The state of New York is looking at making some very interesting changes to the steps that are necessary to become a teacher. The primary goal of these alternative teacher training programs will be to improve the quality of teachers in the classroom.

In order to improve teacher quality, the state is already looking at ways to make the requirements for teacher certification more stringent. This would include making the content exams more difficulty while also assessing the performance of teachers through classroom demonstrations.

Although the concept of alternative teacher education programs is hardly something new in New York, the types of programs being delivered may soon be different. The New York City Teaching Fellows and Teach for America programs have long been in place in the state, but these programs still require future teachers to complete coursework through traditional education schools in order to obtain their teaching certification.

According to critics of education schools, this method of teaching teachers has not done enough to properly prepare them for working in the classroom. In fact, Education Secretary Arne Duncan said in a speech last month that teacher education schools need to provide more focus to providing hands-on classroom work in a way that is similar to the residencies that medical students must complete.

Even those who have been involved in traditional teacher training initiatives seem to be on board with making these changes. Dr. David Steiner, who is the former dean of the Hunter College School of Education, is now the state education commissioner for New York. He has expressed his satisfaction with proposed changes, saying the changes being made should help recruit more teachers while also getting more highly skilled teachers into the schools with the greatest need.

“Upwards of 90 percent of teachers pass the test for certification, they go on to course work and very, very few don’t make it through,” Dr. Steiner said in a New York Times article. “I don’t think anybody thinks that’s the right model. It’s very focused on course work and the quality is varied.”

With the proposed changes, Dr. Steiner said the emphasis will be placed more on teaching. Furthermore, by making these changes, Dr. Steiner hopes to put the state in a good position for receiving funding through the Race to the Top federal grant program. Still, there are those who are critical of the changes and are concerned they will lead to treating teaching as if it is a trade that requires training rather than being a profession. How it will all pan out in the end remains to be seen, but is should certainly be an interesting process.