The Michigan Alternate Route to Certification program, run by the University of Michigan’s Marsal Family School of Education, offers an alternate route to a teaching certification for candidates with a bachelor’s degree. The alternative route involves self-paced online coursework and a summer teaching internship before passing the Michigan Test for Teacher Certification. After passing the MTTC and receiving an interim teaching certificate, participants also receive support from School of Education instructors while teaching in Michigan for three years. The program ends with participants receiving a standard teaching certificate, which can be used in any state. The newest M-ARC cohort begins the program in February.
Candidates may apply to two programs: the Initial Certification and the Teach for America-Detroit Partnership pathways. In the Initial Certification pathway, the instruction and internship period is facilitated by M-ARC. In contrast, the Teach for America-Detroit Partnership pathway is only available to Teach for America Detroit corps members. In an interview with The Michigan Daily, Jean Mrachko, associate director of the M-ARC program, described how the M-ARC program was born out of this partnership in 2011.
“Our program was initially created as a partner to Teach for America Detroit,” Mrachko said. “The state of Michigan was requiring Teach for America to have a teacher preparation program partner, and the University of Michigan created this program to help out those people teaching in Detroit.”
Both TFA Detroit and M-ARC were established in 2010. Mrackho said M-ARC is different from TFA Detroit in that it is a statewide program while TFA Detroit focuses on education in Detroit.
“As time went on, we realized we’ve built the tools to expand statewide, and Teach for America is not statewide,” Mrachko said. “It took a lot of resources to develop the statewide program, but it’s been well worth it now that we’re able to have people all across the state of Michigan earning teacher certification who previously didn’t know that there was a pathway for them.”
Mrachko described the difference between traditional educator preparation programs and M-ARC.
“An educator preparation program is a state-approved program to provide people with (a) teacher certification,” Mrachko said. “We have master’s degrees with teacher certification, and then we have M-ARC, which is not a degree program. It’s just a certification program, and it’s for people who already hold a bachelor’s degree or higher.”
Participants apply to M-ARC each year by early January, and the program begins in February. Pre-teaching coursework prepares selected participants for teaching and lasts from February through June. During the summer, they complete a summer internship, which involves spending time in a summer school classroom under the supervision of a “mentor teacher.” Once participants have completed all pre-teaching activities and the internship and pass the MTTC, they become eligible to begin a certified teaching position the following fall.
Prospective teachers receive an interim teaching certificate once they pass the MTTC, allowing them to teach classes exclusively in Michigan. All teachers who pass the MTTC must teach for three years before receiving a standard teaching certificate.
In an interview with The Daily, M-ARC Program Manager Toni Smith said they prioritize promoting diversity within their program cohorts.
“We want to give everyone an equal opportunity to be involved in our program, and we meet the needs of our participants,” Smith said. “That’s why we have open arms to all, so we can make sure we are equipped to handle all the different diversity in our program.”
Breana Keels, U-M alum and first-grade teacher at Ypsilanti Community Schools’ Online Learning program, is currently in her second year of the M-ARC program. In an interview with The Daily, Keels said she learned contemporary teaching methods through M-ARC, including trauma-based teaching.
“Everybody comes to the classroom potentially with trauma, and you’re conscious of that as you’re teaching,” Keels said. “Everybody comes with their own set of challenges or tools. We have to figure out how to work together to make sure those tools can be used so that the challenges can be overcome and students can learn.”
In an interview with The Daily, David Adler, U-M alum and fourth and fifth-grade teacher at Honey Creek Community School, said the M-ARC program suited his academic and career history.
“I have a lot of life experience,” Adler said. “I had a whole other career before becoming a teacher, and I have an undergraduate degree too. Going back to college to get another degree wasn’t really something that fit me. … (The M-ARC program) is basically geared towards people like me who have a degree already and a lot of life experience.”
Keels said while going back to school often seems daunting, M-ARC provided a meaningful continuing education opportunity and a comfortable environment.
“I was a special education paraprofessional in an elementary school for about eight years, and I knew that I needed to continue on with my career path,” Keels said. “I knew I needed something a little bit more. I graduated from U of M in 2014, so after eight years , the idea of going back feels intimidating. … I began to look for different alternative programs and I saw that U-M had one, and having been comfortable with U-M as a whole I thought, ‘Why not?’ ”
Daily Staff Reporter Thomas Gala-Garza can be reached at tmgala@umich.edu.