OC’s School of Teacher Education now offers critical teaching courses necessary for Alternative Certification in Oklahoma

New, one-hour online courses taught by Professor Allison Cassady are now helping teachers meet the state’s demand for more qualified educators.

February 5, 2020 - Oklahoma Christian University prides itself on creating strong, well-educated teachers. Now, to make things easier, the School of Teacher Education is offering two new online courses to fulfill alternative certification guidelines.

Associate Professor of Education Allison Cassady will proctor and teach both online courses. Much of her research interests center on classroom management and teacher preparation, and she serves as the director of student teaching at OC.

Cassady explained the difference between traditional and alternative certification.

“The primary difference between traditional and alternative certification is the process by which one learns to teach and manage,” Cassady said. “Those seeking alternative certification have earned a bachelor’s degree in a field other than education. They are subject-area experts, but they lack the much-needed preparation in the field of education, teaching and managing. These educators often face a much greater challenge of having to learn while on the job.”

OC is offering one-hour online courses in Educational Pedagogy and Classroom Management, two mandatory classes for alternative certification. With over 40 students in each class, these six to seven-week courses are being offered with the hopes of allowing new teachers a quicker, yet concise way to gain the required credits.

Darin Martin, OC professor of education, developed the idea to offer a condensed version of the previously three-hour completion course.

“We had at least one or two people seeking alternative certification call us and say ‘I’ve got these hours and training; I’ve done several hours of coursework,” Martin said. “‘All I need is one course.’”

With this in mind, OC decided to condense its already three-hour pedagogy class, as well as create a new course for classroom management.

“We are incredibly proud of our traditional teacher preparation program and felt like we could use our knowledge and resources to help support those who were learning while doing,” Cassady said.

Cassady and Martin believe these classes are the first of many in the future. They look forward to helping new educators develop skills to change lives in Oklahoma’s schools.