Apologies for probably beating this issue to death. I've searched and read quite a bit but I'm drowning in a sea of information.
1) BA in non-Ed related field, MA TESOL with ESOL endorsement
2) 2 years experience in cram schools, 4 in public/private schools
3) US citizen with no plans to return
What I've been able to glean so far is the following:
1) UT - initial is good for 3 years, but one-shot with no way to renew.
2) MA - provisional is effectively forever since I won't be in MA. Is this my best option?
3) CT - initial also sounds like a valid option, with up to 18 years availability. Would this also be possible?
Would appreciate advice on what the best path for me is, or maybe something else I have not considered yet. Many thanks!
Experienced overseas - what are my paths to a license?
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Re: Experienced overseas - what are my paths to a license?
If you're in Asia, Europe or North Africa/the Middle East The College of New Jersey's Off-Site Graduate Program could be good. Among other things, you can take postgraduate courses culminating in New Jersey teacher certification. NJ uses Praxis for it's certification exams, which you can take without going to the US as they have exam centers everywhere.
https://offsitegrad.tcnj.edu/
https://offsitegrad.tcnj.edu/
Re: Experienced overseas - what are my paths to a license?
Many thanks for the reply - I am in Asia, but unfortunately not in any of the cities they have listed. I have considered programs like TeachNow or TeacherReady, but like this program they're prohibitively expensive given my salary.
Response
The 3 year UT credential can be renewed as often as needed, but requires PD.
The MA Provisional is effectively forever, assuming you dont/never teach in MA.
The CT initial option is a possibility, though not a very strong one (I would say it isnt), they generally dont accept ESOL or cram ESs as viable experience, though your MA in TESOL may meet the academic preparation requirements.
TCNJ is an option but its horribly expensive its 3 times the cost of Teach Now and Teach Ready.
These are different pathways though, the UT, MA and CT routes are assessment pathways, Teach Now And Teach Ready are skills pathways and TCNJ is an academic pathway (in which case its not very different in cost from other academic pathways). There are other options such as the AO route in the UK.
Whats best for you depends what you want to do and what your future goals are.
UT: You cant get an ESOL credential from UT using the APT pathway, the best you could do is 'English' meaning literature. You could renew if every three years, which would be a lot of Uni credits over the years and it wont get you QTS. You also cant add too it, as your restricted to one and only one credential/endorsement. The advantages are that its renewable and you only need to complete a single PRAXIS assessment (which is available globally). You could eventually transition and standardize this to a state such as HI after 3 years of teaching so you might not need to renew it.
MA: Probably the better option if you want to be done with it or you want to certify in ESOL or potentially add additional endorsements at a later time. You would have to take two exams and they arent generally available outside the US. However once your done with it you are pretty much done with it as its effectively a lifetime credential.
CT: You probably dont have the experience thats acceptable for this option. If you were you could standardize this in MS and then use that for QTS. This avenue has a lot more risk to it, and the initial credential from CT is renewable but only for 18 years (which may be long enough) you would never be able to transition to a higher credential without returning to CT.
TCNJ: Well they will got you credentialed at a cost of about USD$20K, its an academic pathway and honestly there are cheaper routes,that are academic routes as well. You can get a Masters from Portsmouth in the UK for USD$6K and get a credential from Teach Now or Teach Ready for about USD$6K and still a lot less than TCNJ. That said there are more expensive academic programs. I just cant get behind their cost.
The MA Provisional is effectively forever, assuming you dont/never teach in MA.
The CT initial option is a possibility, though not a very strong one (I would say it isnt), they generally dont accept ESOL or cram ESs as viable experience, though your MA in TESOL may meet the academic preparation requirements.
TCNJ is an option but its horribly expensive its 3 times the cost of Teach Now and Teach Ready.
These are different pathways though, the UT, MA and CT routes are assessment pathways, Teach Now And Teach Ready are skills pathways and TCNJ is an academic pathway (in which case its not very different in cost from other academic pathways). There are other options such as the AO route in the UK.
Whats best for you depends what you want to do and what your future goals are.
UT: You cant get an ESOL credential from UT using the APT pathway, the best you could do is 'English' meaning literature. You could renew if every three years, which would be a lot of Uni credits over the years and it wont get you QTS. You also cant add too it, as your restricted to one and only one credential/endorsement. The advantages are that its renewable and you only need to complete a single PRAXIS assessment (which is available globally). You could eventually transition and standardize this to a state such as HI after 3 years of teaching so you might not need to renew it.
MA: Probably the better option if you want to be done with it or you want to certify in ESOL or potentially add additional endorsements at a later time. You would have to take two exams and they arent generally available outside the US. However once your done with it you are pretty much done with it as its effectively a lifetime credential.
CT: You probably dont have the experience thats acceptable for this option. If you were you could standardize this in MS and then use that for QTS. This avenue has a lot more risk to it, and the initial credential from CT is renewable but only for 18 years (which may be long enough) you would never be able to transition to a higher credential without returning to CT.
TCNJ: Well they will got you credentialed at a cost of about USD$20K, its an academic pathway and honestly there are cheaper routes,that are academic routes as well. You can get a Masters from Portsmouth in the UK for USD$6K and get a credential from Teach Now or Teach Ready for about USD$6K and still a lot less than TCNJ. That said there are more expensive academic programs. I just cant get behind their cost.
Re: Experienced overseas - what are my paths to a license?
Great information, Psyguy. Thank you very much for the response. I am going to pursue the MA License. I will report back if (when?) I ever get it.