teaching, but not an ed major

trisigmaAtl · #1 08-14-2004, 01:48 PM

I am going to graduate with a BA in English this year and have been considering teaching at the secondary level. I am not an education major, and my school does not have an education dept. I know there are other possible ways to become licsensed at this level, but am confused about how or what to do. Like these Praxis exams...do I take them? is there any prepwork I can't do myself? I am highly considering getting a Master's in English Education (which would allow me to teach), but am still confused about these exams, when I should take them, how many I should take, and the whole concept of provisional liscensing. does anyone have any advice? I would greatly appreciate the input.

BirthaBlue4 · #2 08-14-2004, 02:33 PM

Well, first off, TAKE PRAXIS I, its required most everywhere, and you'll have to take it to get in your grad program (well some require it for admissions, other say just get it eventually before you graduate). In a lot of areas, you can get a provisional license, which allows you to begin teaching NOW, but you'll have to take classes at night/on weekends to finish your requirements. Sometimes this is faster than getting a Masters, if you want to get right in there now. However, GET YOUR MASTER'S because it means more money.

Now, if you take the provisional license route, you won't need to get the Master's in English Ed, because that program is probably geared towards people in your predicament: bachelor's in english, want to teach and no license. Look carefully, because a lot of programs' sole purpose is licensing. If you get provisional license, I'd go more for a general English masters, or one in curriculum, supervision, or something else that interests you.

My best friend took this route, and was finished with his provisional classes in a year.

I hope that helped some (and made sense lol)!

trisigmaAtl · #3 08-14-2004, 03:31 PM

THANKS!!! that helped alot!!!!

Senusret I · #4 08-14-2004, 04:58 PM

Definitely check with the school system you want to work in, too. In DC, they no longer have provisional licenses.

JupiterTC · #5 08-17-2004, 12:33 PM

More importantly, check with your state department of education. Each state has different requirements. Teachers in NY are required to have a masters, but teachers in NC can be hired lateral entry. You could be hired as lateral entry, meaning you hold a bachelors but you did not go through a teachers program. Some states don't even require the Praxis, but those states are becoming fewer and fewer.

Definitely follow Birtha's advice, and also check into your state requirements as well.

Rio_Kohitsuji · #6 08-17-2004, 08:58 PM

Go here: http://www.gapsc.com/ Alot of the info is in PDF format, so you might want to check it out.

Other useful info: http://www.doe.k12.ga.us

Shima-Mizu · #7 08-18-2004, 12:10 PM

Yeah, most people major in thier field, and then get a master's in education. While you can just get a license / certificate to start teaching before you have a masters, shoot for the masters, because as it was said before, more money is a splendid thing.

Rio_Kohitsuji · #8 08-18-2004, 12:34 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Shima-Mizu
Yeah, most people major in thier field, and then get a master's in education. While you can just get a license / certificate to start teaching before you have a masters, shoot for the masters, because as it was said before, more money is a splendid thing.

To add on this....start teaching w/o a Master's in the beginning!! Many school districts will PAY for your Master degree!

kateshort · #9 08-18-2004, 11:07 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Rio_Kohitsuji
To add on this....start teaching w/o a Master's in the beginning!! Many school districts will PAY for your Master degree!

Don't count on this, though... it *really* varies from district to district! My district would not pay for any of my grad work, though our new contract will pay for some Master's courses for teachers in their first five years of teaching. Like, 3 credits or $X00 per year. Depending on where you go, $X00 may be what it costs for *one* credit. And in some places, you cannot teach without a certificate unless you already *have* a Master's degree in your field, and are just adding on three education classes or something.

We do get nice bonuses in pay for the extra grad credits-- you get "paid" for the coursework once you hit a 15-credit increment (BA, BA+15, BA+30, MA, MA+15, MA+30, MA+45) by an increase in your salary.

Best advice-- start with the website of the State Board of Education where you would like to teach. Then contact them or your Regional Office of Education (ROE may be a county office or something like that, or just a branch of the state office) to get info on what kinds of coursework and tests you need for certification at a post-bachelor's level.

[I'd never HEARD of PRAXIS until a few weeks ago reading about it on GreekChat.

]

Another thing to keep in mind is that in some states, you'll move from an "Initial" certificate to a "Standard" certificate after your first 2-5 years of teaching. In Illinois, you needed to complete so many units worth of coursework, seminars, conferences, and the like, and working towards a master's degree counted towards that recertification program. So it's one more thing to keep in mind...

trisigmaAtl · #10 08-18-2004, 11:15 PM

this has all been soooo helpful....THANKS!!!! all advice is definitely appreciated and welcome!!!

ADPiSAI · #11 08-19-2004, 01:43 PM

trisigmaAtl, I'm currently going through what New Jersey calls the "alternate route" program right now. I graduated with a B.A. in French, minor in Italian in May. I passed my French Content Knowledge Praxis exam, then sent in the required paperwork, and I'm currently taking a night class that will be one night a week once school starts to complete the process. I'll be teaching high school French and Italian. If you have any questions about what I had to go through, please feel free to ask!

BirthaBlue4 · #12 08-19-2004, 02:44 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Rio_Kohitsuji
To add on this....start teaching w/o a Master's in the beginning!! Many school districts will PAY for your Master degree!

Quote:

Originally posted by kateshort
Don't count on this, though... it *really* varies from district to district!

Very true, some of the ones up here pay for up to 9 credits FOR THE YEAR, and I think its a reimbursement, so you have to actually pay for it first. That depends too. You can find most of this out on the district website.

jlauren · #13 08-11-2008, 10:26 PM

I am a graduate of University of Maine, where I received a BA in Behavioral Science. But I live in California now. My GPA is 3.9, and I want to get into teaching ONLINE. Some of the best [legitimate] off-campus degree programs need online instructors. However, they want you to have classroom teaching time. Since I'm already up there (age-wise) I am trying to aim for a situation where I can teach online for the rest of my life. Meanwhile, I'm getting a Master's degree at Colorado State University, Global in Online Teaching and Learning. Hopefully, this will help me get to my goals.