Teacher Ready, degree attestation

[jayhawk]

Hi Everyone,

Since this is my first post, let me start by thanking you all. I've been lurking for awhile and learned a lot.

As the subject line suggests, my question has to do with this Teacher Ready program. I am considering it, but I just read in a different thread something about some countries not accepting online credentials, something they apparently learn about through the attestation process. My actual degrees (BA Poli Sci, MA Religious Studies) are from reputable universities and I was on campus for both. Will I be limited by the Teacher Ready certification course?

[escapeartist]

No, you should not be limited. Teacher Ready culminates in a Florida state teacher certification with the paper to go along with it. It is considered to be a legitimate way to earn certification.

Furthermore, your resume does not have to indicate that you took an alternative route to certification. You simply note that you are highly qualified and state certified in your area.

[jayhawk]

Good news. Thanks!

[MedellinHeel]

The credential you receive is not online. You get the same credential ie state of florida's professional teaching license that teachers who graduated with education degrees have.

[MedellinHeel]

They will see he went alternative route when his degree is not in education.

escapeartist wrote:
> No, you should not be limited. Teacher Ready culminates in a Florida state
> teacher certification with the paper to go along with it. It is considered
> to be a legitimate way to earn certification.
>
> Furthermore, your resume does not have to indicate that you took an
> alternative route to certification. You simply note that you are highly
> qualified and state certified in your area.

[escapeartist]

@MedellinHeel

I guess it depends on one's definition of "alternative route," which I think generally refers to a program not affiliated with a college or university (an Education Service Center, for example), with online or combined face to face/online coursework, and with a non-standard internship.

In fact, there are plenty of colleges and universities that offer post-baccalaureate, traditional coursework that leads to recommendation for certification (but not an additional degree) for students holding undergraduate degrees in a variety of fields.

[National]

"They will see he went alternative route when his degree is not in education. "

This is not necessarily true. In the US, each state has its own, and oftentimes very different, certification process. The state I was initially certified in has secondary teachers do their coursework in their subject areas and education. You must have done the education coursework to get the institutional recommendation for certification, but the actual bachelors degree is in your subject area. So if someone were to look at my degree it would say History and Biology, not Education. But I am certified and I went through the traditional four-year degree process with secondary education courses in undergrad to get my certification. Additionally, I've never had a school question my certification or ask if I went through an alternative route to get it. Now if a school asked to see transcripts, they would see that I did secondary education as part of my bachelor's, but most schools don't ask to see transcripts. This would be the only way they could tell for sure that a teacher was certified in a separate, alternative method.

[MedellinHeel]

Most people are not even gonna have majored in their subject matter (those going the ALT route). None the less its roughly the same thing in regards to you, ie you have a degree in your field. Just the titles and names are different. Schools are gonna look more favorably on people with Education degrees and/or degrees in their subject area as opposed to people without. Both of which will be seen on your resume. For those that majored in their subject area and went the ALT route than I guess you are right and more power to them as it will be a plus as they can hide their ALT route, but for me people will see ive went ALT right away when my degree is in business and my license is in math.

National wrote:
> "They will see he went alternative route when his degree is not in
> education. "
>
> This is not necessarily true. In the US, each state has its own, and

[National]

The OP has a degree in Political Science. If he gets his certification in social studies, he will have the same thing as me -- a bachelors in his subject area with state certification.

Someone would have to be familiar with how a specific state does certification to know if the OP went through an alternative route or if that state just certifies in a different way. Now, it seems like many people are doing the TeacherReady program through FL, so international schools might come to realize that a FL certification could very well mean an alternative route, but I doubt many do know this at this point in time.

[Trojan]

My state is as National suggests. It is not an alternative route, it is the route to getting a secondary ed certificate: you major in your area of concentration on your license.

[josephine]

Jayhawk can you post my question about the degree attestation since people are responding to your question :)

So what countries absolutely require a bachelor's in ed which means alternative certification people are not eligible? UAE, KSA???

[jayhawk]

National, thanks for the additional information. I looked all over the country trying to find the best fit. The state I'm in has so many requirements that I'd have to return to school for several years just to qualify. They don't care that I audited history courses, travelled the world (and read up on the places I visited), and am otherwise well-read. Florida appears willing to recognize that experience if I can hold my own on the relevant Praxis exams. I haven't taken a course on say, South Asian History, but I've actually taught it in a private, accredited institution. It seemed silly that I would have to return to school to sit with a bunch of freshmen in their first semester....

Josephine, I'm also curious about this. It hadn't occurred to me before I read your post. Does an alt cert automatically disqualify an otherwise great candidate in some countries? Probably deserves a separate thread!

[MedellinHeel]

I havent heard of any country requiring a degree in education.

for my sake I hope there isnt any