Taja Boyd

tboyd13@uncc.edu

Date: November 12, 2015

To: Robert Arnold
From: Taja Boyd (Hough)
Subject: Request for Approval of Proposal
The purpose of this memo is to request the approval of my research proposal. I am
interested in researching the number of teachers that actually went to school and got their
degrees in education or those that became an educator through an alternate route such as lateral
entry or Teach for America, as well as their communication process with the Human Resource
department for Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools while completing their hiring process. I will be
conducting this research at the school where I am currently a long-term substitute.
Background/Problem: the current problem is that there are numerous ways of becoming a
teacher that lead to the same outcome, which is certification or license to actually teach, but once
a school is interested in hiring an individual the human resource department tells individuals they
are no longer eligible to become a teacher due to the route they took to obtain their license or if
they are currently in the process of obtaining their teaching certification.
Objectives: the objective of this proposal is to get an understanding of the different routes
available for becoming an educator and which process makes an individual more marketable and
eligible.
Solution: the solution or first step is for the Human Resource department to determine what
information will be accepted or processed such as transcripts and license and make sure their
information is updated under the qualifications to teach in their school district.
Schedule:
Tasks
1. Conduct Interviews with 2-3 teachers
from each grade level to get a variety of
information
2. Research the difference between lateral
entry, degree in education, Graduate
certificate, etc. The different routes to
take to become certified
3. Research Human Resource process as
well as the process after an individual

Weeks/Hours
2 weeks: 30 minutes per teacher

An hour each day after interviewing a teacher

and finding out the route they took.. 14hrs

1 day

Taja Boyd
tboyd13@uncc.edu

becomes certified

Qualifications: I am qualified for this project because I am currently in a graduate teaching

program where I will obtain my teacher certification and later my license to teach in North
Carolina. During this process I have learned that there are other routes to take in order to obtain
my certification or license like Lateral Entry but was denied a teaching position despite the
information I received through a teaching webinar for lateral entry candidates. This sparked my
interest and made me what to dig deeper to find out the cause and what the exact steps are,
especially after other teachers are confused as to why I was denied hire but was hired as a
substitute instead until everything is taken care of.
Costs: There is no cost involved in completing this research.