A research article, co-written by School of Communication professors, Dr. Jonathan Adams and Dr. Juliann Cortes, and graduate student, Sue Lee, was published by the academic journal, Contemporary Issues in Teacher Education (CITE).  Titled, “The Acceptability of Online Degrees: Principals and Hiring Practices in Secondary Schools”, their work discusses how principals perceive teaching certifications earned online vs. those earned by traditional means.

This article was also selected to be highlighted in the “Research Articles of the Week” section of Distance-educator.com, a website that is a source of news and information for educators.

Here is the abstract:
A national survey of high school principals (N = 683) was used to assess the acceptability of job applicant qualifications that included degrees earned either online, partly online, or in a traditional-residential teacher-training program.  The applicants with coursework taken in a traditional-residential setting were overwhelmingly preferred over applicants holding a degree earned partly or wholly online.  Chi-square analyses were used to examine the relationships among applicant selection and respondents’ demographic characteristics, their explanations for applicant selection, and background information.  Results indicated that applicant selection significantly differed by gender, school type (public vs. private), opinions on hiring criteria, and experience with online classes.  Further analysis indicated that online courses were perceived as not presenting sufficient opportunity for students to develop important social skills through interaction with other students and mentors.

Find the entire article at:
citejournal.org/vol12/iss4/general/article1.cfm