Last year Oklahoma was estimated to have issued a record 4,676 emergency certifications. If accurate, this number amounts to a whopping 11% of the state’s entire K-12 teaching workforce. In Oklahoma, emergency certified teachers are often hired for unfilled positions in critical subject areas in low-income rural and urban districts where student achievement is low. The problem is that while emergency certified teachers are helping to address pressing teacher shortages, only one-in-five emergency certified teachers remain in the teaching profession. As a result, high-needs districts are often stuck in a cycle of hiring, onboarding, and training emergency certified teachers with little opportunity to build the capacity needed to raise academic outcomes over the long-run.
Some evidence suggests that the strikingly poor retention rates of emergency certified teachers are attributable to a lack of administrative support. To address this challenge, we at the University of Oklahoma created the Foundational Acceleration and Support for Teachers (i.e., FAST) program. The FAST program partners with school districts across the state to provide training and mentoring to emergency certified teachers that helps them to achieve full certification and prepares them for long-term success in the teaching profession.
Pathways to the Teaching Profession
Most educators enter the teaching profession by obtaining a bachelor’s degree from an accredited teacher preparation program at a four-year university and then by passing a series of state licensing examinations. There are also alternative certification programs that allow bachelor’s degree holders to earn a standard teaching license in one to two years by completing an accelerated teacher preparation program and state licensing examinations. Alternative programs often seek to bring individuals desiring a career change into the teaching profession. In recent years, both traditional and alternative teacher pipelines have been insufficient to fill teaching vacancies in US schools.
Oklahoma, like many other US states, has turned to emergency certification to address teacher shortages. Individuals entering teaching through this route must hold a bachelor’s degree and complete a criminal background check, but they do not need formal academic and field experience in education. In Oklahoma, emergency teaching certificates are valid for one year, with the possibility of renewal. During this period, emergency-certified teachers can work toward alternative certification to get their teaching license.
In Oklahoma, emergency certified teachers are more likely to work in high needs urban and rural schools that tend to have considerable demand for expert teachers. Increasing the supply of certified teachers is valuable, but supply is only one of several issues underlying teacher shortages. Perhaps even more important is the retention of teachers. In Oklahoma, attrition is especially high, with only 41% of new teachers staying in the profession beyond three years. Among emergency-certified teachers, the retention rate is a mere 19%. Since emergency-certified teachers have a higher turnover rate than traditionally certified teachers, supports are likely needed to help these teachers acquire the skills needed to become certified. Certain barriers may prevent emergency-certified teachers from becoming certified, such as the cost of certification courses, a lack of clarity about the certification process, and difficulty passing certification exams.
OU’s FAST Program
In summer of 2024, we designed the FAST program with funding from the Governor’s Emergency Education Relief (GEER) fund. The FAST program aspires to accelerate professional growth for novice teachers through field-based mentoring and coaching. It provides subject-specific mentorship and develops collaborative communities that promote teachers’ classroom success. Importantly, studies have shown that new teachers are more apt to remain in the profession when they develop self-efficacy through the support of professional communities and successful classroom experiences.
The FAST program serves individuals who are emergency or alternatively certified and teaching in secondary classrooms (grades 6-12) in four high demand areas – mathematics, science, English/language arts, and social studies. When we launched the FAST program, we received applications from 143 teachers. We were able to offer 36 eligible applicants a spot in the program, and 29 of them accepted our invitation. These teachers work in secondary classrooms in Ardmore, Broken Arrow, Edmond, Deer Creek, Konawa, Mid-Del, Mustang, Norman, OKCPS, Piedmont, Tulsa, and Union.
Upon completing the FAST program, participants will have fulfilled the coursework necessary for licensure and be prepared to pass the comprehensive teaching assessment required by the state of Oklahoma to receive full teaching certification. FAST program participants will also have earned 18 graduate credits that can be applied toward an OU Master’s degree, so there are potential long-term benefits for FAST teachers.
Program Structure
We designed the program to accommodate the schedules of emergency certified teachers. We use a hybrid model that allows for real-time interactions with instructors and instructional coaches as well as immediate feedback. The program’s asynchronous components offer flexibility through self-paced learning. The in-person components bring teachers together to build a supportive community.
Participants take four courses in summer and two courses in fall, which enables them to complete the program by winter (see Table 1). Summer experiences include two asynchronous online courses and a three-day, fully funded, intensive workshop on the OU-Norman campus. During the workshop, participants engage in community-building activities and professional development sessions where they learn about research-based teaching strategies and the certification process. Participants not only come away from the workshop with a new teaching skillset but also receive numerous resources that they can apply in the classroom. In fall, courses are asynchronous except for monthly face-to-face meetings on Saturdays.
Academic Supports, Mentoring, and Capacity Building
Our first cohort of FAST participants received full scholarships (funded by GEER) to take courses tailored to their needs, including classes in discipline-specific pedagogy, classroom management, and educational technology. These scholarships were key to removing financial barriers that emergency certified teachers may face. This fall instructional coaches performed on-site classroom observations and engaged in reflective discussion and feedback with FAST participants on their teaching. Instructional coaches also helped FAST participants to implement differentiated teaching strategies that meet individual student needs.
FAST’s Impact and the Future
Strategic partnerships between districts and university-based teacher preparation programs can create the infrastructure to support the instructional and professional competencies of emergency-certified teachers. OU’s FAST program is an example of such a program. Our team is also undertaking a formal research evaluation that will provide data on whether or not the program has worked over the long run. Anecdotally, school leaders tell us they are noticing improvements in FAST participants’ confidence, instructional effectiveness, and student engagement strategies. Looking ahead, we are actively exploring new partnerships to extend the reach of the program in districts across Oklahoma.
Editor’s Note. For school leaders wishing to learn about partnership opportunities with OU’s FAST program, you may contact Dr. Richard Velasco at richard.velasco@ou.edu
Author Bios
Richard Velasco is Professor of Mathematics Education. Kelly Feille is Professor of Special Education. Jacob Pleasants is Professor of Science Education. Kate Raymond is Professor of Mathematics Education. Kristy Brugar is Professor of Social Studies Education.