Getting a teaching license - my personal experience

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chemteacher101
Posts: 112
Joined: Fri Feb 01, 2013 2:57 pm

Getting a teaching license - my personal experience

Post by chemteacher101 »

Every now and then people seem to ask the same questions (myself included). I would like to share my personal experience with several of the processes that have been suggested here before while trying to get a teaching license. I learned a lot in the process, so I will share as much as possible so that this might be helpful for others in the future. If I make any glaring mistakes, please do correct me. This is all based on my personal experience from about 2 years ago. I don't think things have changed much, and I have kept up with how this works simply because I find it fascinating.

NOTE: Please let's not turn this thread into a discussion on whether the US should allow foreign nationals to apply for a teaching license or not, or for judging anyone who may want to get a license with the minimum amount of time, money or effort. Everyone will have their own reasons for being interested (or not) in getting a proper teaching qualification, and they may have their own (valid or not) reasons for how they want to do it. I am simply reporting on my own experience in case this is useful for others.

My profile in brief: I am not an EU citizen. I am not a US citizen. I did train as a teacher in my home country through a graduate degree in teaching on my field (which in my country allows me to teach). This post will hopefully be useful to people with no teacher training who want a teaching qualification, people thinking of training to get a qualification, people who trained as teachers somewhere other than the US or UK, or just anyone who is curious about this whole thing.

.......US Teaching License, PGCE (QTS), PGCEi, M.Ed., ACSI........
First things first. For the purposes of this post, a proper teaching qualification is a document (paper or electronic) where a particular governmental authority (national or local) authorizes you to work as a teacher in public schools. Generally speaking, most people posting here are trying to get qualified either in the US or the UK. In the USA, this would be a license, where in the UK it would be achieving QTS (Qualified Teacher Status). In the US, teacher licenses are not "centralized", with each state having its own regulations and such. So here are a few distinctions and such:

*Teacher Preparation Program/Teacher Training: Refers to having formally studied to be a teacher. Whether you did an undergraduate degree in education that led to a license, or whether you did a 1 year program, or whatever. Many posters that ask about licenses here have not completed this. More on that later.
* US Teaching license: refers to an actual license given by the competent state authority from the US. This is a proper qualification.
* PGCE / QTS: QTS refers to "Qualified Teacher Status" which is a proper qualification as it means you are authorized to teach in the UK. The most "common" pathway to get QTS is to do a PGCE programme (which is the UK's version of a teacher preparation program, it is a post graduate certificat in education). This, however, requires teaching in the UK in order to complete it (most if not all cases).
* PGCEi: This "mimics" a PGCE (pardon my bluntness), but does NOT lead to QTS. It shows that you have studied education/pedagogy, but it is not a proper qualification and it is NOT considered equivalent to having a license or QTS.
* M.Ed.: Refers to a Master's degree in Education. Some American M.Ed. programmes lead to getting a US Teaching license in specific states. Others not. Ultimately, this is simply a graduate study which in of itself is not a teaching qualification (except of course of specific M.Ed. in some countries like Spain).
* ACSI: This is a certificate from a Christian association which basically says they recognize you as a teacher. Although for some this may be better than nothing, it is, in the opinion of this humble poster, not much more than you yourself printing a diploma of a made-up organization stating you are a teacher. It is not a proper qualification.
*Teach Now: Teach Now is a popular online program which can be completed in under a year, and which leads to a fully functional teaching license from Washington (if you pass all required tests, of course). Most people who complete it seem happy with the investment. I didn't do this...
*Other proper qualifications: most countries have their own system for authorizing/recognizing teachers. Most posters here seem to be behind a US license or QTS. However, there are obviously more choices, even if less common. I will include a section about this later in this same post.
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Getting QTS
If you have a US Teaching license or are recognized as a teacher in the EU, you may apply for QTS through reciprocity. That being said, they are making things difficult for people who do Teach Now and the latest reports are that they want you to have done field experience in the place where you have a license from.
If you do not have a license from the US or EU, to get QTS you (generally) have to do a PGCE, which will involve teaching in the UK for a while...
Ways "around" this:
1. If you have no officially recognized teacher training from any given country: The AO (Assessment Only) route: This involves paying a good amount of money to one out of several organizations that can do this service, where you will create a portfolio of evidence and fulfill other requirements to essentially prove that you "meet the standards" of QTS. Warning, can be expensive.
2. If you are officially recognized as a teacher somewhere (but not in the EU and US): Getting registered through GTCS or GTCNI: These are the Teaching Councils from Scotland and Ireland. Although GTC (UK) seems very close-minded about allowing foreign-trained teachers in (other than US and EU teachers), GTCS and GTCNI are a bit more open minded. Both have pathways to recognize foreign-trained teachers, and if you meet their requirements, you can register with them. If you manage to get a "full" registration, you can actually then apply for QTS.
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Getting a US Teaching license
If you dig these forums, you will see that right now, the three most common pathways people suggest are MA (Massachusetts), HI (Hawaii) or CT (Connecticut). Here are the basics:
* MA: Massachusetts has something called the "Provisional License". It is meant really as a temporary license, but it does not expire as long as you don't work in Massachusetts. Therefore: in practical terms, it never expires. What's the catch? Several: 1. You have to take the relevant MTEL exams to get this license, which can only be taken in Massachusetts (few exceptions, some can now be taken online due to COVID). 2. It is not considered a "professional" license (it's right there on the name). While some schools won't look to much at this, some might...

*CT: Like most states, Connecticut wants you to have completed a teacher preparation program. However, Connecticut has an "experiential" pathway for people who have worked as teachers and have some sort of teaching education, but not a license. This means that if, for example, you have a M.Ed. in your field, and have been working as a teacher for at least 2 years, they may waive not having completed a teacher preparation program. You will see many posts here where, with a similar profile to the one just previously described, some posters will suggest you to do the CT pathway based on experience. Here is my own personal experience with this. DON'T DO IT. Although it is true that CT will waive the requirement for having completed a teacher preparation program, they will not waive other course requirements. Turns out, there are some obscure "general academic coursework" requirements including having a minimum of a certain amount of credits in US History courses, Arts and Humanities. This was not found on their webpage, but I found out the hard way. After applying, sending everything and paying, I got a nice letter saying that if I could provide transcripts that covered those requirements, I would be able to get the license. Since I did not study US history in college, I would literally have to take for-credit courses (which are generally expensive) for this. I chose another pathway. So should you, if you can.

*HI: Hawaii is widely used by many international teachers. Hawaii wants you to have a teacher preparation program. If you have one, it is a very straightforward path. All the information is on the HTSB website (just Google it). Read the section on this post targeted at non-Americans for more information. If you did not complete a teacher preparation program, then HI is not really for you.

Washington: As mentioned before, some people do the Teach Now preparation program to get this license. If you have the time and money for Teach Now, it really seems like a sensible long-term investment.
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My experience and what you can learn from it

As mentioned before, I basically did a M.Ed. which in my country is considered the equivalent of a teacher preparation program. The first step to get a US Teaching license when you do not have a degree from the US is to get an evaluation of your degrees. Most states work with companies that belong to an "organization" called NACES. You basically pay them a significant amount of money to look at your degree and "translate it" into what they think is an "equivalent" degree in the US. If you dig around this forums, you will see that there are several companies mentioned, with WES being one of the main ones. I used them, and I regretted it.

WES is big, and well known. They have a very streamlined (albeit bureaucratic) process. Ultimately, they took my money, had me make certified translations, have my university send transcripts directly to them (all pricey) and then told me that my degree was the equivalent of a Masters Degree in Educaiton with a concentration on my field. I then tried to apply to Hawaii and was quickly told that I did not meet their requirements because the evaluation should clearly state that my degree allows me to teach. I went back to WES and they basically blew me off. I contacted them on several occasions, presented them with all the documentation showing that my degree is a teacher training program, and they basically said that they would not change anything and that what I showed them was just "contextual" information.

After this, I thought "no problem", I will just apply to CT via the experience route. I sent all my documents and then got back a nice letter saying I needed to complete a bunch of credits, including US history (covering at least 100 years), Arts, and whatnot. When asked about this, I was told that these are part of the general coursework requirements and that there was no way around it. I really did not feel like doing this. I could have, but I didn't.

I then thought about trying to get QTS through the GTCS route I mentioned earlier. However, after inquiring by email, they were quite clear on the fact that I would most likely receive a "provisional" registration. After inquiring more about it, it seems that moving from provisional to a full registration involves a ton of paperwork and class observations. I ultimately decided to leave this as a Plan C.

I went back to trying to get a US license. I was pretty upset at the fact that WES did not want to update my NACES evaluation, and that this was pretty much the only thing keeping me from being able to apply to Hawaii. I digged around on the internet, searched about other NACES evaluators (other than WES) and found an interesting PDF of the evaluation of the degrees of a random woman from Mexico done by a company called SPANTRAN (who also does NACES evaluations). On her evaluation report, they had clearly written a note stating that her degree allowed her to work as a Science teacher in Secondary. This sounded quite interesting, so I decided to bite the bullet and pay for a second evaluation of my degree, but this time through SPANTRAN. The result: a report stating that I had done the equivalent of a Masters degree in Education. I contacted them about it, and about the need to clearly state it allowed me to work as a teacher, and to my surprise, in less than 48 hours they updated my report to include a note clearly stating that my degree allowed me to work as a teacher in my home country in my field. Not only this, when applying, I could pay for them to contact my college to check my degree was real, instead of having to pay my college and pay for UPS to send the transcripts (which was more pricey).

The takeaway here: In my experience, SPANTRAN is better than WES in that they will actually listen, look at the documentation, and update your report if necessary. If you Google WES, you will find TONS of people complaining about incorrect equivalencies and WES simply refusing to change anything. In my opinion, SPANTRAN is better at that.

Once my report had been updated, I applied to Hawaii, and this time I was successful. Now I need to start preparing how I will be able to renew it, but that is another story.
..........................................................
Steps to get a Hawaii teaching license as a foreign teacher (with a proper teaching degree)
1. Get a NACES evaluation of your degrees (I suggest SPANTRAN), make sure it says that you are allowed to work as a teacher of X in Y grade levels.
2. Get the relevant experience form from the HTSB website (you just get someone at your school to sign it showing how many years of experience you have)
3. Apply. That's basically it. Oh, and it's free...
.........................................................
What if I don't have a proper teaching degree - teacher preparation program, but I do have experience?

You basically have three options: spend some money, go to Massachusetts, take the relevant tests, and get an MA Provisional license, do the Teach Now program, or try to get QTS through the Assessment Only option. The CT option some posters in this forum suggest is not really viable unless you want to have to meet other requirements like courses in US history....

From the three options previously mentioned, my personal view is that Teach Now would be the best option in that it will open more doors. The MA Provisional will work, but not all doors will be open as some schools might not find this qualification as suitable.
.......................................................................................
What about the "IB Certificate"? I've seen info about this

The IB Certificate is, in my humble opinion, a bit of nonsense. It's taking some courses which do not lead to a proper qualification, and it is not really that recognized by schools either. Schools that want people with IB Training, want people with IB Experience who have done a Cat 1 course. They don't really care for the IB Certificate coursework (not really). Sure, maybe it looks nice on the CV, but chances are it will not really make much difference.
...............................................................
Other "interesting" alternatives for teachers trained outside of the EU, UK or US, or those with something similar to techer preparation program but no actual license.

Although most people go for a US Teaching License of QTS, this is just being recognized by the US or the UK. There are more countries in the world... In many countries, this process of getting recognized as a teacher is only for nationals or residents. But some countries do let you apply as a foreigner. One of these is Norway. Their agency NOKUT is in charge of this process. their basic rule is that, although being proficient in Norwegian is a requirement to work in most schools, it is not a requirement if you will work teaching in English. You basically upload your degrees (English is accepted, or translations into English). No need to have them apostilled or anything, simply scan them scan the translations, and apply. They take a very long time (months, in my case 1 year), but ultimately, if they find your studies to be equivalent to theirs, you will get a nice letter (in Norwegian and English) stating that you are recognized as a teacher in Norway. It will say which studies you did and how they considered them to be equivalent in their system, and it will state that you are not recognized for a particular subject, but that schools are the ones that determine what they believe you can teach.

I could be wrong, but in my view, this would essentially also be a valid teaching qualification.

Did I mention it is free? And it does not expire either...

Would this work for, say someone with a PGCEi or a M.Ed but no teaching license? I don't know, but you can find out for free I guess.
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That's it. Again, hope this is useful.
PsyGuy
Posts: 10789
Joined: Wed Oct 12, 2011 9:51 am
Location: Northern Europe

Response

Post by PsyGuy »

The type of teaching documents include:

1) Certificate: A document either paper or digital that states something.
2) Qualification: A certificate or document that at a certain time the individual inscribed on the certificate completed some set of criteria (typically of an academic nature). A degree is a prime example of a qualification.
3) Credential: A certificate that in this case admits and acknowledges the individual is a member in the field of professional educators.
4) License: Constitutes authorization by some regulating authority that the named/inscribed individual is allowed to provide/deliver instructional services in the KS/K12 learning environment.

It may be expeditious in the US that credential and license are often used synonymous, even if its generally uncommon for them to be differentiated. In the UK its easier to see the difference, IE.: A edu has a PGCE that they have studied (at the graduate level) this is a 'qualification' equivalent to half a Masters degree. As part of the PGCE the edu completed field experience as part of an ITT (Initial Teacher Training" program after which the Dfe (TCL/TRA) issues the edu with NQT QTS, this is a 'credential' and recognizes the edu as a professional DT, albeit as a NQT (Newly Qualified Teacher), the edu teaches for a few years in IE, and then finds themselves stuck during a holiday in England during a pandemic and takes up an appointment in a maintained (regulated/public) DS that includes induction, despite the best efforts the edu is unsuccessful, the TCL/TRA is notified, and a barring order is issued. So the edu still has their PGCE (qualification) and still has their QTS (credential), but they are not authorized to teach anymore (no license).
Its possible to find examples in the US as well:
In Pennsylvania for example an edu can have a credential issued by the DOE, but fails to complete ongoing PD during the course of the credentials validity as a result the credential is no longer valid (no longer authorizes) the edu to provide instructional services. They still have the credential, they just cant teach in Pennsylvania public (maintained/regulated) DSs.
Another example is the case of the 'Emeritus' credential, these are credentials some states issue to retired DTs, it allows them to still claim they are teachers, which affords them whatever advantages they may be entitled too, but doest not authorize them to provide instructional services.
Another example is the 'Frozen' credential. Some states allow an edu to freeze their credentials during periods they arent teaching delaying the expiration of their credential. They still have the credential, they are still professional edus, but until unfrozen the credential does not authorize (license) them to provide instructional services.

QTS is a credential just as a US DOE teaching certificate is a credential, or registration from one of the GTCs in the UK, or registration with one of the CAN or AUS regulating authorities.
QTS can be distinguished between two forms NQT QTS and full QTS. When completing an ITT program successfully edus are issued NQT QTS, this means that to teach in maintained (public/regulated) DSs they must undergo a one year period of teaching under supervision called induction. Edus have only one opportunity to complete induction successfully, doing so awards them full QTS, failing to do so results in a barring order, prohibiting them from teaching in maintained (regulated, public) DSs.

Teacher Preparation Program/Teacher Training take many forms, some of them dont require much or anything in terms of "formal study", IE. CA issues a credential to those completing Peace Corp experience, and states such as CT have an experiential pathway that allows issuance of a credential. In addition many states in the US have career/vocational credentials in various technical and trade fields that are based on obtaining a set amount of experience in professional practice, they arent based on formal study programs.
In the US these training programs are often called EPP (Educator Preparation Programs) and in the UK they are called ITT (Initial Teacher Training) programs. They vary in periods of time from a few months to a couple years, though many of them average about a year.
The primary difference between EPP/ITT programs that result in a credential and those that dont is successful participation in a DS/IS field experience. Whether thats called student teaching, clinical teaching, practicum, internship, mentorship, etc.

QTS as issued by England is not valid in all of the UK, the GTCs (General Teaching Councils) for Scotland and N. Ireland have additional requirements to obtain registration.
It is possible to complete field experience as part of an ITT/EPP program in a BSO (British School Overseas) as well as complete induction in a IS outside the UK that delivers the English NC.
QTS may be earned in a multiple of pathways. A Uni PGCE program is the most common, though Sc.Dir (School Direct) is also popular, which involves a longer period of working in a DS vs. a higher level of academic in a PGCE. The Sc.Dir pathway is considered a skills based pathway (as opposed to an academic or assessment based pathway), under this pathway you are essentially the TOR (Teacher of Record) often payed (if your paid at all) as an unqualified DT on the MPS, as opposed to working with an IT in a classroom under a PGCE (academic pathway).
Now Teach is a UK organization offering essentially unpaid Sc.Dir EPP/ITT (skills based pathway) programs. You essentially pay them to teach for free.
The GTCs of Scotland and N.Ireland are viable option for many DT's/ITs who completed various degree programs (B.Ed, Masters) where those degrees themselves are credentials as professional edus. Applicants are likely to qualify for partial registration (entry grade) which is a regular entry grade credential. If you met the requirements for full registration you would meet the requirements for QTS, with one main difference. That the GTCs are more open to granting registration to edus from outside the EU/UK/US/CAN/AUS, and their language requirements are not so English centric.

AO (Assessment Only) is an assessment based route to QTS that essentially consists of a Portfolio and observations of your teaching. The TES institute cost is about £3000, which is about half the cost of skills based pathways such as Teach Now or Teach Ready.

A PGCEi is close to a PGCE program, they do cover a significant amount of the same material. In programs where they differ there is less an emphasis on domestic edu and more a focus on international edu. One example of such differences is the content emphasis on SEN (SPED/LD) populations.
A PGCEi does not lead to QTS, though there are a few Unis in the UK working on 'top up' programs that are abbreviated field experience programs. A PGCEi is not a credential, though many lower tier ISs will accept it as a working credential for their IS.

While there are M.Ed programs in the US that include an EPP/ITT program and lead to credentialing, its as, if not more likely such programs would be an MAT (Master of Arts Teaching) that incorporate an EPP/ITT program and lead to a credential.
In the UK non-M.Ed programs tend to be MS/M.Sc (Masters in Science) degree programs.
Formal certificates are actually uncommon globally in professional edu, in many regions a B.Ed or some Masters degree is the working credential in that country.

ACSI is a religious organization that among other things offers certificates to edus in a variety of fields. They are not credentials, though they do not require a field experience or EPP/ITT program to obtain, especially at the "temporary" level. They may be acceptable for an IS that has relatively open immigration rules.

Another grey area is an IB PD certificate. As far as the IB is concerned these certificates are all that are required of an edu to meet the PD training requirements of authorization for faculty. This is more an anomaly for academic discourse than anything else.
The IB also offers T&L (Teaching and Learning) certificates these are typically part of a broader degree program offered by a Uni as part of a graduate course of some type. They are of little value outside some very niche applications.

The MA provisional (Entry grade) credential requires exams that can be taken throughout the US, they need not be taken in MA (with some exceptions, mainly for performance and world language endorsements). Currently, due to the pandemic a number of exams (the MTEL) can be taken online, including from outside the US.
The MA Provisional credential is a 'Regular' credential vs. a Permit or non-regular credential. It authorizes the same degree and type of instructional services as the other MA regular credentials (Initial, Professional and Temporary). While an IS may not accept it, that doesnt bear any difference or distinction from the MA DOE (the MA regulating authority), edus may provide the full range of instructional services within the context of the fields inscribed on the credential without restriction or limitation.

Its true CT does have some general academic requirements, such as US history. This would not be a problem for any US educated IT/DT that obtained a degree from a US Uni. These courses are typically part of the general education curriculum.
For foreign ITs/DTs you can meet these requirements from many Uni and colleges (such as Community or Junior colleges). Tuition and fees for these courses can be relatively inexpensive compared to the cost of repeating a skills based EPP/ITT program such as Teach Now. Additionally, you can meet these requirements in most cases by taking a CLEP exam (USD$89/each, you would need to take 2 to meet the history requirment) and then having them added to your transcript through a US tertiary institution (such as UPe). This is far less expensive than alternatives such as Teach Now, or an AO pathway. Whether this is an appropriate and viable pathway will differ between edus. Studying and taking a undergraduate knowledge exam such as the CLEP in any subject shouldnt be overly difficult for a Uni graduate.

HI in addition to its previously discussed utility offers the additional pathway option of going through the Teach Ready program out of FL. FL does not issue credentials to non-US edus. They will provide you a letter of EPP program completion, you can use this letter to apply for a HI Provisional (Entry grade) credential. The benefit to this is Teach Now field experience is 3 months/12 weeks, and Teach Ready is only 5 days, which may be easier to accomplish for a ed without a classroom appointment. Teach Ready costs the same as Teach Now.

WES is one of the more widely accepted NACES evaluators, but they are rather rigid in their evaluations. SPANTRAN is another NACES provider and though not as widely accepted they tend to have a more accurate and better approach to their evaluations.

The Norwegian registration is a credential. Ive completed the process, its relatively accurate as described by @chemteacher101. The issue is going to be that if you dont have the equivalent of a credential from some regulating authority, Norway isnt going to grant you one either. Norway isnt going to grant you registration with a PGCEi, or Masters if you dont have QTS or those qualifications by themselves arent credentials from elsewhere.
chemteacher101
Posts: 112
Joined: Fri Feb 01, 2013 2:57 pm

Re: Getting a teaching license - my personal experience

Post by chemteacher101 »

Thanks for complementing. I tried to be practical and down to earth, but I guess it's good to have.... Well...your "style" legalese(I think there was some overlap but that was expected, I guess).

About CT: they don't accept CLEP. They clearly and explicitly told me they only accept credits that have to be registered in a university transcript from a regionally accredited college. If someone is into that, yes that would work. If you have experience with specific cheap colleges which don't require admission exams, TOEFL (for non English speakers) and other costs that would make that route expensive, I am sure this information would be valuable for some.

About Norway: I mentioned this as a pathway for non EU non American trained teachers looking for an interesting option. Since it's free, I think it's worth mentioning and hadn't seen it previously mentioned.
PsyGuy
Posts: 10789
Joined: Wed Oct 12, 2011 9:51 am
Location: Northern Europe

Reply

Post by PsyGuy »

@chemteacher101

Which is why I wrote:
"Additionally, you can meet these requirements in most cases by taking a CLEP exam (USD$89/each, you would need to take 2 to meet the history requirment) and then having them added to your transcript through a US tertiary institution (such as UPe)."
Specifically the portion stating:
"and then having them added to your transcript through a US tertiary institution (such as UPe)."

No DOE Accepts CLEP directly.
As I wrote, UPe is University of the People. They have a USD$60 application fee and a USD$17 credit fee. That would be USD$272 for the two CLEP exams and the UPe fees, a very modest amount. You can meet their English fluency in a number of ways including completion of a course. You can have credits validated/transferred to your transcript prior to completing any other coursework.
chemteacher101
Posts: 112
Joined: Fri Feb 01, 2013 2:57 pm

Re: Getting a teaching license - my personal experience

Post by chemteacher101 »

UoPeople is not regionally accredited (yet). Thus, taking CLEPS and adding them to their transcript would not be acceptable towards meeting the CT requirements I mentioned.
PsyGuy
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Reply

Post by PsyGuy »

@chemteacher101

I wrote "such as UPe" not UPe specifically, and while at this time they would not meet the CT requirements (they are aligned to receive WASC accreditation this year) there are plenty of US community, junior colleges and Uni that are regionally accredited where you can transfer credits before completing any coursework or demonstrating English proficiency.
chemteacher101
Posts: 112
Joined: Fri Feb 01, 2013 2:57 pm

Re: Getting a teaching license - my personal experience

Post by chemteacher101 »

Sorry PsyGuy, I know you never accept an error, but saying "such as UPe" is not correct, because regionally accredited universities are NOT "like UPe". At the time of this post, UPe is not "like" regionally accredited colleges, because, well, it's not.

As I mentioned on a previous reply to you. If you have specific examples of cheap, regionally accredited colleges where getting those additional credits needed for CT are actually an option, please do share. This would be valuable information for some people.
PsyGuy
Posts: 10789
Joined: Wed Oct 12, 2011 9:51 am
Location: Northern Europe

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Post by PsyGuy »

@chemteacher101

We disagree.

Its not identify a cheap Uni where those courses can be obtained, its finding a Uni or College that will accept CLEP without having to do much else. There are plenty of Unis and colleges you can accomplish that at.
chemteacher101
Posts: 112
Joined: Fri Feb 01, 2013 2:57 pm

Re: Getting a teaching license - my personal experience

Post by chemteacher101 »

For example?

Again, I'm trying to be practical and down to earth. Having special specific examples would be great. If you don't have any, it's fine. As I tell my students, saying"I don't know" can be a valid reply in some situations

If you have also a suggested CLEP for US history, which is one of the specific requirements mentioned before, that would also be great. I could not find any, but I don't know.
Nexttrip
Posts: 27
Joined: Fri Feb 08, 2008 4:29 pm

Re: Getting a teaching license - my personal experience

Post by Nexttrip »

chemteacher101 wrote:
> Every now and then people seem to ask the same questions (myself included).
> I would like to share my personal experience with several of the processes
> that have been suggested here before while trying to get a teaching
> license. I learned a lot in the process, so I will share as much as
> possible so that this might be helpful for others in the future. If I make
> any glaring mistakes, please do correct me. This is all based on my
> personal experience from about 2 years ago. I don't think things have
> changed much, and I have kept up with how this works simply because I find
> it fascinating.

Thank you so much, Chemteacher, for breaking this down! Thats going to help a lot of people. Particularly interesting to hear that all NACES approved evaluators aren't the same. I asked my friend and she had credentials evaluated through International Education Evaluations, Inc. and they (luckily) specifically noted that "The program qualified the graduate to teach the subjects of Spanish, English, and French in (her native country)." So IEE is another one to consider.

She's going to apply for the providential teacher certificate in Hawaii as she hasn't worked full time for 3 of the last 5 years as a teacher yet (which is a requirement for the standard Hawaii teaching certificate). Thanks again!
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