I've followed your discussion with a lot of interest. I think we're going to try and prioritize getting into an IB school but also keep our options open. If a good non-IB school offers us positions we certainly wouldn't say no. Thanks for all the in-depth information, it's definitely all food for thought.

We are a teaching couple (ELA and History/Government/Econ) with 4-5 years experience, currently looking to move out of China. This is our first time actually doing a proper job search because we got our current job through previous connections, so it's all a bit overwhelming at this point. We are currently signed up with SA and Schrole.

It seems that IB has become quite popular with many schools - I see on job listings that some schools "strongly prefer" prior IB experience. Our current school is not IB (we only have AP experience). We are wondering if we should be focusing on getting into a "lower tier" IB school that would be willing to take us on based on our non-IB experience.

On the other hand, there seem to be plenty of schools that do not offer IB. So I'm wondering how important it is to get IB experience on our resumes. We have a young daughter and in about five years she'll be starting school - by that stage we hope to be working at a solid international school so we can make sure she gets a good education. We are willing to lower our standards somewhat if it means we can build up our resume.

Ah, I didn't know all that about California. That's good to know for the future.

I just got my provisional license from Hawaii after completing the TEACH-NOW program based in DC. It’s all online - you can do the clinical portion in your own classroom wherever you are. It’s a nine month program and easy enough to complete.