Alternative certification programs are changing the face of the teaching profession. Not only have these programs attracted individuals from different disciplines and educational backgrounds, they have also changed the ethnic and gender makeup of the classroom teaching population. This suggests an increase in point-of-view diversity in the teaching workforce which in turn suggests potential opportunities to effect planned variation in the educational experiences of students in urban schools. The current study examines the perceptions of teachers who come from these non-traditional programs. The study also addresses cultural issues related to teacher perceptions of effective classroom learning environments. The results in the present study suggest that a majority of the teachers surveyed perceived that a classroom that supports cooperative or group activities is an effective classroom environment. Finally, there were significant differences in teacher perceptions of effective teacher practices across teacher ethnicities. These differences, if viewed as resources, may manifest themselves in the form of pathways toward enriching the educational experiences of students in urban schools. (Contains 2 tables.)