So what's with these alternative certifications?
I am going to start job hunting next year, hopefully in Latin America. I'll have five years of teaching, two of which were overseas. I teach physical science, Biology and ELL science but could also do Chemistry since I have some experience teaching it and have passed the Chem Praxis (if someone is willing to take me). I can also do middle school if needed. I have a traditional teaching cert.
I'm wondering about an alt cert for my husband. When we went overseas last time he came as a trailing spouse but ended up doing some long term subbing then got hired as a part time elementary PE teacher. But to be honest the trailing spouse thing was a hard sell initially and I was turned down by many recruiters because of this (and lack of experience since I was right out of college). So he is considering whether he might like to try his hand at teaching upper elementary. He has a Bachelors of Liberal Arts with and emphasis in Environmental Studies and an AA in energy technology (not super relevant) but no teaching coursework. We aren't really into spending much on a traditional program either.
Would it be a waste of time and money to try Teach-now or Teacher ready? I don't even know if he is eligible for these without any course work in education?? What is the demand like these days for teachers? It seems like there are fewer jobs from the first time I was applying in 2012 so maybe chances are too slim these days. We also have a toddler that would be trailing too...eek two dependents! Any advice?
Teach now and Teacher Ready-How are they viewed by schools?
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coin_operated
- Posts: 28
- Joined: Sat Jun 13, 2015 12:23 pm
Re: Teach now and Teacher Ready-How are they viewed by schoo
Not as favorably as certification from brick-and-mortar schools, but better than nothing.
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wntriscoming
- Posts: 114
- Joined: Mon Oct 01, 2012 3:44 am
Re: Teach now and Teacher Ready-How are they viewed by schoo
If I were an admin, not favorably at all! I had a student teacher who was doing one of these programs a couple of years ago. I was most unimpressed with the quality of the program and that it would give him a degree that qualified him to teach, especially in comparison to the program I had taken at a university in the States.
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shadowjack
- Posts: 2140
- Joined: Sat Oct 06, 2012 9:49 am
Re: Teach now and Teacher Ready-How are they viewed by schoo
Face it, KPan - you would be carrying your spouse in the first job. TeachNow gets you DC certification which is pretty portable to any state. You don't have to go back to DC to write the praxis exams. Once he has that, it doesn't matter - what matters is what he does in the classroom. If he is stellar, then nobody will care where his certification is from. If he sucks, then nobody will care where his certification is from - you will just miss out on job offers from good schools.
So go for it. I have known some really good teachers who have done those routes.
So go for it. I have known some really good teachers who have done those routes.
Re: Teach now and Teacher Ready-How are they viewed by schoo
I've worked with a handful of colleagues at several tier 1 schools who earned teaching certification through TeacherNow and TeacherReady. They were hired and often times, proved to be better teachers than those educated at brick and mortar institutions. In the end, talented people will find ways to become quality teachers.
Response
Agree with @SJ your going to carry your spouse for a while and already have. That experience is worth something but lack of a credential is going to hurt your overall marketability. I would set a skills based pathway like Teach Now to the side for now. Id start by looking at one of the assessment based pathways either UT or MA will issue your spouse a credential based on passing various certification exams and an application. It would take a couple of days and a few hundred USD, see how far that gets your spouse and look at a skills based program for an EPP/ITT program later if and when it becomes an issue.
You do not need any coursework in any particular area outside of having a bachelors degree to qualify for ANY of the certification areas for the skills based EPP/ITT programs (major doesnt matter). No professional education coursework is required.
A recruiter will know very quickly that your spouse did not complete an academic/traditional EPP/ITT program and there are recruiters and leadership that have a negative position of skills and assessment based pathways. Your certificate however is the same as anyone else including one that completed their EPP/ITT program through an academic route.
Strongly concur with @SJ, the credential is going to check a box, and anything as far as marketability or success is going to depend on what they do. If they suck no one will care where or how they got credentialed, if they are great no one will care where or how they got credentialed.
The issue with the DC credential is until he gets some experience the credential is not very portable, and they would have to renew it every four years. If Primary and PE is all they want to teach get a coaching qualification and then apply for QTS.
@wntriscoming
Generally skills based programs do not award a "degree".
You do not need any coursework in any particular area outside of having a bachelors degree to qualify for ANY of the certification areas for the skills based EPP/ITT programs (major doesnt matter). No professional education coursework is required.
A recruiter will know very quickly that your spouse did not complete an academic/traditional EPP/ITT program and there are recruiters and leadership that have a negative position of skills and assessment based pathways. Your certificate however is the same as anyone else including one that completed their EPP/ITT program through an academic route.
Strongly concur with @SJ, the credential is going to check a box, and anything as far as marketability or success is going to depend on what they do. If they suck no one will care where or how they got credentialed, if they are great no one will care where or how they got credentialed.
The issue with the DC credential is until he gets some experience the credential is not very portable, and they would have to renew it every four years. If Primary and PE is all they want to teach get a coaching qualification and then apply for QTS.
@wntriscoming
Generally skills based programs do not award a "degree".
Re: Teach now and Teacher Ready-How are they viewed by schoo
It's an alternate pathway, not an alternate certificate.
Once you have it, you have it. That's a box ticked, and then you move on to what matters more - how well can you teach?
So as said above, no one will care where it's from.
And for the record, I've met awesome teachers who went through dire programs, and rubbish teachers who went through stellar programs. In the end, no one will care that you got your degree at Teachers College Columbia if you can't be counted on to teach a class. And vice verse.
Once you have it, you have it. That's a box ticked, and then you move on to what matters more - how well can you teach?
So as said above, no one will care where it's from.
And for the record, I've met awesome teachers who went through dire programs, and rubbish teachers who went through stellar programs. In the end, no one will care that you got your degree at Teachers College Columbia if you can't be counted on to teach a class. And vice verse.
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@sid
While in most cases the certificate itself is the same, a recruiter can quickly see from the resume that the IT hasnt listed or completed an academic institution as the source of their EPP/ITT program. Further review of an ITs transcripts wont show professional edu. coursework.
While in most cases the certificate itself is the same, a recruiter can quickly see from the resume that the IT hasnt listed or completed an academic institution as the source of their EPP/ITT program. Further review of an ITs transcripts wont show professional edu. coursework.
Re: Teach now and Teacher Ready-How are they viewed by schoo
True, but I don't see that as the heart of the matter.
As a recruiter, I need to check that an applicant "ticks the boxes" before I can consider whether to proceed to interview. From that viewpoint, a certificate is a certificate. Will I also consider overall academic background? Probably, but it's not as cut and dry as the question of having a certificate. Without a certificate, I can't proceed. If the academic background is "interesting", I get to make a judgment call, and that will be based on everything I know about the applicant. So, as said before, in the OP's spouse's early years with this certificate, it will be tougher to get hired, and the OP herself will need to carry the day. But once those initial years have passed and the husband has established himself as an awesome teacher, it really won't matter.
As a recruiter, I need to check that an applicant "ticks the boxes" before I can consider whether to proceed to interview. From that viewpoint, a certificate is a certificate. Will I also consider overall academic background? Probably, but it's not as cut and dry as the question of having a certificate. Without a certificate, I can't proceed. If the academic background is "interesting", I get to make a judgment call, and that will be based on everything I know about the applicant. So, as said before, in the OP's spouse's early years with this certificate, it will be tougher to get hired, and the OP herself will need to carry the day. But once those initial years have passed and the husband has established himself as an awesome teacher, it really won't matter.
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@Sid
Thats bunk, its disingenuous at best, and dishonest most likely. There is nothing true about your claim "Without a certificate, I can't proceed." You absolutely can, an IS is in the vast majority of cases a private/independent IS, they have no regulatory authority that mandates you hire only those with a credential. Even accreditation agencies both in the US and the UK only require an IT be qualified and that is very much a subjective determination that can be met with a variety of demonstrable evidence. There are plenty of ITs without credentials working in various accredited and unaccredited ISs. What you are confusing is "cant" with "won't" your ISs ownership or some other policy may prevent a recruiter or leadership from appointing an IT without a credential but those are arbitrary policies that can be unwritten, changed, modified, and discarded as quickly and easily as they were created. You can absolutely proceed to the same judgment call with or without a credential.
A credential lets leadership and a recruiter be lazy. It lets some other body and organization assume the burden of vetting and gives the IS deference if the It cant perform.
Thats bunk, its disingenuous at best, and dishonest most likely. There is nothing true about your claim "Without a certificate, I can't proceed." You absolutely can, an IS is in the vast majority of cases a private/independent IS, they have no regulatory authority that mandates you hire only those with a credential. Even accreditation agencies both in the US and the UK only require an IT be qualified and that is very much a subjective determination that can be met with a variety of demonstrable evidence. There are plenty of ITs without credentials working in various accredited and unaccredited ISs. What you are confusing is "cant" with "won't" your ISs ownership or some other policy may prevent a recruiter or leadership from appointing an IT without a credential but those are arbitrary policies that can be unwritten, changed, modified, and discarded as quickly and easily as they were created. You can absolutely proceed to the same judgment call with or without a credential.
A credential lets leadership and a recruiter be lazy. It lets some other body and organization assume the burden of vetting and gives the IS deference if the It cant perform.