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

Terms of Use and License Information

Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.

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