Recruitment, Preparation, Placement, and Retention of Alternate Route and College-Prepared Teachers: An Early Study of a New Jersey Initiative

Abstract

This article reviews survey findings about the recruitment, preparation, placement and retention of 315 elementary, secondary English, and math teachers prepared to enter New Jersey public schools in fall 1987, either having just completed New Jersey college-based education programs (CB) or entering through the New Jersey alternate route (AR) program. Teachers were surveyed through their sixth year of teaching. The AR program increased the number of teachers for urban and rural schools and diversified the teaching pool. AR teachers held more traditional views than those prepared in CB programs, but neither program recruited teachers with a consistently higher quality profile. Programmatic aspects (i.e., fusing of AR recruitment, preparation, and placement phases) correlated with some differing attitudes of teachers toward teaching and their programs, and qualitatively different experiences in preparing to teach. During the first two years, AR teachers were more likely to teach in urban schools, but differences diminished over the next four years. Three-year retention rates were highest for elementary and CB math teachers and lowest for AR math teachers. Six-year retention rates were highest for CB math teachers and lowest for AR math and English teachers. AR retention rates were higher for males, while CB retention rates were higher for minorities. Attitudes related to retention indicate program, subject matter, and elementary/secondary differences.