[quote="sevarem"][quote]I do not rate the course highly, but it is one way of getting certified. [/quote]
The College of New Jersey's Global Program is actually very highly rated. The summer programs are run in Spain, South Africa, and Bangkok, with one week spring and fall courses run in Taiwan, Bolivia, and a few other locations.
The College of New Jersey is a highly rated school itself, often called one of the "public Ivies." No, I have not attended. I earned my Master's and certification through a traditional program, however, I know several teachers at good schools earning their degrees/certifications through TCNJ.
The program is accredited and it earns you a standard NJ teaching license that is accepted in all 50 states and at any international school that wants a real certification.[/quote]
Just to clarify - I was just giving my personal feelings re. saying I did not rate TCNJ highly.
I was an experienced teacher who began the Bangkok program to get elementary certification. The quality of the teaching, as well as the course content was, in my view, quite disappointing and not value for money.
For instance, in the initial course called Internship 1, which was an introduction to teaching and learning, the instructor did not know the difference between formative and summative assessment. She had no knowledge of the Understanding by Design process, nor of the IB. In the 2nd course, which was meant to be about Child and Adolescent Development, the instructor's focus was resolutely theoretical with a focus on social conditions in the USA. The class was on the verge of mutiny, as we were all international educators. I recall with bemusement the instructor insisting there was no such thing as 3rd culture kids - to some class participants who were themselves 3rd culture kids. Thankfully, the 3rd course I took that summer on Content Literacy was well taught and useful.
However, I decided not to continue as overall, I was not impressed with the quality of the program.
In my view, a novice teacher who has been certified through TCNJ would not be prepared to teach an elementary class. For example, there is no class in teaching Mathematics, nor Science. Nothing. I would be reluctant to hire that candidate.
However, if all you want is the piece of paper, it is an expedient way to go about it. I too know of some teachers from good schools who are doing the program. The way it is scheduled and the multiple locations is really handy for international school teachers. You could do that course for the certification and then take some extra classes to fill in any gaps.
After dropping that course, I took some online courses at the American Public University to fill in some of my gaps - including a class in teaching elementary math. They were pretty comprehensive.
You can do an online Masters with them - I am not sure what the reputation of the institution is, but you would get a grounding in teaching all of the subject areas, as well as such things as child development and class management. I think the web address is
www.apus.edu.