The Promise of Online Teacher Preparation for Rural and High-Need Schools: Lessons Learned About Recruitment, Preparation, and Support
Abstract: Alternative certification and online teacher education programs have been developed, in part, to address teacher shortages, and have potential to help provide quality teachers for rural schools, particularly when they include strategies to provide mentoring and support new teacher retention. This paper will share insights gained from implementing an online teacher preparation program in a rural state with many high poverty districts. We focus on three main areas: 1) strategies for recruiting new teachers for an online program; 2) implementation concerns and solutions for effective use of e-learning for teacher preparation; and 3) online mentoring practices that support teacher retention. Evaluation results comparing students' scores and teacher feedback indicate that this program is similar to traditional face-to-face teacher preparation programs.