In West Virginia, an alternative special education program allows students with bachelor's degrees in fields other than education to become teachers of exceptional children. This program provides a route to certification in mental retardation, specific learning disabilities, or behavior disorders, as well as to a master's degree in special…

This report describes an alternative teacher certification program developed to address special education teacher shortages in rural West Virginia. For the past 9 years, one of every three educators in West Virginia assigned to special education has worked on some type of sub-standard license. The alternative certification program allows West…