Hi all, I am new to the forum. Seems like there is a lot of good information on here, but I couldn't find out exactly what I wanted to know regarding my own situation when using the search function. I am hoping somebody with similar experience can pass on their knowledge.
I am British and I started teaching ESL many years ago before getting more serious about teaching and aiming to be a primary school teacher. I finished my PGCEi with Nottingham University around 2 years ago and for the last year and a half I have been working in a (probably what you'd call tier 3?) international school in China. The school is WASC accredited and belongs to several other 'letter' organisations that they like to plaster all over their promotional material :D
I want to eventually end up working in a top-tier international school in a better location, so to that end I have started thinking about the best route for me to gain QTS. I cannot return to the UK currently, so that option is out. Also, the school I am at follows American common core, so I believe I also cannot do the assessment only route to QTS as that requires teaching a British curriculum. I know I can get QTS eventually if I can somehow obtain a US teaching license, so that is what I am looking at now.
I have looked at starting the Teach Now program, which I believe allows a foreigner like me to gain a license in DC without ever setting foot in the US. One good thing about this option is that another teacher at my school completed this course while teaching here, so I know that this school qualifies as an IS in the eyes of Teach Now. A potential issue I read about though is that Teach Now will only accept applications to teach what your BA degree is in. Since my BA is in political science, I fear they may not allow me to study for the elementary license. Is that definitely the case?
However... I did read on here before that I could possibly use my PGCEi to get a DC teaching license. Is that also possible for a foreigner like me? is there a definitive list of things I would need to do that? I cannot find anything about this using Google, and I have e-mailed OSSE a couple of times in the past week, but there has been no response.
I would really appreciate any help or guidance that other educators can offer. Thanks!
PGCEi/ Teach Now Questions
Response
1) No, an IS must teach the UK NC and have been inspected to be eligible for the AO route.
2) Yes you can obtain full QTS (no induction required as an OTT, with a US professional credential.
3) Yes, a foreigner can enroll in Teach Now and obtain a DC credential, you do not need to be a US citizen/PR.
4) No, any first/bachelors degree is acceptable for pursuing primary/elementary certification with Teach Now.
5) No, well very, very probably no. You could potentially meet the requirements of option 1 assuming your PGCEi as considered an EPP/ITT program even if it didnt lead to QTS, but likely it would be denied.
Its more probable you would be eligible for a initial (entry class) credential from Connecticut (CT) using the experiential (2 years experience) pathway. It would cost you about USD$400 for the NCES evaluation of your foreign transcripts, PRAXIS asst and application fees to find out, which would be less than 1/10 of the Teach Now program. You could then use the initial CT credential to obtain QTS, which may be granted or denied. CT has both an EPP/ITT pathway and an experiential pathway to the initial credential.
The other option is that you dont have to do any of this now, there really arent any deadlines or missed opportunities by waiting. As such you could very easily find yourself in a BS relatively soon and easily and thus be eligible for the AO route to QTS.
2) Yes you can obtain full QTS (no induction required as an OTT, with a US professional credential.
3) Yes, a foreigner can enroll in Teach Now and obtain a DC credential, you do not need to be a US citizen/PR.
4) No, any first/bachelors degree is acceptable for pursuing primary/elementary certification with Teach Now.
5) No, well very, very probably no. You could potentially meet the requirements of option 1 assuming your PGCEi as considered an EPP/ITT program even if it didnt lead to QTS, but likely it would be denied.
Its more probable you would be eligible for a initial (entry class) credential from Connecticut (CT) using the experiential (2 years experience) pathway. It would cost you about USD$400 for the NCES evaluation of your foreign transcripts, PRAXIS asst and application fees to find out, which would be less than 1/10 of the Teach Now program. You could then use the initial CT credential to obtain QTS, which may be granted or denied. CT has both an EPP/ITT pathway and an experiential pathway to the initial credential.
The other option is that you dont have to do any of this now, there really arent any deadlines or missed opportunities by waiting. As such you could very easily find yourself in a BS relatively soon and easily and thus be eligible for the AO route to QTS.
Re: Response
PsyGuy wrote:
> 1) No, an IS must teach the UK NC and have been inspected to be eligible
> for the AO route.
> 2) Yes you can obtain full QTS (no induction required as an OTT, with a US
> professional credential.
> 3) Yes, a foreigner can enroll in Teach Now and obtain a DC credential, you
> do not need to be a US citizen/PR.
> 4) No, any first/bachelors degree is acceptable for pursuing
> primary/elementary certification with Teach Now.
> 5) No, well very, very probably no. You could potentially meet the
> requirements of option 1 assuming your PGCEi as considered an EPP/ITT
> program even if it didnt lead to QTS, but likely it would be denied.
> Its more probable you would be eligible for a initial (entry class)
> credential from Connecticut (CT) using the experiential (2 years
> experience) pathway. It would cost you about USD$400 for the NCES
> evaluation of your foreign transcripts, PRAXIS asst and application fees to
> find out, which would be less than 1/10 of the Teach Now program. You
> could then use the initial CT credential to obtain QTS, which may be
> granted or denied. CT has both an EPP/ITT pathway and an experiential
> pathway to the initial credential.
>
> The other option is that you dont have to do any of this now, there really
> arent any deadlines or missed opportunities by waiting. As such you could
> very easily find yourself in a BS relatively soon and easily and thus be
> eligible for the AO route to QTS.
Thanks so much for the reply!
A lot to think about there. I will look into the CT credential.
Thanks again, you are super helpful :)
> 1) No, an IS must teach the UK NC and have been inspected to be eligible
> for the AO route.
> 2) Yes you can obtain full QTS (no induction required as an OTT, with a US
> professional credential.
> 3) Yes, a foreigner can enroll in Teach Now and obtain a DC credential, you
> do not need to be a US citizen/PR.
> 4) No, any first/bachelors degree is acceptable for pursuing
> primary/elementary certification with Teach Now.
> 5) No, well very, very probably no. You could potentially meet the
> requirements of option 1 assuming your PGCEi as considered an EPP/ITT
> program even if it didnt lead to QTS, but likely it would be denied.
> Its more probable you would be eligible for a initial (entry class)
> credential from Connecticut (CT) using the experiential (2 years
> experience) pathway. It would cost you about USD$400 for the NCES
> evaluation of your foreign transcripts, PRAXIS asst and application fees to
> find out, which would be less than 1/10 of the Teach Now program. You
> could then use the initial CT credential to obtain QTS, which may be
> granted or denied. CT has both an EPP/ITT pathway and an experiential
> pathway to the initial credential.
>
> The other option is that you dont have to do any of this now, there really
> arent any deadlines or missed opportunities by waiting. As such you could
> very easily find yourself in a BS relatively soon and easily and thus be
> eligible for the AO route to QTS.
Thanks so much for the reply!
A lot to think about there. I will look into the CT credential.
Thanks again, you are super helpful :)