Classroom Teaching: Still a Top Choice for Alternate Route Alumni [2015 Survey Results]

As part of our ongoing efforts to continuously improve our Alternate Route program, Rutgers Center for Effective School Practices  annually surveys program graduates to understand their career experiences and growth relative to the training we provided. Here are a few highlights from this year’s survey:

1. Most alternate route alumni are working as classroom teachers

The overwhelming majority of alumni (76%) indicated that they are still  working as  classroom teachers. The second most popular response was other (19%). Many alumni who selected “other” for their status commented that they are working as substitute teachers or in a leave replacement capacity. Four percent of alumni are working as education leaders in districts or in non-profits that address education issues. We were pleased to see that only 1% of respondents reported that they are no longer working in the education sector.

2. Most alternate route teachers transitioned into teaching from other careers

3. Alternate route alumni are 3X as likely to teach content-specific subject areas rather than general education

1 in 5 alternate route alumni are general education teachers. For those teaching in specific content areas, science is the most popular subject that our alternate route alumni teach.Most of the teachers who selected “other” as their subject area teach a variety of world languages, ESL or special education. Less than ten percent of graduates collectively go on to teach art, music or physical education and health.

The overwhelming majority of our alternate route alumni teach high school students:

4. Candidates leave the program satisfied with their learning experience

Eighty five percent were satisfied or extremely satisfied with the quality of Rutgers Center for Effective School Practices’ Alternate Route program. Eighty percent of program graduates agreed or strongly agreed that the Alternate Route Program prepared them for their teaching careers.

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This year’s survey results continue to reflect that most teachers choosing our alternate route program are career changers from other fields or professionals who decide to teach after prior experience working with children. Very few candidates are recent college graduates.  Once they make the switch to become classroom teachers, most of our alternate route alumni stay in the profession either as teachers or in other service capacities in the education sector. This bodes well for teacher retention in New Jersey.