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What Decisions Must be Considered When

Implementing the Intern as Teacher Model in

a School District?

By Michele A. McKie, Michael Bochenko, Taralynn S. Hartsell, Deb L. Marciano, and
Barbara J. Radcliffe

With the decline of teacher production in Georgia, districts are turning to alternative preparation
routes (Georgia Professional Standards Commission, 2009) while universities struggle to
recruit candidates into teacher preparation programs (Henson et al., 2015). The intern as
teacher model may provide an alternative solution in ensuring teachers are prepared through a
traditional program while providing them the added benefit of a salary during student teaching
(Huss & Harkins, 2013). Before fully turning to this alternative model for undergraduate teacher
candidates, school district and teacher-preparation leaders must understand decisions they
must make to ensure success for interns as teachers. The purpose of this study was to explore
what constitutes success for interns in the intern as teacher model during the last semester
of undergraduate education through a paid student teaching experience in South Georgia.
One research question was isolated for this article: What decisions must be considered when
implementing the intern as teacher model in a school district?

n Georgia, as in most of the United States, the traditional route of initial teacher
Ipreparation requires teacher candidates to complete a minimum of one semester
of student teaching (Georgia Professional Standards Commission, 2020). During the
student teaching semester, teacher candidates in Georgia are paired with a mentor
teacher with at least 3 years’ experience in the same certification the candidate seeks.
During a traditional student teaching experience, the candidate works closely with
a mentor teacher as the mentor guides them and models for them while eventually
allowing the teacher candidate to take full responsibility for the class. However,
with the teacher shortage in states such as Georgia and Arizona, student teachers are
being asked to fill vacant teaching positions without the support of a full-time mentor
teacher (Arizona Department of Education, 2017; Biek & Sarton, 2019; Carlson,
2018; Huss & Harkins, 2013). Arizona was one of the first states to implement
an intern teaching certificate at the undergraduate level, with its Department of
Education adopting a certificate for undergraduate education students to complete
their final semester of student teaching as a paid intern (Carlson, 2018). Other states
have an intern teaching certificate, but prospective teachers must hold a bachelor’s
degree or higher (Pennsylvania Department of Education, 2012; Texas Education
Agency, 2019). The State of Georgia has a waiver for school districts to request that
undergraduate education teacher candidates serve as the teacher of record (Georgia
Professional Standards Commission, 2009).
Dr. Mack Bullard, then serving as Director of Strategic Talent Management
for his district, brought attention to and advocated for a model currently used in
Georgia: the intern as teacher model. This model places a teacher candidate in a
classroom as the salaried teacher of record while he or she completes the final year of
studies (Biek & Sartin, 2019; Huss & Harkins, 2013). The model provides a mentor
for each candidate for 50% of the day. Renewed thinking about this concept has

6 The Delta Kappa Gamma Bulletin: International Journal for Professional Educators