Should I apply? When?

[NYCteacher]

Hi everyone,

I've been thinking about moving abroad since I was in college, and now, as a teacher, I can't stop thinking about teaching abroad. Right now, I am just trying to gauge what my plan should be and what my chances are.

At the earliest, I would apply for jobs for fall 2014. Here are my qualifications for that time frame:

- 3 years teaching experience (in a Title 1 school in NYC)
- Graduated with honors from the University of Chicago (degrees in environmental studies and philosophy)
- MS in Education
- Alternatively certified through the NYC Teaching Fellows
- Certified in secondary Special Education (currently) and plan to get certified in chemistry or biology in the upcoming year
- Have taught: biology, earth science, physics, a field science course, humanities, English, SETSS in pre-calculus
- College Board Services for Students with Disabilities (SSD) Coordinator
- Assist with girls soccer team; started a philosophy club
- Studied/lived in Vienna for 3 months during college
- No spouse or dependents

Any ideas of my chances for 2014 or ways to improve my resume would be very much appreciated!

[NYCteacher]

Does anyone have any tips or comments on what type of jobs I would be most qualified for?

Should I try for 2014-2015 school year? Or wait longer?

Thank you! :D

[BookshelfAmy]

I don't teach abroad (applying this year), but I've lurked around these forums for quite a while. Since no one else is responding, I'll give it a shot.

SPED, Chemistry, and Physics are all solid high-need fields. With three years of experience, you shouldn't have trouble finding something. Mr. Bookshelf has 4 years of experience teaching Bio & Chem, and we've been fairly pleased with the attention we've gotten so far. Quick question, though: You say you've taught a lot of different things. How many of those three years of experience are actually relevant to the jobs you'll be trying to get?

Single with no dependents is good. Many schools prefer couples, but I've also seen some that want singles, especially boarding schools. Either way, you'd be in the top two groups.

We also work at a Title 1 district with lots of focus on SPED. People seem to appreciate our experiences here. Seems like there's a movement toward offering more services in some international schools.

We also both studied abroad in university. It's worth mentioning in your application or interview, as it seems to ease recruiters' fears about your ability to adjust.

I'll refrain from telling you how to conduct your job search or where you're likely to end up. Hopefully someone more knowledgeable will reply soon.

[shadowjack]

OK, so at the moment you are NOT certified in physics, chemistry or biology. You don't say you have actually taught any of them except physics, for which you are not certified.

Your problem is going to be that some top schools in some countries (but not all) will not be able to bring you in to teach those subjects because you are not certified in them. Secondly, while I see you listing experience teaching biology and earth science, you have no experience teaching chemistry.

When you say experience teaching biology - was it a full time load or one class? Same with physics?

Here is my advice. Get your additional certifications. You won't even make it through the door of any of the top tier 1 or 2 schools, but you might be a fit for lower tier 2 or upper tier 3 schools.

Go there in 2014 and get two years experience teaching exclusively in a subject or two. Then recruit for the upper levels. It would also help if the school you went to first offered IB, because so many of the big schools want that.

Hope this helps!

[PsyGuy]

Some comments about your resume:

1) The vast majority of real ISs are nothing like a title 1 school. You will find that your experiences at such a school is not going to be reflected or very applicable in an IS. Schools and recruiters value "fit" very highly, they want to know that you identify with the needs and issues of their student population.

2) Unless you went to Harvard or Oxford (or other Ivy) where you graduated from doesnt mean anything.

3) Philosophy is worthless unless your looking to teach the IBs TOK, which to be competitive you would need IB experience and preferably have already taught it.

4) Your class repertoire is impressive, experienced science teachers with a degree are very marketable.

5) Do you want to teach science of SPED, they are very different markets in ISs.

6) SSD is valuable IF you plan on going for a HOD or Coordinator/Junior Admin position. Again, this is a different job search approach then as a teaching position.

7) Assisting in a sport as a faculty sponsor without any real coaching experience of qualifications isnt worth anything, mainly because everyone has XC's on their resume.

8) The philosophy club sounds interesting a lot of recruiters would ask you how that went, and what you did, because it sounds like you just sat around with a roomful of kids in silence while everyone was thinking....
You say "started", how did it progress/grow and end? Schools dont care what you start, they care what you finish and what happens along the way.

9) No one cares where you traveled, if it was worth anything every white american male would get credit for going to Japan after college.

10) if you could get married to another teacher and not have any kids that would boost your resume. Absent that being single is a lessor, though valuable factor.

Your PsyGuy Applicant score (see below) would be: 3.5

Experience = 1.5
Advance Degree = 1
Leadership Experience = .25
Logistical Hire = .5
Special Pop = .25

Thats pretty marketable for entry level. Mya dvice would eb to add a secondary math qualification (since you have the experience), and youd be a very attractive candidate for a 2nd tier school, and compettiive for a 1st tier school somewhere not on the "wish" list.


PsyGuy Applicant Scoring System:
1) 1 pt / 2 years Experience (Max 10 Years)
2) 1 pt - Advance Degree (Masters)
3) 1 pt - Cross Certified (Must be schedule-able)
4) 1 pt - Curriculum Experience (IB, AP, IGCSE)
5) 1pt - Logistical Hire (Single +.5 pt, Couple +1 pt)
6) .5 pt - Previous International School Experience (standard 2 year contract)
7) .5 pt - Leadership Experience/Role (+.25 HOD, +.5 Coordinator)
8) .5 pt - Extra Curricular (Must be schedule-able)
9) .25 pt - Special Populations (Must be qualified)
10) .25 pt - Special Skill Set (Must be documentable AND marketable)

[NYCteacher]

First of all, thank you BookshelfAmy, shawdowjack, and psyguy for your responses. I really appreciate it!

Now for answering your questions:

In terms of my teaching load, it is a bit strange because of my special ed certification. My NY sped certification does not narrow down the content areas I'm allowed to teach, so essentially, I am allowed to teach pretty much any subject. I request sciences because that is what I enjoy the most. Currently, I teach a block schedule (4 periods per day + advisory) where I have 1 class of physics, 1 class of Humanities, and the other bock I rotate between SETSS in pre-calc (the 4th block is a prep).

Last year, I taught 2 biology classes, 1 earth science class, 1 English class, and a field science course. Most of these classes have been co-taught with a general ed teacher (the ICT environment for Sped is popular in NYC secondary schools).

The reason I am not already certified in science is because I graduated with a BA rather than a BS. Between high school and college I have taken upper level science courses in most topics, but not enough to get certified (I did not decide to be a teacher until after I graduated college). My Master's is in special education, so (for a reason incomprehensible to me) you do not focus on any particular content area. I will have to take courses and tests outside of my Master's to get certified in science. I am considering Chemistry because it is my favorite science, and Biology because I have taught it before. (I like Earth Science as well, but I feel like it's probably not as marketable.) I suppose I could also get certified to teach math to be more competitive, though I would highly prefer to teach science.

I think where I went to college does matter considering it is currently ranked #4 in the US News and World Report (http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandrevie ... iversities). Not that I personally care about that crap, but I imagine private schools that tout their "elite" status would. UChicago is currently ranked higher than Stanford, UPenn, MIT, Caltech, Dartmouth, Brown, and Cornell. Maybe you need to update your knowledge of the top universities in the US PsyGuy ;)

Thanks again for the help and suggestions!

[shadowjack]

NYC, Chem and Bio, with experience, would make you a golden candidate. Get certified and then get out there!

[shadowjack]

Math would definitely be the icing on the (already yummy!) cake :-)

[vettievette]

As a counselor who moved from NYC (Brooklyn) 2 years ago - DO IT! Getting yourself certified in the other subject areas will make you all the more desirable - particularly Maths and Science. If you apply for Learning Support (SPED) - I work closely with Learning Support in my position and I can tell you right now - it is really starting to open up at international schools across the board. But don't expect it to be anything like the issues in the States or NY (god those IEPs in NYC Public were HORRIBLE). Depending on where you end up - there are cities with resources and there's places that don't have outside resources so we make our own.

[PsyGuy]

It doesnt matter what US world reports ranks or thinks. Nor does it matter what either of us thinks. Parents want their kids to go to certain schools, and those are schools with high status worth, prestige schools and Ivys. If your not an alum from one of those schools then admins dont care where you went to school, because they cant market it to the parents.

You dont need to have a specific teaching certification for a school to get you a visa. You just need to have a professional teaching credential. MAny countries dont have subject specific teaching licenses (some counties dont even have teaching licenses). There really isnt a "science" teacher visa, or a "literature" teacher visa.

You can get your additional certifications, but being honest with your teaching experience you co taught those classes as a SPED inclusion teacher. You werent the general ed teacher for those subjects. Your really just a SPED/SEN/LS teacher, thats were your experience is and thats what a school and recruiter are going to be interested. Having a certification makes you legal, but without experience your no different then an entry level teacher. Those certifications would compliment a truly talented SPED teacher, which would make you more marketable in that context.

You need to focus on your strengths and my advice is to search for a SPED position, which typically restricts your job search to tier 1 schools anyway.

[wrldtrvlr123]

[quote="PsyGuy"]It doesnt matter what US world reports ranks or thinks. Nor does it matter what either of us thinks. Parents want their kids to go to certain schools, and those are schools with high status worth, prestige schools and Ivys. If your not an alum from one of those schools then admins dont care where you went to school, because they cant market it to the parents.

You dont need to have a specific teaching certification for a school to get you a visa. You just need to have a professional teaching credential. MAny countries dont have subject specific teaching licenses (some counties dont even have teaching licenses). There really isnt a "science" teacher visa, or a "literature" teacher visa.

You can get your additional certifications, but being honest with your teaching experience you co taught those classes as a SPED inclusion teacher. You werent the general ed teacher for those subjects. Your really just a SPED/SEN/LS teacher, thats were your experience is and thats what a school and recruiter are going to be interested. Having a certification makes you legal, but without experience your no different then an entry level teacher. Those certifications would compliment a truly talented SPED teacher, which would make you more marketable in that context.

You need to focus on your strengths and my advice is to search for a SPED position, which typically restricts your job search to tier 1 schools anyway.[/quote]
------------------------------------------
Really? I don't think that turns out to be the case. I've received many an unsolicited cold call from schools looking for learning support and I would have been thrilled if they were tier one schools. Actually, many of them of have been in the ME and not from the larger/better schools.

I would stick my neck out a bit and say that a majority (if not a large majority) of international schools will have some type of learning support position (even if it's only one per division). Happy to be proven wrong if that's not other people's experience but I don't think that's much of an over-reach.

[NYCteacher]

Thanks again for all of the input everyone. I really do appreciate it.

I feel like sped is just a very peculiar certification in a lot of ways because it is so different everywhere (even from school to school let alone country to country). I guess it would be interesting to hear what the sped environment is like in different countries, different tiers, etc.

What exactly does Learning Support look like? I have not heard too much about it. Is it like a SETSS (push in/pull out) program in the US? What skills are valued in these positions?

Even more broadly, what are the general responsibilities of Sped/Learning Support teachers in different areas abroad? The paperwork and the run around here is often times incredibly asinine, to the point of hindering more than helping students, I think.

Thanks again!

[PsyGuy]

@wrldtrvlr123

Maybe since weve discussed the differences between SPED and Sp.Ed lite we need to define Learning Support? In that regard, ELL could be described as learning Support?

You dont know if those schools actually have an LS program or they just want an LS teacher on site, because it looks good on paper (and the website). Ive had schools contact me in the past as well. When i start to ask what they are looking for and what they have idetified as far as their needs and student population, they dont have any answers.
My experience in the "race" for LS and SEN programs a number of these schools just want to market that they has LS without actually investing in a real program.

@NYCteacher

There isnt an IS anywhere (DoDDS schools being the exception, but they arent really ISs) currently that provides SPED services in compliance with US/UK/AUS/CAN law. Among them SAS (Singapore American School) probabley gets as close as they come and even they make a point to inform their parents that they dont provide SPED services in compliance with US law.
The issue is simply this, money. ISs are private/independent schools, meaning that they have to generate the revenue themselves to provide the programs that they do. In absence of government funding, SPED programs are EXTREMELY expensive on a per student basis. You have a very small group of SPED students, and you have to provide them a lot of services. Thats not a sustainable business model. So to run a SPED program a school has to pay for it, and with the exception of some small embassy grants its the parents that have to pay for a SPED program. To put it in perspective The average tuition at a tier 1 school is about $10K, for a SPEd program your looking at an average inception cost of $220K (this is the cost of creating a program without any students), with a distributive cost of $55K/n4 (this means the program doesnt roll out with less then 4 students), thats a lot of money.
Top tier schools though have a reputation and mandate to provide for the communities they serve. The question is "what price point can a school serve its students to the satisfaction of the parents, and generate revenue on those fees?" The solution is SPED lite.
As you increase the degree of disabiltiy you drastically begin to decrease the number of servicing students. The reality is that students with severe needs require more care then just SPED, they reuire a whole host of medical, psychological, social and human services, that are outside the scope of an international "expat" assignment. Simply, parents are not going to be comfortable taking an international assignment with a child requiring such a degree of care. What you see in the majority of a SPED lite programs are (primarily) mild needs students and (secondary) high functioning moderate needs (including LD/ED) students. By restricting services to this class of the student population the school can serve community and still generate revenue, simply because the resources needed to manage this classification of students is much less expensive.

Schools accomplish this by 1) There nature as private/independent schools allows them to be selective of their admissions. They can simply say "were sorry we cant admit your child, as we are unable to provide the services their educational program will require". 2) They are largely self regulated. Typcially these programs have minimal governmental regulation and oversight (such as privacy issues). They get to create the program, can change it very quickly, and typically have a monopoly on this segment of the student population.

So whats a typical SPED lite program, this is my experience (and it differs from other contributors on this site. Its usually a large tier 1 school, with an american curriculum (which may also be an IB program). The SPEd department will consist of a LS (learning Support) or SEN (Special Educational Needs) coordinator, who will be part of the junior admin team. The coordinator will work closely with the school counselor, and serve as the point of contact for outside third . professionals (doctors, psychologists, social workers). The faculty will consist (depending on the size) of full time resource teachers who provide "pull out" service. they usually work in a resource classroom, and may work one on one of in small groups of students. Typically you will have 1 full time teacher for primary and another for secondary, though of course there could be more. In addition you will have a number of part time teachers (though could be full time) of teacher aids/assistants who will provide "inclusion services" (part time is what really saves the school money (part time means no foreign recruited package, and local hires are much cheaper. jane student might only need services for literature and social studies class. no reason to have an inclusion teacher in the classroom for art, PE, etc if its not needed).
Where you will see the major differences is in documentation, procedures and classroom issues. Basically, no ARD committees, or endless amounts of paperwork. Before a SPED student is admitted the administration will send the application and supporting outside reports to the SEN coordinator, who will conduct a screening interview with the parents/student. Depending on the services the school provides, if the student can be accommodated by the schools service plan then they will privide an IEP or Action Plan to the parents (through senior administration) describing what services and limits the school will provide and what the fees will be (sometimes parents just leave). If the parents accepts then the student enters the standard placement path, with modification for the students IEP (for instance some students are served for some classes by being placed in a higher/lower grade classroom, though the IEp may indicate no more then one grade lower).
At this point the students SEN teacher will likely have a conference with the parent either prior too or shortly after the student is placed. On the first day the SEN teacher will meet with the student and introduce them to their inclusion teacher(s) and go over the students schedule, etc. the students general ed teachers will be notified, and any special instructions given. Heres where one of the big differences is, typically the general ed teacher has a much more limited purpose in the classroom with the student. The support (inclusion) teacher or resource teacher does the heavy lifting. Usually the student has outside instruction/tutoring time. You may be asked to give the resource teacher a copy of an exam to be administered, etc. The interruption in the classroom is very minimal.
The second main difference is paperwork and documentation requirements. The general ed teacher will typically not be required to do any more paperwork then what they already do for there non SPED students. The SEN teacher will typically do a weekly report, but its a brief report, a few observation, and an update on the students progress. Thats really it.
Usually every couple months the SEN coordinator will review the progress of the student and schedule a conference with the parents, which may often be a telephone conference. They will discuss the students progress and possible modifications to the students IEP. Thats about it. There are no ARD committees and rules and regulatory procedures. The SEN faculty may have a monthly meeting, though once a term or 8 weeks is more common.
Generally speaking chronically, the hot diagnosis are Dyslexia (which include a lot of other mild learning disabilities) and ADHD (which include a lot of other emotional disabilities). Acutely, the SEN department will see acute depression (life events) and muscle skeletal injuries (broken bones, etc).

[vettievette]

PsyGuy nailed the description of Student Support services you will see at many international schools. At my current school it is push in/pull out. LS and counselor work quite closely together and form the Student Support Team w/ the admin. We meet 2x a month for Elementary and 2x a month for the secondary. This also of course depends on the amount of referrals we get.

Paperwork is very easy. The importance is documentation - which is vital for students in the IB programmes and require accommodations when writing their IB exams. You do not have to go thru all the crazy 12 page IEP stuff that I know NYC requires. Nor do you need functional behavioral assessments and other bureaucratic stuff that get in the way (in my opinion). Our IEP is only about 3-4 pages MAX. We all keep session notes and document all meetings. If needed, we document observations in the class or out in the playground.

The most challenging part of learning support/SPED overseas is location. Often times we have to wait for testing to be completed in a students' home country because there's no way to get it done here. I know that in NYC there was an in-house school psych or a district person that can do the testing. Some schools will have a school psych - but sometimes the students need to be tested in their mother tongue. The variations and quality of tests are wide which can be frustrating because then it's really out of our hands.

[NYCteacher]

Thanks again for the insights. It really is helpful.

This information is actually making me rethink applying to the IS circuit though. While I came into (special) education not really knowing what to expect, I've discovered that what I find the most satisfying about the job is the social justice component, meaning that I get to help provide equal education opportunities for populations that are historically under serviced. I honestly don't know if I could tolerate working in an environment of privilege. They can always find someone else to pay to educate their kids right?

I understand that private schools have a business to run; and it just kind of reinforces why I think schooling should be public (not that the US system is working out so swell right now, but functional education systems are possible). Education was meant to improve society as a whole, not just benefit private citizens. I thing being taught among heterogeneous peers (in all senses of the word) is vital to becoming a productive and empathetic citizen. In college, it always amazed me how, as a white person growing up in the rural South, I had more genuine race and class interactions than white people in diverse cities like New York. (Why? I had a public education and they went to privileged private schools.)

Anyway, I'm just going on a rant now. I really do appreciate the information everyone. I guess I need to find another ticket to getting a visa overseas.