@article{2013,title={THE SECONDARY GRADUATE CERTIFICATION PROGRAM AT TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY: PROMOTING SUCCESS FOR FUTURE EDUCATORS},abstractNode={Alternative certification programs, like the Secondary Graduate Certification Program, offer students an alternative means to obtain a teaching certification (for their respective state). The Secondary Graduate Certification Program is a program that has been at Texas A&M University for almost ten years. This program is characteristically special in the state of Texas as it offers future secondary educators a chance to earn their teacher certification as well as their master of education in curriculum and instruction within about fifteen months. Our longitudinal study explores the intricacies of the program and those areas of significance within the program over the past five years. The purpose of this study is to analyze demographic and academic characteristics (e.g., gender, grade point average, content area) to note the impact of those factors on their viability in the program. The researchers also investigated the correlation of certain demographic and academic factors among the students in the program. A final area of interest to the researchers is to find the percentage of students that were able to secure teaching internships their first year dependent on their certification field and gender. The participants of this study are 330 students that have been accepted to the Secondary Graduate Certification program from 2007-2011, spanning five cohorts. The sample has 82 males and 248 females across 12 teaching fields. Non-parametric tests were utilized to determine if selected applicants were related to successful program completion. The results showed that there were significant differences present between students’ primary certification field and their gender, with a medium effect size present. Also, there were significant differences between gender and GPA scores, with a small effect size present. There were significant differences to report in terms of securing a teaching position and the students’ primary certification field, with a medium effect size present. This study found that mathematics, physical science and the science composite positions continue to be in highest demand as 94.1%, 88.9% and 72.2% of students were hired respectively. However, there were no significant differences between securing a teaching position and gender.},author={Russell T. EVANS-- Emin KILINÇ - Larry J. KELLY},year={2013},journal={The Journal of Academic Social Science Studies}}