[quote="Walter"]
JIS Alum, the new head is Brent Mutsch who made an active choice to leave SAS after five years to take on this school. [/quote]

Thanks Walter....

[quote="overseasvet2"]This is one of the top schools in the region. I believe all the division principals are changing with the hire of a new head of school - the former head of Singapore American School.[/quote]

Don Bergman?

There are online programs from such schools as Walden, Capella and Argosy. These programs are pretty much all online. Last I looked, Capella required some summer sessions, but were mostly online. They are expensive.

In such cases most will not lead to certification. As an example, Argosy's website states:

"Only campuses in Arizona, California, Illinois, Minnesota, Texas, and Utah offer programs that lead to teacher, administrator, or school psychologist certification, licensure, or endorsement in any State in the United States. The programs offered through Argosy University – Online Programs DO NOT lead to teacher or administrator certification , licensure, or endorsement in any State in the United States, regardless of the State in which the student resides. "

There are also hybrid courses from such schools as University of Nebraska or Creighton. I am familiar with those two, but there are of course, others. Nebraska's program is regarded well, and is an online hybrid; some online, some you can do during the summer. I'd assume other brick-and-mortar schools have similar programs. Again, you are probably not looking at certification/credentials- but I'm not knowledgeable enough.

As an aside, I completed my Phd for career advancement. It bumped up my salary, and over the course of my career, should pay for it's self. It did not however get me my Admin Certification. For that I had to get a job that provided full tuition to go back and get my Admin Cert in the US.

There are some that book both venues and release their unused reservations just prior to the fair. But I wouldn't count on that.

I've already had my reservation since last May. Put it on a credit card- you can cancel within 24hrs or something like that.

and we're still trying to fill this year's vacancies.... Most of our Admin positions don't open up until Oct...

Do a search for 'JIS' or 'Jakarta International School'. There are a number of schools in Jakarta, with JIS being the most coveted/established/biggest.

I'm assuming you have a teaching degree?

There are other schools in smaller cities (smaller being relative); Bandung, Denpasar and others.

I grew up in Jakarta. The people are great, JIS was good school. To expect to get hired there without experience/degree is unrealistic.

Research other schools. You may have to put in time elsewhere to get to where you want to go.

Depends on why you enrolled. I needed to get a Type 75 Admin Cert. I went to ACE and the state I teach in accepted it. I didn't get my job based on the school's reputation and have extensive experience and a track record of success in what I do. I needed to punch a ticket to move on. For me it worked. No one will hire me based on the degree granting institution, rather my references, letters of recommendation and experience.

Alright, fwiw I'm a mid-level admin (mentioned solely to add context- insert sarcastic golf clap here) and here's my 2 bits:

1) How long is a typical service period before moving from a junior admin position to a senior admin position ( such as assistant principal to school head)?

When interviewing other admin candidates, when someone comes in having spent 4 or more years in one junior admin position people ask why? Is it a lack of ambition, is there a reason, are they a perpetual candidate, or are they simply in a good position.

2) Professional growth/advancement wise exclusive of compensation package. It is more advantages to lead a lower tier school, such Asa tier 3 school as its head, then a support.junior admin at a tier 2 school?

IMHO- being head is different. Once you are a head- tier whatever, you've done it. We look at position before school. Have you held responsibility, have you been 'the man', have you had to make the decisions that others won't? This all relates to what you want to do and where you want to be in five years. Want to be head somewhere good, do it for a while were others won't.

3) Again compensation aside, would stepping down from a tier 2 admin school be detrimental, in accepting a teaching position a a top tier 1 school (though or elite school)?

Yes. If you want to be and admin at a tier 1 down the road.

I'm a little backwards- I grew up a teacher's kid in an international school and then moved back to the US for college. So here's what I miss of what I consider home in SE Asia:

-living in a community where people didn't see ethnic/racial/faith-based differences.
-living in a community that seemed to value teachers/learning.
-going back to the US in the summer and being the only one who thought sidewalks were awesome.
-going back to the US and enjoying pasteurized milk (or any milk).
-the feeling you get when the electricity finally comes on.
-playing for hours with kids that don't speak your language and it doesn't matter.
-looking forward to my next trip.
-looking forward to going back to the US for home leave, but then longing to get back home in early August.

[quote="PsyGuy"]Again in a senior admin role (head/principal) a doctorate would more often be useful, out side that its just not my experience that it is. There is only so much theoretical knowledge you can apply in a classroom or in a school anyway. Nothing in my dissertation or preparing it has had any practical use for me.

If you have a senior admin career track in mind a doctorate would be useful, otherwise its not, and honestly when i was looking for a teaching classroom position the message i got was "I was over qualified for the classroom".[/quote]

Then it sounds like the program you did was the issue. The employees we have going through doctoral programs now have a direct connection to what they are doing both in the classroom, and possible junior admin positions they might fill. By junior admin I'm referring to department heads, Directors of Technology, Social Service Directors, Purchasing Managers and similar.

The employees that I'm familiar with, and the programs that I have both been involved with and gone through have allowed their student to focus on what they are doing in the classroom. Their studies and dissertation was practical and focused.

A dissertation is not a replacement for practical experience, however it is complimentary. And I do believe it is of value to those who are not school heads.

Sure, it might predispose some principals to see a teacher who has a doctorate as being over-priced or over-qualified. However if the teacher is looking down the road to increase their leadership position and/or move up, then it is of value.

"Yeah there are other admin roles you can do with a doctorate, but you can just as easily do them with a masters, and most of them dont have doctorates."

True, however those with doctorates can be more competitive when it comes to applying for jobs. Whether you can get away with a Master versus a Doctorate is another question.

"As far as junior admin roles, the time spent getting the doctorate would be better spent building experience leading in that field. Newly minted doctorates (myself included) tend to come out with a lot of abstract theoretical knowledge, that doesnt translate well in an applied practical setting.

Getting experience and a doctore are not mutually exclusive. You can do both and both can be beneficial. In terms of newly minted doctorates and abstract knowledge- that depends on the program and dissertation. You can come out with practical understanding and tools that are useful in a practical setting. There are programs that allow one to study an area that is directly applicable to what you are doing now.

Those in junior admin positions that are developing experience as well as working toward or having obtained doctorates bring both experience and focused knowledge to the table.

When applying for jobs having both is beneficial.

I would agree that if you're going to remain a classroom teacher, than a doctorate would not provide enough financial incentive- but perhaps that is not your objective.

However doctorate's are not only valuable just for school heads. If you are interested in being a director; Dir of Tech, Student Services, Curriculum, Business or Principal, than it can work to your advantage. Additionally, some large schools have department heads that are teaching positions, but are paid additional stipends (sometimes considerable), and enjoy leadership benefits. These positions sometimes require a doctorate to be competitive. From a purely financial comparison, a doctorate can pay off over the long term.

How long did it take?
Around 4 1/2 years to complete. But that was strongly impacted by my dissertation project- which needed about 4-5 months to get data. Looking back, since I was collecting data in a school, I could have started collecting data sooner- and shortened that timeline. I should have been more organized, and started thinking about my dissertation much sooner.

Did you go with online or at the physical campus?
I did a hybrid program- and I would guess that most programs have both brick and mortar and online options. Once you get into the dissertation phase, you are on your own anyway, and possibly collaborating with people anywhere. In my personal situation, I'm competing with others who have a specific certification, a doctorate and specific experience. The school is less important than the other two.

If you had it to do over, what would you do differently?
I did a PhD to study a specific, focused topic. It did not include certification. I could have done a doctorate, which would have included certification, but been more general in nature. I should have done the doctorate in hindsight.

In terms of the process, I should have started thinking about data collection sooner and been more focused during the classwork phase. I should also have saved all the statistics classes until the end cycle of my classwork. I took the three quantitative classes at the start, then promptly forgot most of what I knew. I had to relearn almost everything for my dissertation. Plus, two of my committee members were Stats profs. They were very tough on me and the source of many rewrites.

Start your dissertation work during your classwork. You'll probably have a class on writing a lit review. Instead of doing a 'fake' one, actually start on your review in class.

Finally, before you start your classwork, purchase and learn a good bibliographic software package; Endnote (pc/mac) and Bookends (mac) are two examples. You'll generate a lot of information and resources during your classwork and you'll need a way to organize and then use in your writing. I used a combination of Scrivener, Endnote and Evernote to get organized. Papers for OSX is fantastic and I now use it to organize all my papers and studies.

Whether its financially a good decision, that's up to you to decide. It cost me over $50k for the program. Once done it opened doors to positions and I took one that gave me a $20k annual raise. More importantly I opened doors to jobs I'm interested in.

What type of advice are you looking for? I completed my PhD in Edu Leadership about four years ago.