Alternative Class A (master's level) Program Approach

A Special Alternative Certificate (SAC)is issued at the request of an employing superintendent or nonpublic school administrator. Two copies of the certificate are sent to the superintendent or nonpublic school administrator who is asked to give one copy to the employee.

In addition to a variety of field experiences, the program requires a full-time internship for a full semester. Employment as a teacher is not required for enrollment in an Alternative Class A program. Individuals who are employed may be allowed to complete the internship on the job.

Alabama has two options for earning a Class A Professional Educator Certificate in a teaching field -- completion of an Alternative Class A program OR completion of a traditional Class A program. Answers provided to questions about the Class A Professional Educator Certificate depend on which approach is followed to earn a Class A Professional Educator Certificate. Since the question response options allow only one response per question, information in this section of the report pertains to the Alternative Class A program approach to earning a Class A Professional Educator Certificate. Information in another section of this report pertains to the traditional approach to earning a Class A Professional Educator Certificate.

Several questions in this section asked if a degree is required in the subject area. Although earning a master's degree from a regionally accredited college or university is required to obtain a Class A Professional Educator Certificate, Alabama does not specify a particular degree. Admission requirements include at least a bachelor's degree from a regionally accredited college/university, a GPA of 2.5 posted on the transcript of the degree-granting institution, and one of the following to document content knowledge: (1) an academic major in the subject area; (2) 32 semester hours of credit in the subject area, of which at least 19 must be upper division credit; or (3) a passing score on the prescribed Praxis II test in the subject area if one has been validated for Alabama. Master's level program approval standards prescribe at least 30 semester hours of graduate credit for program completion, of which at least one-third must be courses in the subject area of the Alt. A program (history, mathematics, biology, etc.)

In addition to the grade spans reflected in questions 12-14, Alabama issues certificates that span all grades in subjects such as, but not limited to, music, physical education, visual arts, and languages other than English.

An individual who has met state requirements for unconditional admission to an Alternative Class A program may, at the request of an employing superintendent or nonpublic school administrator, be employed as a teacher for up to three years while completing the Alternative Class A program. Additional information about program components is provided in the portion of Section III pertaining to the Special Alternative Certificate.

Alternative Class A certification requirements in a teaching field are as follows: (1) must meet the requirements of the Alabama Educator Certification Testing Program; (2) an official transcript from a regionally accredited institution documenting an earned master's degree; (3) completion of a Sate-approved program with a minimum GPA of 3.0 on all course in the Alabama State Board of Education approved teacher education program; (4) competence to teach students as demonstrated in an internship described in Rule 290-3-3.02(6)(a) and (c); and (5) a passing score on a comprehensive assessment documenting mastery of the curriculum of the Alternative Class A program, which may include, but may not be limited to, an oral examination.

Please refer to section 290-3-3-.44 of the Alabama Administrative Code.