Reddy is one of three teachers The Hechinger Report, which produced this story in partnership with The Atlantic, followed over the course of their first year to look at how training programs prepare teachers for the classroom—or not. The number of alternative routes like the Teaching Fellows is increasing rapidly, spurred by concerns about the quality of America’s teachers and schools of education. As of 2010, the last year federal, nationwide data is available, alternative routes represented a third of all teacher-training programs nationwide.

Alternative programs are often faster than traditional teacher-prep programs and are driven by the idea that new teachers are more effective if they learn mostly by doing.

“It was basically ‘jump in the deep end,’ ” Reddy said. “Every day is like, ‘figure it out.’”

That’s also a criticism of fast-track programs. Some experts worry that teachers who don’t have enough training won’t have the expertise needed to succeed, and may burn out quickly from the high demands of the job. Teacher-retention rates vary by program.

Others see benefits to alternative programs. They tend to draw more career changers and non-education majors like Reddy, and experts hope that such programs, especially those that aim to fill shortages in areas like math and science, can draw more content experts to teaching and improve academic outcomes for students.

Reddy is an anomaly among K-12 science teachers in that he has a degree in science. A 2014 report found that only 26 percent of middle-school science teachers hold a degree in science or engineering.

The science background helps him in the classroom, Reddy said, not only with content but in building relationships with students. “Kids will throw out the most random questions at you. ‘What if the earth started spinning in reverse?’” Reddy said. “It’s fun that I can answer.” Reddy’s comfort with science has given him confidence during the year. On a cold September morning, the eighth-graders in his first-period class were silently writing answers to a warmup question written on the board: “Describe how particles move in a solid and how will this movement change if the substance is heated.”

Reddy was walking around the classroom quickly, dressed in a blue and red plaid blazer and navy-blue dress pants. Although he had yet to complete his first month of teaching, Reddy had already established rules for the class. If students dared to talk to their neighbors, they spoke in a whisper.

“If you’re done, please take down the [lesson] objective. You have 30 seconds,” Reddy said in a no-nonsense tone. He stopped to answer a question for one student, checked his watch and told students to put their pencils down. Students dropped their pencils and raised their hands to share answers.