The College of Education and Professional Studies is in the process of developing an alternative route to gaining teacher certification that will “attract quality teachers,” Jim Kestner said.

In 1999, Illinois passed an initiative authorizing the alternate route in order to make up for a lack of teachers throughout the state, Kestner, coordinator of Web-based and alternative routes to teacher certification at Eastern, said Wednesday.

Since that time “12 Illinois universities have established a program similar to the one that Eastern is attempting to create,” Kestner said, “and several others are in the process.”

Before legislation passed the initiative, students were required to complete teacher certification while studying for their bachelor’s degree. The alternative route program is for people that already have their degree.

“The program is all about removing barriers,” Kestner said.

The program, which is expected to begin in the summer of 2003, will be an eight-week program that requires a one-year paid internship as a teacher working with a mentor teacher. A two to three week assessment would take place during the summer following the internship.

People interested in the program must have a bachelor’s degree from an accredited university and must have been employed for at least five years in an area pertaining to their degree.

“There are certain areas where it’s difficult to get teachers,” Kestner said. “People that have worked in the field become candidates for great teachers but lack knowledge on the different teaching styles.”

Potential participants also must have passed the basic skills and subject-matter knowledge tests in the area of which they hope to teach.

A nomination from any school district is also required before a person will be admitted into the program.

This will ensure that the students are able to get internships, Kestner said.

The program must still be approved by the departments, the Council on Academic Affairs, the Council on Teacher Education, and the Illinois State Board of Education.

Kestner will be giving a presentation on the program to CAA at 2 p.m. Thursday in the Arcola-Tuscola Room of the Martin Luther King Jr. Union.