From a very young age, some individuals recognize the rewards of imparting some wisdom, lesson or skill on to an apprentice, friend, or younger sibling. Others may come to find much later in life that they seek the satisfaction this relationship yields. Regardless of the path to the classroom, a genuine interest in leaving students with broader horizons seems to be the most important criteria for being an effective teacher.

A new report reveals that teachers who are trained on alternative certification programs are just as effective at their job as those who took traditional degree programs, the Daily Reflector reports. The National Center for Policy Analysis (NCPA) reported that collected data revealed no statistical difference between the academic achievement of students taught by teachers with alternative certifications and those who advanced from traditional degree programs.

The report comes as good news to educators, as the employment of alternatively certified teachers rose nationally from about 4,000 in 1992 to 60,000 in 2006, according to the National Center for Alternative Education.

Assistant superintendent of human resources at Pitt County schools, Delilah Harris, told the news source that success in the classroom is "ultimately about the individual and their passion for the job."
The Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates that 479,000 new teacher positions will be created by 2016.