Program
Education Doctorate
Year Approved
2021
First Advisor
Lindstrom, Mike
Second Reader
Otto von Feigenblatt
Third Reader
Jeff Van Treese
Abstract
Certifying teachers is a very important element within the educational process. Teacher certification is usually accomplished through undergraduate colleges of education. However, because many professionals change careers and want to become teachers, alternative certification programs were created. This qualitative case study was conducted to explore the School District of Palm Beach County’s primary alternative certification program from 2018-2020, also known as the Professional Development Certification Program (PDCP). Data collection involved semi-structured interviews. Ten teachers who completed the PDCP from 2018–2020 participated in focus groups and individual interviews. Participants held a positive view of the program’s effectiveness in preparing them to teach. However, a few negative themes emerged. Because the model for the program is used statewide, Florida school district administrators can learn from the findings and implement the proposed recommendations.
Degree Name
Education Doctorate
Document Type
Doctoral dissertation
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.
Recommended Citation
Johnson, B. D. (2021). A Phenomenological Case Study of the School District of Palm Beach County's 2018-2020 Professional Development Certification Program [Doctoral dissertation, Bethel University]. Spark Repository. https://spark.bethel.edu/etd/748