In 1997-98 that figure had been reduced to 20 percent, due in large part to the state's Teacher Cadet Program. By the end of the 1997-98 school year, almost 21,000 academically talented high school students had completed this challenging introduction to teaching. An annual Christian Educators Sunday is something worth considering. A video on the joys and rewards of being a Christian school teacher shown by churches could convince adults as well as youth to enter the Christian school teaching ministry. Distance education can be a means of putting many individuals into our classrooms that otherwise could not be there.
Major universities offer bachelor level degrees through distance education.
A short cruise on the Internet turned up 29 accredited colleges offering bachelor level degrees in education. The majority are secular, none are fundamentalist. Going the non-traditional route does not automatically mean the results will be inferior. They also found that alternative certificants were rated as highly as or more highly by their principals. The Pathways project at Norfolk State University focused on recruiting teacher aides, substitute teachers, and other paraprofessionals and returning them to the Norfolk Public Schools as well-prepared teachers.