1. Provide teachers with stimulating ongoing professional development that supports them in their profession
2. Enhance teaching strategies to combine academic rigor with
3. other effective instructional methods, skills and strategies to enhance effectiveness in the classroom
4. Provide networking opportunities for these professionals
5. Increase professional recognition for the specialization of Alternative Education

Below this overview, you will find a list of all the courses associated with this program. While not all courses are currently offered, you can view each course description by going to the above email address.  See the course descriptions there and become more familiar with the complete curriculum of the Certificate   Any questions, please contact Program Support at (408) 861-3860 or e-mail program@ucsc-extension.edu.

Program Overview
This unique certificate was developed to provide focused professional development for educators in alternative settings, to support them with the skills, strategies, resources, and research to enhance their effectiveness in the classroom, and to provide recognition for the specialization of Alternative Education.

The Certificate in Alternative Education provides teachers with stimulating, ongoing professional development activities that help them to maintain an academic focus, enhance teaching strategies, and develop alternative instructional methods. They will receive training in skills essential to the profession: (1) formal and informal educational assessment; (2) synthesis of information from other specialists and parents; (3) development and implementation of appropriate remedial programs for school-related learning and behavioral problems; (4) strategies for addressing social and emotional aspects of learning problems; (5) formation of supportive relationships with the student and his/her family.

Prerequisites/Professional Requirements
Required is appropriate professional experience in classroom or resource teaching, special education, counseling, psychology, speech and language therapy, occupational therapy, or social work.

Certificate Requirements
To obtain the Certificate in Alternative Education, you must successfully complete (a) 9 units of required courses; (b) 3 units of elective courses; and (c) a field experience components included as part of course work. You must also achieve an overall 3.0 GPA for all required and elective courses. Please refer to www.ucsc-extension.edu/gpa for our GPA calculator.

Recommended Course Sequence
Enrollment in "Alternative Education 1" is prerequisite to "Alternative Education 2" and/or "Alternative Education 3."

Certificate Application Information
We encourage you to establish candidacy in a certificate program early in your studies. The benefits of declaring candidacy early include notification of updates to the program. Certificate applications can be submitted through our online form or using our PDF form . If you use the PDF form, please submit your application along with the appropriate fee to the address or fax number listed on the application form.

Required courses 
20327 AltEd 1: Pedagogy of Alternative Education
20328 AltEd 2: Motivation and Creativity in the Alternative Education Classroom
20329 AltEd 3: Applied Theory in Alternative Education

Elective Courses
6955 Academic Tutoring: Best Practices
1004 Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) in the Classroom
3017 CLAD 7: Specially Designed Academic Instruction in English (SDAIE)
18971 EdTher: Coaching Skills
6526 EdTher: Learning Styles, Treatment Strategies
4610 EdTher: Multisensory Methodology--Demystifying Learning Differences
1685 EdTher: Multisensory Reading Instruction
0426 Facilitation Skills
19044 Instructional Design and Delivery
1659 Instructional Needs Assessment and Evaluation
3967 Learning Theories and Styles
2865 Making Math Real, Overview

4362 Making Math Real: Fractions, Decimals and Place Value (formerly MMR 2)
6204 Making Math Real: The Four Operations and All the Math Facts