Comments on: Fast track to teaching

By: TrainyBrainy » Blog Archive » Posts about Special Education as of October 17, 2009

Sat, 17 Oct 2009 18:34:57 +0000

[...] seven-year-old brother. He was also charged with aggravated harassment for sending threatening Fast track to teaching – joannejacobs.com 10/16/2009 Mature professionals are using alternative certification to get into [...]

By: Former PhysicsTeacher

Former PhysicsTeacher — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 16:20:00 +0000

The whole idea of fast-tracking teachers deals with the supposed shortage of teachers. I haven’t seen any evidence of any such shortage whatsoever and I think that all these alt-certs are just another means of collecting revenue by ed schools. The very idea of an alt cert program suggests that all the BS in a traditional program is just that: BS.

By: Cal

Cal — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 15:20:45 +0000

Man, I looked into every alt-cert program I could find. None of them were faster than Stanford’s year, and most of them were pretty expensive. Quite a few of them required that a school initiate the request, so it seemed to depend on whether you had connections in schools.

And I wonder if the costs of those programs are forgiveable?

I would have done anything to figure out a way to get credentialed without going through a traditional teacher program–provided it was less hassle and just as good as a normal credential. Nothing met those criteria.

By: Lightly Seasoned

Lightly Seasoned — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 13:49:49 +0000

I hope somebody is following graduates to find out where they end up, how long they last, etc. Coming in with more maturity is an excellent thing, but my anecdotal experience is that they wash out at pretty high rates (as do traditionally certified teachers) for the usual reasons. We had a science teacher (alt. cert., Phd, etc.) last exactly 3 days, and our school is very good. It occurred to me this weekend that it really takes years to get that kind of make-a-difference feedback that some are looking for. I’ve just happened to run into a bunch of alum from my first couple of years in the past few days, and it was lovely seeing their huge smiles when they came up to me and gave me a hug — but I couldn’t have seen that years and years ago when they were making me crazy. So if that is the big career switch motivator, I wonder if it is enough. Just a thought.

That said, bringing 50+-year-olds into the profession isn’t going to solve the retirement problem — they’re as close to it as the vets. Although teachers can be eligible for full pension at fairly young ages, the only colleagues I see taking that option are actually doing late career switches themselves as health insurance eats up a pension pretty fast until medicare kicks in.

By: Teaching isn't for wimps: The fast track

Teaching isn't for wimps: The fast track — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 13:46:27 +0000

[...] fast track Joanne Jacobs posted an article about alternative certification on her blog. I went that route so I'm not a [...]

By: ABCTE Math Teacher

ABCTE Math Teacher — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 02:55:01 +0000

I was the second person in Idaho certified by the ABCTE testing. I was the first Math teacher certified that way. I did experience resistance from the major school districts. Sometimes you have to go to a school district that has more teacher turn over. I was fortunate to find an opening where I had already worked with the school administrator.

By: Former PhysicsTeacher

Former PhysicsTeacher — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 02:10:34 +0000

When I was in an Alt-cert program neither I, nor a majority of my classmates, could get a teaching job, at least in NY state.

After I completed a traditional program I complete with student teaching my prospects improved somewhat. I still ended up moving 400 miles away to the DC area.

I don’t mean to imply that the traditional program was superior with respect to preparation for teaching. In fact, the Alt-cert program was a lot more realistic since it was geared specifically to my content area.

By: New York Times: Part II « A Blog To Be Named Later

New York Times: Part II « A Blog To Be Named Later — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 01:42:27 +0000

[...] Jacobs – “Fast track to teaching“ Heritage Foundation – “Getting Talent Into The Classroom“ Flypaper – [...]

By: Crimson Wife

Crimson Wife — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 00:57:49 +0000

“ABCTE is a state approved route to full teacher certification in Florida, Idaho, Mississippi, Missouri, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Utah, & Oklahoma.”

Interesting. If someone were to pursue this type of certification, could he/she teach in one of those states for a year and then use that to transfer certification to a different state? Or would he/she still have to go through the whole rigamarole of a traditional teacher’s ed program in the other state?

By: joan

joan — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 00:48:23 +0000

I’m in my fourth year of teaching. I got my certificate through the alternative route. I was able to test and get my elementary certification before OK put a stop to it through pressure from the colleges that offer an elementary ed degree.