What is MARC?

The Maine Alternate Route to Certification (MARC) is:

An on-site, classroom-based alternate certification program for conditionally certified teachers teaching in grades 7-12, K-12 specialists (e.g., art, music, foreign language, etc.), and teachers holding targeted need certificates;

A statewide initiative, designed as a two-year program leading to full certification, developed and delivered by your network of Regional Teacher Development Centers; and

An intensive coaching and pedagogy instruction model embedded in classroom practice.

Who is a potential MARC participant?

Conditionally certified teachers (grades 7-12), conditionally certified K-12 specialists (e.g., art, music, foreign language, etc.), and teachers with targeted need certificates must meet the following criteria to participate in MARC:

Be employed as the teacher of record in grades 7-12 or as a K-12 specialist (e.g., art, music, foreign language, etc.);

Have a four-year degree from an accredited institution;

Be within six credits of completing content area requirements for certification in your teaching area; and

Pass PRAXIS I within six months of entering the program.

Participating school districts must agree to actively support their MARC candidates throughout the two-year program. (LEA financial costs are articulated below.)

What does the school district gain from MARC?

“Highly Qualified” status for conditionally certified teachers while teachers remain in the two year MARC program;

On-site, “in-the-trenches” intensive coaching for the candidate from coaches who work hand-in-hand with your LEA support system team;

Confidence in a carefully coordinated standards-based curriculum designed under the guidance of university education faculty;

MARC staff who can serve as resource people for the entire school community;

A quality, competent teacher who can function as a veteran, confident educator as a result of participation in the MARC program; and

Retention of a good teacher who feels supported by your LEA.

What does the participant gain from MARC?

MARC incorporates elements from the best alternate route to certification programs across the country to offer Maine participants the best on-site education and support possible;

Every MARC participant will have a coach who works with him/her on-site throughout the two years of the program;

Every MARC participant will have a local mentor trained by the MARC coaching staff;

Every MARC participant will work with a school-based MARC support team;

Every MARC participant will be a member of a regional cohort for peer support; and

Every MARC participant will receive “Highly Qualified” status as long as s/he remains in good standing in the program and has completed at least 24 college credits in the content area s/he is teaching.

What are the components of the MARC program?

MARC is designed as a two-year program leading to full certification. It features:

YEAR I

A summer academy before school starts to prepare participants for their first days in the classroom;

Education course content delivered on-line and at seminars throughout the year, reinforced by on-site coaching and mentoring;

A cohort learning experience under the guidance of university faculty;

The MARC standards-based curriculum aligned with Maine’s Ten Teaching Standards; and

Opportunities for teachers to learn what they need to know when they need to know it.

YEAR II

Coaching, mentoring, and support;

Course sessions to prepare for PRAXIS III (PLT); and

Capstone course to develop a digital portfolio that will demonstrate mastery of Maine’s Ten Teaching Standards.

What will MARC cost your LEA?

Each year of the two year program, a participating school district will pay (per candidate) for:

Six graduate credits per participant; and

A $1,700 fee that will cover room and food expenses for academies and seminars, and a stipend that will be returned by the RTDC to the local participating mentor in your LEA.

How does your LEA nominate a candidate for the MARC program?

Contact Pam Wilson, Director of the Western & Central Maine RTDC, at 778-7186 or pwilson@maine.edu.

MARC is partially funded through A Transitions to Teaching Grant from the U.S. Department of Education.