The NAAC Newsletter is published by the National Association for Alternative Certification.
Fellow members and prospective members: your NAAC newsletter is designed to keep you
abreast of the people and events that are shaping the future of our association.
This edition of the NAAC newsletter will introduce you to the newly elected officers of
our organization and provide updates and insights on the current issues concerning
alternative certification.
Members and interested individuals are encouraged to provide their comments, opinions and
analysis on the alternative certification issues they may wish to share with the NAAC
membership.
KUDOS to the University of Memphis
College of Education!
First things first. This years NAAC annual conference at the Memphis
Peabody Hotel was a resounding success. The accommodations were first class; the breakout
sessions highly professional, informative and helpful; and a good time was had by all
during the many exciting and interesting scheduled activities.
We all are indebted to our annual meeting chairperson, Dr. Cindy Chance, and the
conference registration coordinator, Dr. Judy Pace, for the time and effort they devoted
to the planning and execution of the conference. It was one of our best ever!
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Bill Smith Scholarship Winners Typical
Of First-Class ACPers
by Vicki Dill
Two outstanding interns received Bill Smith Scholarship Awards in Memphis
during the April meeting of the Sixth Annual National Alternative Teacher Certification
and Licensure Conference. The interns were nominated from among hundred of applicants to
receive the top honors which help fund their alternative certification internship. Jointly
funded by the National Association of Alternative Certification and the Haberman
Educational Foundation. The scholarship targets truly outstanding novice teachers who are
joining the profession and making a difference every day in the classroom. Each
prize-winning recipient received $500 in scholarship money.
Christy Gerren teaches Sheltered English at Wittier Year-Round School in
the Oakland School District in Oakland, Ca. Noting that Christy has already distinguished
herself among her colleagues, principal Voncile Wilson boasts that Christy already
understands the complexities of the Public School system, the resourcefulness needed,and
the maturity of an accomplished adult. A model of racial and cultural tolerance, Christy,
with characteristic humility noted, the instructors and students I have had are some of
the most caring, committed professionals I have met in education.
Elijah West teacher at Esther F. Garrison Elementary in Savannah,Georgia.
His Heritage Immersion Classroom addresses the needs of inner-city at-risk youth, giving
them life skills, personal development, and conflict resolution skills. Elijah feels that
he is carrying on a great tradition once given him --Alternative Certification has allowed
me to...perpetuate the legacy of Mrs. Mamie M. Hart, a teacher who believed in an
underachieving sophomore and provided him a foundation on which he could build the rest of
his life. Elijah is part of the Savannah Pathways to Teaching Program and he is a
prophetic voice indeed.
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The Association By-Laws
by S. V. Harding
At the general membership meeting in Memphis, a set of by laws were
formally adopted by the Association. They reflect the non-profit educational and
charitable purpose of the Association and provide the day to rules of operation.
A president and a secretary/treasurer were elected for 2 year terms.(It was felt the in
the beginning 2 years was needed to get started and that can be adjusted later as the
situation changes.) According to the By-Laws, these two elected officer positions are
members of the Board of Governors. The Governors consist of three other at large positions
and an intern position. The Chairperson from the National Senior Advisory Board (see other
NSAB article below) will also sit on the Board of Governors, making a total of seven
individuals. These individuals should be diverse in as many aspects as possible to ensure
representation from a broad cross-section of interested stake holders in the field of
alternative certification for teacher preparation.
The day to day operations will be executed by an Executive Committee consisting of the
President , the Secretary/Treasurer and the Chair of the NSAB.
At each annual conference, a meeting of the general membership will be held to review the
work of the Board and make recommendations for future actions. The primary focus will be
to grow the organization. In the interest of attracting more members dues were set at $25
per year. It is anticipated that, once the goal of charter members is achieved, dues will
be raised.
Communication by email was strongly encouraged as a cost effective means to bridge the
budget gap and still keep the information flowing.
Clarence E. Willie accepts position as Assistant Superintendent for Brunswick County
Schools
Congratulations are in order for Clarence Willie. He was recently selected as the
Assistant Superintendent for Brunswick County Schools in Southport, North Carolina. He
assumes the duties of this challenging new leadership position on 24 July.
Clarence was hired to oversee the operations of the county school system. Accordingly, he
will be devoting a great deal of hard work and dedication to his efforts to provide a new
direction for the school system. In view of the demands that his new position will place
upon his time and talents, Clarence decided it would be in the best interest of our
organization if he let Dr. Ramon Alaniz takeover as president. However, he will remain on
the active membership roles of our organization.
We all wish Clarence the very best of luck in his challenging new position and we look
forward visiting him on the beautiful North Carolina beach -- once he has settled into his
new position as Assistant Superintendent.
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CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR NEW OFFICERS!!!
NAAC PRESIDENT: Dr. Ramon G. Alaniz
Ramon has acquired a wealth of experience in the area of teacher
preparation during the past three decades. He served as an Elementary and Middle School
teacher and administrator for five years after graduating with a dual major in Biology and
Mathematics from Pan-American University. Following his graduation he became one of the
original interns with the National Teacher Corps and later was selected as the Teacher
Corps Director for the great state of Texas. For the past 24 year Dr. Alaniz has served as
a university professor,most recently with Texas A&M International University in
Laredo.
A nationally recognized leader and expert in the field of bi-lingual education, he is
frequently called upon to participate in and make presentations to bi-lingual teacher
preparation symposia and workshops. Besides serving as our president, Ramon is also one of
the founding members of the Texas Association for Bilingual Education(TABE), the National
Association for Bilingual Education (NABE), the Texas Alternative certification
Association (TACA) and the Texas Faculty Association (TFA).
In addition to his expertise in bilingual/multicultural, alternative and traditional
teacher preparation Ramon is also highly regarded as an expert in the areas of curriculum
development, international education programs, budget preparation and management and grant
writing.
We are indeed fortunate to have an individual of Dr. Ramon G. Alaniz caliber to serve as
our president.
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NAAC SECRETARY/TREASURER: Sara Victoria Harding
Vicki is the president and founder of SVH Associates, LTD, an education
program development and management training company dedicated to post-secondary programs
and adult training delivery for managerial effectiveness. Her visionary educational
leadership and proven long range program planning skills are highly sought after by key
decision makers in both the public and private sectors.
Prior to forming her own company, Vicki served as the Program Manager for the SOCED and
SOCNAVPREP Programs with the Service members Opportunity Colleges. In this capacity she
developed and implemented comprehensive programs to promote undergraduate degree
completion and subsequent careers in education by providing nationally accepted curriculum
available to active duty service members at any duty station around the world. Vicki
created the core curriculum by establishing a common ground on which the over 50
participating colleges and universities could communicate their requirements and thus
guarantee credit transferability to all the program participants. She implemented the
program through a series of internationally conducted staff training seminars; multilevel
informational brochures and mailings; and on-site staff and user lectures and telephone
counseling.
Previous to her SOC Program Manager position, Vicki served as the Project Manager for
Management Development and Training for the European Exchange. In this capacity she
developed and presented a dynamic series of hands-on training seminars for a retail
organization with annual sales in excess of a billion dollars. She conducted presentations
focused on increased sales through improved customer service throughout Europe for every
level of management --from first line supervisors to executive level decision makers.
We are indeed fortunate to have an individual of Vicki's caliber as a member of the
governing board of association. Her experience and managerial insights have been, and will
continue to be, critical to the success of our organization.
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NAAC MEMBER AT LARGE: Kathryn Kennedy Wallace
Kathryn is presently the Division Director for Minority Educator
Recruitment and Retention for the Kentucky Department of Education. In this capacity she
serves as the liaison with the Kentucky Council on Higher Education, the Kentucky
Education Professional Standards Board, the Schools of Education at the state colleges and
universities, and the local school district administrators.
She graduated with honors from the University of Louisville and completed her J.D. at the
University of Kentucky.
Her many accomplishments include:
The development and implementation of a Voluntary Job Bank to linkup certified minority
educators and school district vacancies throughout the state
The coordination of a state-wide Minority Educator Scholarship Fund which is now in excess
of $2 million
Co-authored and directs the state level activities of a United States Department of
Education Partnership Grant with the University of Louisville and Western Kentucky
University
Kathryn has developed and implemented an extensive networking system among the minority
educators not only at the local and state level,but nationwide as well. In addition, she
provide advice and assistance to the Teacher Bridge Programs at three state universities
and colleges. She frequently makes presentations on the state and national level programs
to improve minority educator recruitment and retention.
In addition to her current position with the NAAC, Kathryn is also the president of the
Kentucky Alliance of Black School Educators, the founder and past president of the Student
Committee on Minority Recruitment and serves as the liaison to the National Consortium of
Educational Access, Inc., in the Troops to Teachers Program.
Kathryn credits her success to the networks she has developed at the community, state and
national levels. She says, "If you want to make a difference in the lives of the
people of your community and state,you have to get involved." We appreciate her
involvement in the NAAC as one of our members at large.
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Message from the President
by Dr. Ramon G. Alaniz
In the tradition and spirit of my many mentors throughout the United States, I continue to
embrace their basic beliefs in working toward equal education opportunity for all of the
children of this great country. With the ever changing demographics of our populations and
the concomitant need for mutual understanding among and between people, I also support the
concept of cultural pluralism where every individual accepts human diversity while we
maintaining and cultivating their own culture; for it is diversity and cultural pluralism,
not blind assimilation, that has allowed us to make significant contributions to, and for,
our country. To these ends,the NAAC's major role is to promote alternative routes to
certification so that degreed candidates may have the opportunity to become trained,
credentialed/licensed, teachers by utilizing previous university education to meet the
educational needs of our diverse student population. The alternatives to traditional
teacher preparation, as promoted by the NAAC, make it feasible for interested
professionals to become productive teachers.
As I undertake the role of President of the NAAC, I will endeavor to provide leadership,
with assistance from the NAAC Board of Directors and the Senior Advisory Board, to
accomplish the following goals:
(1) To establish the association as a national umbrella for state alternative teacher
preparation programs where grassroots participation enhances the association role
(2) To promote membership from universities, schools (public and private), and private
industry
(3) To promote the association via publications such as the newsletter and refereed
scholarly publications in both our annual national conference proceedings and in our
journal publications
(4) To continue to seek professional contributions and direction from nationally know
educators and alternative teacher preparation directors and other personnel
(5) To insure the association is on a sound financial course as different states volunteer
to host the national conference
(6) To build a team of officers and advisors who are committed to the goals of the NAAC
As your new president, I ask every member of the NAAC to join with me in a shared
commitment to these goals and our organization. Together, we can make a real and lasting
difference for future generations of Americans.
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National Senior Advisory Board
by David Keltner
Every organization has formal and informal as well as official and
unofficial structures and hierarchies. NAAC has an elected Board of Directors which
represent the membership by working publicly to achieve the organization's goals.
Since its founding in Texas over six years ago, as a part of the Texas Alternative Teacher
Association, several individuals involved in both local and national alternative teacher
certification efforts have dedicated themselves to the successful birthing of NAAC. When
the formal structure was mapped out in San Diego in April 1995,the founding mothers and
fathers wanted to ensure their expertise would be available to help the organization's
officers who are responsible for operating NAAC. We decided to call ourselves the National
Senior Advisory Board.
Our purpose and mission is to provide advice to the Board of Directors when asked by them
or when a perceived need exists.Advice means suggestions or guidance for the
organizational operation based upon the national perspective our experience provides. We
have a strong advisory board, with members whose occupations include professor of
education, state certifying official, district superintendent. in-service trainer,
national research organization director, US Department of Education administrator, author,
district program administrator, and US Army education manager. We have recently expanded
the NSAB by two new members who will broaden our perspective relating to district level
operations.
Each NSAB member serves for a three year term and may be re-appointed for subsequent three
year terms. The NSAB itself extends invitations to new members when vacancies occur or
when it collectively identifies the need for additional members. The NAAC Board of
Directors officially appoints the NSAB.
The NSAB meets as a body at least one a year in conjunction with the NAAC Annual
Conference. Ad Hoc meetings are held via telephone ore-mail when needed. Mr. David P.
Keltner, from the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army, was elected as the first
chairman of the NSAB at the 1996 annual conference in Memphis, TN. He serves also as one
of the three members of the NAAC Executive Steering Committee.
The formal structure of the Board of Directors is complemented by the informal design and
purpose of the National Senior Advisory Board.
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Department of Veterans Affairs
Supports Alternative Teacher Certification Programs
by David Keltner
In a statement to the US House of Representatives Subcommittee on
Education, Training, Employment and Housing of the Committee on Veterans Affairs, Mr.
Stephen L. Lemons, Deputy Undersecretary for Benefits, of the Veterans Benefits
Administration, stated his support for alternative teacher certification programs.
On April 18, 1996, Mr. Lemons statement said: In recent years,States have been
increasingly interested in helping professionals with bachelors degrees pursue a second
career as elementary or secondary school teachers. To do this, various States have
developed plans whereby a student with a bachelors degree can obtain a teaching
certificate by means other than the usual route of earning one in conjunction with earning
an undergraduate degree.
Many of these certificate programs were not approved for VA education benefits because the
entities offering them were either school districts or consortia of school districts which
did not meet the definition of an educational institution for such educational benefits.
Consequently, to determine the feasibility of allowing VA benefits for the pursuit of such
programs, a 2-year pilot initiative ending on September 30, 1996, was established by
Public Law 103-466. That law amended the definition of educational institution found in
title 38 to include any entity offering training required for completion of a
State-approved teacher certification....
House of Representative Bill 2868 would make the VA's current trial program for approval
of alternative teacher certification programs permanent. It, thereby, supports and
encourages veterans to pursue careers as elementary and secondary school teachers.
Further, it recognizes the maturity, experience, and leadership qualities that are the
natural assets veterans can bring to the profession, making them a valuable resource to
enhance the underpinnings of our nation's education system. VA fully supports this
proposal.
This strong support from the Veteran's Administration, which acknowledges all entities
that prepare candidates for teacher certification and/or licensure as eligible for
Veteran's educational benefits, is most welcomed. We are making headway in achieving
national recognition that there is not just one, single, right, and appropriate way to
train high quality teachers.
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ANNOUNCING:
The Seventh Annual Conference of the
National Association for Alternative Certification (NAAC)
April 13-15, 1997
Norfolk, Virginia
Omni Waterside Hotel
GENERAL THEME: Alternative Certification: Successful Practices/Successful Schools
For conference information Call:
Dr. Robert H. Mac Donald
Conference Chair
Darden College of Education
Old Dominion University
Norfolk, Virginia 23529
(804) 683-3327
(804) 683-5941 (fax)
rhm100f@eagle.cc.odu.edu (email)
The purpose of the National Association for Alternative Certification (NAAC) is to
identify, support, promote and disseminate alternative education preparation and
certification programs that are national in scope and suitable for local implementation.
Over the past six years, the NAAC has sponsored national forums that have provided the
education community with opportunities for the discussion of cutting-edge educational
trends and issues including: educational diversity, cultural heritage, professional
development , teaching as a second career,school community collaboration-health and human
service professionals, model alternative teacher education programs, and teacher education
demographics.
Consistent with the NAAC tradition, the seventh annual meeting scheduled from April 13-15,
1997 in Norfolk, Virginia anticipates a program that includes presentations dealing with
school reform,alternative certification, diversifying the teaching population,national
standards, professional development schools, and assessment and evaluation practices. The
planning committee will issue a call for papers/presenters in July with a closing date of
mid-October
Conference site: Norfolk, Virginia
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KENTUCKY MAKES PREPARATIONS
TO HOST NAAC IN 1998
The 1998 Conference of the National Association of Alternative
Certification will be held in Louisville, Kentucky. Association members from the
Commonwealth of Kentucky have already formed a conference planning committee. The
committee has made initial contact with the Louisville and Jefferson County Visitors and
Convention Bureau and several hotels in preparation for what they plan to be the biggest
and best NAAC Conference ever. In addition to formal meeting activities, several fun
activities are also being planed. Among them is the opportunity to visit historic
Churchill Downs and the Churchill Downs Museum. As plans for the '98 NAAC Conference
progress we will keep you informed. Meanwhile, we encourage you to tell everyone you know
with an interest in Alternative Educator Preparation and Certification to join us in
Louisville, Kentucky in 1998. We invite everyone to come prepare to enjoy the uncommon
wealth of the Commonwealth of Kentucky.
1998 Conference Contact Person:
Kathryn K. Wallace
Kentucky Department of Education
Division of Minority Educator Recruitment and Retention
1024 Capital Plaza Drive
Frankfort, Kentucky 40601
(502) 573-4606 FAX (602) 573-1610
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NAAC GOES ON-LINE
by Dr. Scheffler
This summer the National Association for Alternative Certification has a new site on the
World Wide Web. The web site, located at http://www.alt-teachercert.org,
will contain information about the organization and provide a means by which to contact
the association for membership and program information. The World Wide Web offers the
association an unprecedented opportunity to provide both its members and other interested
persons in-depth information concerning the NAAC and its activities.
The NAAC homepage has moved to its new location at Northwestern State University of
Louisiana. Future plans for the web site include up-to-date conference information, events
of interest to the alternative certification community, pointers to alternative
certification resources and programs on the Wide World Web, and amore convenient means by
which to contact the association for programs information and membership opportunities.
Beginning with this issue, the NAAC newsletter will be made available on the NAAC
homepage. Log in and check it out!
For more information on the new NAAC Web Site contact webmaster@alt-teachercert.org
Congratulations to these two fine scholarship winners. While every applicant deserves
more than we can afford to give, we are pleased to give at least a little help to these
interns of whom the movement is quite proud.
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