The International Schools Review Forum

Good morning, everyone! My husband and I are looking to get certified soon and are considering both the Teach Now and Teacher Ready online certification programs. We are currently working in an international school in Bangkok and hold master's degrees in Education with a focus on English Language Learners. We are American citizens, however, we would NOT like to have to return to America for any testing. We would appreciate any input on either or both of these programs, or, if you recommend a different program entirely, we would love to hear about that, too!

Thank you so much for your help!

Teach Ready requires you to complete Florida testing (FTCE) it is only offered at US testing sites, which would require you to return to the States for 3 tests. Teach Now works with DC (District of Columbia) and they use the Praxis series of exams which are offered in two locations in Bangkok, as such you would not have to return to the States.
The differences between the two programs are issues of nuance that are highly dependent on individual criteria (testing being the main criteria you cited). Teach Now uses a cohort so you have to follow everyone else and might be inconvenient at times. Teach Ready is a little cheaper. FL certification is high maintenance, and more difficult to add certification areas. DC is easier but shorter certification period. Teach Ready has a longer history and has more of a success rate. Teach Now is newer. The field experience differences arent going to be an issue for you regardless. Both result in professional certification that can be transferred to another state or used to apply for QTS. Ultimately you want to park your certificate in CA or NJ, due to the issues of PD renewal.

Another option you may consider is a PGCEi through the Uni. Nottingham, which can then be transferred to the States for certification and then back to the UK for QTS, there is also an option to do a QTS year in a British Overseas School. They have a program in Thailand, though it may not be the best program for you since the PGCE/PGCEi is an academic qualification essentially, and you have access to a classroom, which is usually the biggest issue for ITs not at an IS in an academic program.

Brilliant! Thanks!

Psyguy,

I have completed my license through TeacherReady this past January. I am currently teaching in Pakistan. How would I transfer my Florida certificate to a NJ or CA teaching certificate? What are the advantages of the NJ or CA renewal process?

@bendetwile2

You apply for reciprocity as an out of state applicant. CA is much harder to do, among the requirements you need 150 hrs of PD, a Masters, or a 150 credit hour bachelors degree. You also need an ESOL certification or a CA English Learner Authorization (this is in addition too 2 years experience, bachelors degree, and basic skills assessment). If you dont have all that you cant get a CA CLEAR credential and means you have to do induction,. which is basically repeating the teacher certification program you already did, and its just not worth doing induction unless you have no other option. CA is cheaper when you have multiple certifications 9Single subject certification areas)
CA however drives WASC accreditation and their the biggest player in American education in Asia, they are also well respected throughout IE.

NJ requires only one year of experience, and easier requirements. If you have a certificate and did field experience (practicum/internship/student teaching) as well as the GPA and testing requirements (NJ has a personal hygiene requirement). NJ will give you a standard certificate, (NJ is more expensive with multiple certification endorsements, you must pay the fee for each endorsement). NJ doesnt have the prestige and curriculum status of CA.

The benefit of CA and NJ as parking/transferring states for an IT is the issue of renewal and professional development (PD) requirements. States generally issue a 5 year professional certification and require around 100 hours of PD to renew the certificate. While the regulatory agencies will generally accept academic (university) course work to meet these requirements its expensive and time consuming. DSs in the state generally meet renewal requirements though PD offered through their DS district or DS independent/private school, as states only accept PD earned from specific providers. These opportunities are generally not available to ITs, leaving them with having to do academic coursework.

CA has no PD requirement, the 5 year CLEAR credential just requires an application fee to renewal.
NJ issues a permanent (lifetime) certificate that doesnt require renewal (and thus no PD requirement).

NJ only issues certifications for US citizens or green card holders. Just to let you know.

@SJ

The same is true in FL, so if the LW met the citizenship requirements for a FL license, they would meet the citizenship requirements for NJ. This is one of those nuances between Teach Now and Teach Ready, Teach Now works through DC which doesnt have a citizenship requirement for certification.

I just returned back to the states to complete my final assignment of TeacherReady.

So, for renewals and such I should try to get a NJ license using my Fla license so it would be permanent?

@Bendent,

What kind of search did you do when looking for jobs? Why did you go to Pakistan? Did you have any other options?

@MedellinHeel

ITs need to find a friendly renewal state option to park their certification, if they want simplicity, convenience and low cost. CA is the preferred option but they have esoteric requirements (the English learner authorization/certification, and the advance degree, etc.. requirement), in absence of those NJ is much easier to meet their requirements, and their certificate is permanent, it doesnt even require applying for renewal.

@MedellinHeel

I'm at a different school than bendetwile2, so our experiences will differ, but Pakistan has a lot of things going for it. Plus, the package cannot be beat.

marieh wrote:
> @MedellinHeel
>
> I'm at a different school than bendetwile2, so our experiences will differ,
> but Pakistan has a lot of things going for it. Plus, the package cannot be
> beat.

I would think Pakistan to be on the dangerous side.

@psyguy

Thank you so much for recommending the NJ route. I will complete my first year here and then submit the documents necessary for getting a standard license in NJ which is good for life and has no PD requirements.

@medellinHeel

I obtained this job by signing up for Search and sending out my CV to a load of schools all over the world knowing I could not be too picky with location for my first international post. Marieh is completely right when talking about Pakistan. The package here is crazy good! Safety is not a concern where I am posted.....that cannot be said everywhere in Pakistan. My advice would just be learn as much as you can from researching this forum and going to a job fair and doing loads of Skype interviews to practice your interview skills. Good luck! TeacherReady was a huge success for me.

Ben

bendetwile2 wrote:

> @medellinHeel
>
> I obtained this job by signing up for Search and sending out my CV to a
> load of schools all over the world knowing I could not be too picky with
> location for my first international post. Marieh is completely right when
> talking about Pakistan. The package here is crazy good! Safety is not a
> concern where I am posted.....that cannot be said everywhere in Pakistan.
> My advice would just be learn as much as you can from researching this
> forum and going to a job fair and doing loads of Skype interviews to
> practice your interview skills. Good luck! TeacherReady was a huge
> success for me.
>
> Ben

I assume your CV was pretty bare correct? How big of a problem was that? How many offers did you get?

I am not looking forward to having a CV with no experience and a ATC program. lol

@MedellinHeel

No experience no formal professional educator training. Thats a lot of white space, you will likely find a lot of frustration and disappointment.

ISs are not really structured to mentor an intern class IT.

@psyguy

Can you please tell me what options does a non-US citizen have regarding US teacher certification?
I already have an Irish teacher certification so don't need to go the Teach Now/Teacher Ready route.