Interesting article on teacher's certification--thoughts, anyone?

[Michelle in MO]

Our governor here in Missouri just signed legislation authorizing a new alternative teacher certification process which would allow people who lack a college degree in teaching to be able to qualify as teachers. They must complete a program by the American Board for Certification of Teacher Excellence.

 

Here's an article:

 

http://www.ksdk.com/news/news_article.aspx?storyid=145392

 

Other states have similar laws: Florida, Idaho, Mississippi, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, and Utah.

 

I personally am very excited about this and think it's a great idea! I want to go back to school to become a teacher. I'm not convinced that getting a degree in teaching automatically makes someone a better teacher. Now, I do think there certainly is value in some of those courses, and some on these boards do have teaching degrees and are also great homeschooling moms!

 

I just think this is a great pathway for those who have, perhaps, a degree in math or English or Spanish, who already possess excellent teaching skills, to be allowed to become teachers without having to jump through all the hoops that are perhaps unnecessary!

 

While I was listening to the ACCS Conference mp3's I loaded on my iPod last summer, Douglas Wilson was saying that at Logos School in Moscow, Idaho, they also consider hiring homeschooling parents who have done an excellent job teaching and training their own children. I can think of many on these boards who would be so well-qualified to teach in a classical school, whether or not they have a degree in teaching (and, in my opinion, whether or not they had a college degree at all!)

 

Anyway, I just thought this was both interesting and also very good news.

 

Thoughts, anyone???

[In The Great White North]

I have a teacher's certificate (long expired) and a MEd in Elementary Ed. The only thing I learned in this program was Piaget's theory of childhood development, something any mom knows intuitively, with fancy names tacked on to each stage. "Multi-culturalism" was the buzz-word of the day and had to be included in everything (even math.) A degree in education is a course in brainwashing new teachers to jump on the "latest and greatest" bandwagon.

 

I think the most useful reason to require a degree, is not necessrily what the degree teaches, but the amount of preparation (usually high school work) colleges expect before you get in. In other words, serious high school work is plenty for a K-8 teacher. A proficiency test, which some states are already requiring, would ensure this.

 

I could make a case for high school teachers needing a degree in their field (ie. math, chemistry, etc) but not in education. There will be high school students who want to go beyond the traditional course of study and their teachers need to be able to do that. My AP Chem teacher resigned in the middle of the school year (when pink-slipped for the 14th year in a row) and his replacement had to learn everyting a day or two ahead of us. It was a good thing he had studied it once (30 years earlier) or he would have had a lot of all-nighters!

 

The best reason for promoting this alternative path is that these teachers will be more mature and have some real-world experience. Maturity and experience are worth more in the classroom than a degree in education.

[Caroline]

 

I just think this is a great pathway for those who have, perhaps, a degree in math or English or Spanish, who already possess excellent teaching skills, to be allowed to become teachers without having to jump through all the hoops that are perhaps unnecessary!

 

 

 

I am currently in one of these programs in Georgia. I have a Ph.D. in engineering from Georgia Tech. I teach math at an "at risk" high school, meaning we have over 80% of our kids on free lunch. It is a challenge every day. I did take the equivalent of 18 college credit hours of teaching classes. I have to hand in a portfolio at the end of two years. The portfolio is a gathering of documents that prove my ability in 24 different areas of teaching according to a book by Charlotte Danielson. Not a Ph.D. dissertation by any stretch, but certainly equivalent to any senior college project and many masters level projects I have seen. This has to be presented to a board of professional educators including the administrators at my school and other administrative people and experienced teachers.

 

Anyway, I think it is working for me. Does it work for everyone? No, and many people are weeded out of the program. There are some teachers at the school who resent the fact that I have a job teaching without an education degree. (And with a Ph.D. I make more money than most teachers with just a B.S. Since teachers' salaries are based on a published scale, these people have a good idea how much money I make. Not nearly what I could make as an engineer...)

 

If you have any questions, I would be glad to answer them.

[Michelle in MO]

I think that the maturity and life experience that a qualified individual has obtained in a particular field (i.e., engineering, math, foreign languages, etc.) is more than sufficient for teaching at a high school. I do think that a degree in that particular field would be a good idea, but not necessarily a degree in teaching.

 

I believe that ACCS has a policy to not necessarily look for candidates with a degree in teaching, but a degree in their field, an ability to work with children of that particular age range, and a desire for excellence and a vision for classical education. To me, that seems like a common-sense policy.

 

Caroline, I have a very good friend who obtained her PhD in chemistry from Georgia Tech.! She would love to obtain tenure there and is currently seeking funding for HTLV-1 research (I think that's adult leukemia virus, but I'm not sure). Anyway, it sounds like Georgia Tech. is an awesome school! You wouldn't happen to know anyone in the chem. department, would you?

[pmegan]

I think that it's a great idea. I've always been upset that very, very few of the top private colleges and Ivy League universities offer teaching degrees. This means that, unless they are 100% certain that they want to be teachers for their entire careers (and what 18 year old can really be 100% certain of that?), the "best and the brightest" (if you will) have to chose between a name school that can get them any job in the world, and a small local school where they might be limited in what job they can get over graduation.

 

So anything that might attract good teachers from a wider swath of the population is a great idea in my book! I'm very pro-public education, and think that a free education for everyone is what made the US such a great country. It saddens me that the reputation of teachers has gone downhill in the past generation or so, and it's not seen as a good career choice for very intelligent young people anymore (who are far more likely to want to be lawyers or MBAs or something soul-crushing like that, which will earn them a living wage! ;))

[Jackie in AR]

I just think this is a great pathway for those who have, perhaps, a degree in math or English or Spanish, who already possess excellent teaching skills, to be allowed to become teachers without having to jump through all the hoops that are perhaps unnecessary!

 

 

Your legislature and governor are right on track; I think this makes perfect sense.

 

I would much prefer a mature teacher who had a thorough understanding of her subject to someone who had taken some education classes but lacked the depth or experience to thoroughly communicate the topic.

 

I wish Arkansas would consider something like this.

[at the beach]

I wish Ohio would do this. I think it's a great idea. NYC also has a program called NYC teaching fellows that recruits non-teachers.

[kokotg]

DH got his teaching certificate through this kind of program (in GA) a few years ago. He has a math degree with a computer science minor, and spent the first 5 years after college working as a web programmer. When we moved down here, tech jobs were scarce and we wanted him to be working somewhere with reasonable hours and vacation time, so he decided to give teaching a try. It was actually sort of ridiculously easy for him to get certified. He found a program where he didn't have to take any education classes; just worked with a "mentor" for a year his first year of teaching. It was mostly just doing a lot of paperwork, honestly. I think it's worked out well; teaching's the sort of thing you really need to learn by doing anyway. And I may be a bit biased, but I think his actual math skills are MUCH better than most any of the teachers he works with who have math education degrees.

[Tracey in TX]

The only info I read was the governor signed legislation approving non-traditional teachers. Will they be required to be degreed? What is the expected previous work experience to be allowed to teach? It sounds good in theory, but will these individuals have applicable experience and college education? One of PP mentioned the buzz words for most recent educational theories--I soooo completely agree with that! Best thing we can do for our ed system is to bring in fresh ideas, provided they have the education to accurately teach our children.

[Michelle in MO]

in our local paper, and yes, the individual seeking teacher certification would at least have to have a degree in that particular field.

 

The article that I gave the link to wasn't exactly the same article; I did a search under the general search item of "Governor signs legislation granting teacher's certification." So, it may not have been the exact same AP article, but covered the same topic. They may have skipped a few essential points!

 

I personally think it's a great idea; I've met some people with degrees in teaching who weren't really that great as teachers. I've also met some highly-qualified people who would make wonderful teachers, who have degrees in certain fields, but lack the necessary teaching credentials.

 

I think that this opens the pathway for more qualified people to become certified.

[Caroline]

The only info I read was the governor signed legislation approving non-traditional teachers. Will they be required to be degreed? What is the expected previous work experience to be allowed to teach? It sounds good in theory, but will these individuals have applicable experience and college education? One of PP mentioned the buzz words for most recent educational theories--I soooo completely agree with that! Best thing we can do for our ed system is to bring in fresh ideas, provided they have the education to accurately teach our children.

 

In Georgia, we are required to have a college degree in that field or a related field. With my engineering degrees, I was deemed qualified to teach science or math grades 6-12. I have to be observed more than traditionally educated teachers. However, at least for me, the results of the observations are more about what I can improve upon as opposed to what I am doing wrong, if that makes any sense.

 

I teach precalculus this year, and I getting certified to teach AP Calculus this summer. The other teachers who teach these courses were math/education majors. I bring a different perspective in that I used both calculus and trig as an engineer. Working together, we are able to teach these subjects rigorously and with some real world applications thrown in. I think it is a nice balance.

[summer]

I think that passion is the largest factor in a good teacher. After that, being able to speak correctly and add 2+2 matters too....but you do not need a college degree for that.