Wisconsin Alternative Certification Programs

(found programs from 18 schools)

According to a report published by the U.S. Department of Education, Wisconsin has been struggling with teacher shortages since 2005. Shortages are occurring in regular content areas including science, reading, math, music, foreign language, English as a second language, and also in more specialized areas including special education, business education, technology education, and family and consumer science education. Data compiled by the National Center for Alternative Education shows that nearly 10 percent of the 60,000 current public school teachers in Wisconsin are teaching with an alternate or emergency teaching certificate.

In order to pursue an alternate route to certification, you must already possess a bachelor's degree in a related field. Additionally, you must participate in a student-teaching experience, maintain a portfolio, and pass the appropriate Praxis exam for your content area.

Two programs you may consider are the Alternate Careers in Teaching (ACT) program at the University of Wisconsin or the Urban Education Fellows program in Milwaukee. ACT is specifically designed for working professionals who already have at least five years of professional work experience and who wish to teach math or science at the middle or high school level. Time for program completion can take anywhere from 18 months to three years and includes both site-based and online instruction as well as extensive practice-teaching. The Urban Education Fellows Program was specifically created to improve the quality of education in private, parochial, and charter schools in Milwaukee. This program takes two years to complete and includes college coursework as well as on-the-job training in a Milwaukee school with a mentor. Urban Education Fellows are hired as teachers and take courses that are scheduled around their teaching responsibilities (such as night and weekend classes).