Preparation
An ongoing debate exists about the best way to prepare teachers. The AFT believes that the best way to bring an adequate supply of well-trained teachers into the classroom is not by dismantling collegiate teacher education, but rather by strengthening it—by bringing higher quality, greater resources and much more coherence to the way teacher education screens and prepares teacher candidates. Preservice teachers must be liberally educated, have knowledge of the subjects they teach, and participate in high-quality, well supervised clinical settings.

The AFT recognizes that many high-quality teachers have entered the profession through alternative routes to certification. We support alternative route programs that require candidates to pass state teacher-testing exams in the appropriate content areas, provide candidates with pedagogical coursework, monitor candidate performance in the classroom, and provide candidates with the necessary services to support their development of effective teaching skills and strategies.

Licensure
In most states, licensure requirements include the completion of an approved teacher education program with a grade-point average of at least 2.5, practice teaching in a school setting, and passing some kind of standardized licensure test.

The current state licensure exam system poses several serious problems for those concerned about the quality of teachers entering the classroom:

1. The tests measure low-level knowledge and skills, not the candidate's command of college-level work;
2. Cut scores for those tests are often very low and, on occasion, are waived even at that low level;
3. The diverse testing and coursework requirements for licensure across the states complicates the increasing mobility of teachers, making it difficult for prospective teachers to go where jobs are available; and
4. In the face of teacher shortages, states and districts waive the weak testing requirements currently in place.