive communication and relationships . Table 2 depicts the mode of campus leader responses when asked about the extent to which beginning teachers were prepared in the given area. Comprehensively, campus leaders perceived al- ternatively certified beginning teachers to be sufficiently prepared in four of seven areas: positive communication and relationships , content knowledge , addressing diversity , and professionalism . Table 2 . Campus Leader Response Modes by Area Pamela Kelly Linton, Ed.D.