Listen: Teacher Certification Change In N.Y. Unlikely To Directly Affect Mass.

Education officials across the country are watching New York State to see how it might change the way it certifies teachers.

The New York State Board of Regents has voted to expand the role of alternative teacher certification programs, essentially allowing them to create their own master's degrees. It's a move some say could make education schools, which currently certify teachers with master's degrees, unnecessary.

Boston University School of Education Dean Hardin Coleman told WBUR Wednesday morning that a change in New York would be unlikely to directly affect the process of certifying teachers in Massachusetts, since the state does not rely heavily on alternative master's degree programs.

Coleman said, however, that increased support for alternative training programs in New York reflects a underlying change in teacher training goals. That could affect Massachusetts' education institutions.

"Schools of education are beginning to become more aware that they have to integrate experience, practicum, supervised clinical placement with the theory," Coleman said.