If I end up teaching at an IS, do most schools offer Professional Development? I don't want to lose my US teaching certificate because every 5 year cycle you have to earn a certain amount of hours in specific areas, for instance 30 hours of literacy. Do US schools usually accept IS professional development to renew US certificate?
I wouldn't want to lose my US certificate, not only cause I might return to the US, but I would need my certificate up to date to teach at ISs as well...
Staying Certified abroad?
Re: Staying Certified abroad?
A decent school will offer Pro-D. However, the answer to your second question will vary depending on the state in which you were licensed. I would check with the State Board of Ed.
Re: Staying Certified abroad?
If your district accepts university courses then it would be to your advantage to use PBS Teacherline. I know a number of my colleagues who use it. You take the courses through the program and sign up with affiliated universities (for an additional fee, of course!) to earn the credit. You will receive credit through these universities which you can then apply to renew your certificate. Some school districts can be very particular when it comes to PD from overseas since they don't understand international education, but this program is helpful since you get credit from an accredited university which they will accept, generally without hesitation. It's not the cheapest of options, but it pretty much guarantees you credit if your district accepts university level Ed classes for recertification. Lots of courses to choose from as well.
http://www.pbs.org/teacherline/
And if you're really, really feeling like a challenge, and you're certified in the US, you can always go for National Board Certification! This is PD on steroids and if you obtain it you would differentiate yourself from 97% of the national teaching population. School districts will accept this as PD without any problem and many school districts allow you to use your National Boards as renewal after you receive it. Plus, you meet every single state requirement, so if you plan to return to the States but aren't sure what state, you're automatically certified anyway--no more stupid extra courses or exams! Not the cheapest of options and can be very stressful, but the program also forces you to question and reflect why and how you teach. Not cheap, but worth it IMO.
http://www.nbpts.org/
Check out #5 on the link below regarding overseas teaching and NBPTS
http://boardcertifiedteachers.org/first ... dates/faqs
http://www.pbs.org/teacherline/
And if you're really, really feeling like a challenge, and you're certified in the US, you can always go for National Board Certification! This is PD on steroids and if you obtain it you would differentiate yourself from 97% of the national teaching population. School districts will accept this as PD without any problem and many school districts allow you to use your National Boards as renewal after you receive it. Plus, you meet every single state requirement, so if you plan to return to the States but aren't sure what state, you're automatically certified anyway--no more stupid extra courses or exams! Not the cheapest of options and can be very stressful, but the program also forces you to question and reflect why and how you teach. Not cheap, but worth it IMO.
http://www.nbpts.org/
Check out #5 on the link below regarding overseas teaching and NBPTS
http://boardcertifiedteachers.org/first ... dates/faqs
Re: Staying Certified abroad?
Most states do not accept PD from international schools. Lots of red tape reasons. But a small number do, at least 1 in my experience, if you can convince your school to provide "official" certificates with the topic and hours.
If that's not your state, graduate courses are the way to go. Lots of options through major conferences (ECIS, ASCD) or online or face to face.
If that's not your state, graduate courses are the way to go. Lots of options through major conferences (ECIS, ASCD) or online or face to face.
Re: Staying Certified abroad?
Thanks for the input
Re: Staying Certified abroad?
I think it varies state by state. I'm certified in Minnesota, I've been overseas since 2006 so I've had my license renewed twice overseas. No problem at all having my overseas PD accepted. They require a statement on school letterhead, so either the school or I have kept track of my PD hours, the school issues a statement on their letterhead signed by the school head, and I submit that. Easy peasy.
PD varies wildly by school and by country. In China we had weekly "PD" for 2 hours and a LOT of that qualified as true PD. When I was in Saudi, there was almost nothing in the school and getting to PD in other countries was challenging, expensive, and not always supported by the school. It was definitely a question we asked when looking for jobs--if a school was very positive, we asked very specific questions about the time given, the money given, if that money allotted actually covered getting to PD, what specific PD was offered in the past 2 years at the school, etc.
I don't mind spending some of my own money to get good PD, but I do expect the school to have a good PD fund, to support teachers who go, and to have a commitment to having good PD on site.
PD varies wildly by school and by country. In China we had weekly "PD" for 2 hours and a LOT of that qualified as true PD. When I was in Saudi, there was almost nothing in the school and getting to PD in other countries was challenging, expensive, and not always supported by the school. It was definitely a question we asked when looking for jobs--if a school was very positive, we asked very specific questions about the time given, the money given, if that money allotted actually covered getting to PD, what specific PD was offered in the past 2 years at the school, etc.
I don't mind spending some of my own money to get good PD, but I do expect the school to have a good PD fund, to support teachers who go, and to have a commitment to having good PD on site.
Re: Staying Certified abroad?
I'm certified in multiple states, and had to recertify recently. You'll need to know your state's requirements. For one of my states, providing copies of certificates from different workshops I'd attended was enough. For one of my other states, I needed a combo of those workshop hours plus some credit hours from an accredited university. In addition to the PBS option posted above, I've found two other ways to get credit hours. One is through TESOL online courses, from which you can get University of Wisconsin credits. The other is through TINT (The Innovative Northwest Teacher), which also has online courses in a variety of subjects/topics. For an extra fee, the TINT classes will net you Portland State University credit hours.
Response
Many ISs do offer some form of PD, there is usually a start of year orientation and training. The quality varies greatly from external workshops such as IB, to internal power point presentations done by staff/leadership. The upper tier ISs often include a PD allowance (a few hundred to a $1000) that they let you use (with approval).
States vary on renewal requirements. Tertiary/Uni credit is almost universally accepted at the rate of 1 unit/credit=15 contact PD hours. IB/AP workshops are generally accepted as well. Everything else is usually not. Some ITs can get past their certificates but most PD codes for renewal require that PD hours be earned by a registered and approved provider. Its possible to explore your states DOE and find online programs that are eligible at little or no cost, but most of them will have nothing to do with IE.
You really want to transfer and park your certificate in either NJ or CA. NJ is the easier one and its a lifetime certificate that never requires renewing. CA has a 5 year CLEAR certificate that is harder to get (esoteric requirements) but there is no requirement for PD hours to renew.
The other option if you teach what your academic degree is in you can obtain QTS and never worry about PD or renewals.
Finally, its very likely you can buy some certificate stationary or print some up on a computer and have a friend, spouse etc. sign the certificates in whatever field/subject/area and with whatever contact hours you want and then submit those. At a certain point its just paper.
States vary on renewal requirements. Tertiary/Uni credit is almost universally accepted at the rate of 1 unit/credit=15 contact PD hours. IB/AP workshops are generally accepted as well. Everything else is usually not. Some ITs can get past their certificates but most PD codes for renewal require that PD hours be earned by a registered and approved provider. Its possible to explore your states DOE and find online programs that are eligible at little or no cost, but most of them will have nothing to do with IE.
You really want to transfer and park your certificate in either NJ or CA. NJ is the easier one and its a lifetime certificate that never requires renewing. CA has a 5 year CLEAR certificate that is harder to get (esoteric requirements) but there is no requirement for PD hours to renew.
The other option if you teach what your academic degree is in you can obtain QTS and never worry about PD or renewals.
Finally, its very likely you can buy some certificate stationary or print some up on a computer and have a friend, spouse etc. sign the certificates in whatever field/subject/area and with whatever contact hours you want and then submit those. At a certain point its just paper.
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Re: Staying Certified abroad?
This is an invaluable thread, chock full of extremely helpful insight, thank you.