I’m tired of going to school.
I don’t mean the elementary school where I work. I actually like that.
When I entered the classroom I was told that the state appreciated me having
an undergraduate degree already (B.A. in Psychology, 1983) and that it was
especially nice that I even already had an M.S. (Adult & Technical
Education, a non-certification degree designed to further my career at the
college level, 2003) . They thought that my 18-hour graduate diploma in
linguistics was interesting but told me that the Australian National University
wasn’t accredited in America, and that they couldn’t do anything with those
hours and it didn’t really matter whether the ANU had produced Nobel Laureates,
they weren’t accredited. So with 54 graduate hours already to my credit, I went
back to school. Night school. Summer school. The school of inconvenience….
I learned stuff. It was good for a time.
It was also two grand a class because I live out of state and West Virginia
won’t give me a break on tuition just for teaching their kids. In three years I
spent $30K to keep my license.
If you know what HQT stands for, you can probably guess part of where I’m
going. I’m not, technically a highly qualified teacher. With three degrees to my
credit, I had to send home a note with a third grader this year explaining to
the child’s parents that I’m not actually qualified to teach him math or reading
despite my eleven or so years of college.
One of the things that most ticked me off about going to school myself was
that there seems to be a plan in place to prevent teachers from going past the
masters degree level. I can take classes that count toward a certification (for
$2,000 a pop) or I can take classes that lead to an Ed.S. (for $2,000 a pop).
But not both.
There was a time in my life when I actually wanted to be Dr. Cruey. The
material in this
piece pretty much put me off that for good.
At some point I started asking why I had to keep going to school. I have 108
graduate hours and a GPA better than 3.8. Can’t I, like, take a test or go to a
workshop? Especially since I’m not pursuing any academic credentials?
I was pleased recently to discover that the answer is “yes.” I recently
discovered a state where, if you already have a license in something,
you can add other certifications based on a test alone. I’ve passed the test
there for a PreK-5 certification, for a middle school math certification, and
for some increased special education credentials. In March I go take the test
for reading certification.
I don’t understand why there isn’t a national program to access what an
educator knows and could be allowed to teach. If I’ve passed the Praxis test for
the Principles of Learning and Teaching, and I’ve worked in the classroom, and
I’ve had positive evaluations, and I can pass a test on middle school math, why
shouldn’t I be allowed to teach math without taking 21 graduate hours of math?
The cynics among us at the classroom level sometimes argue that it’s
because the colleges would go broke if such a system was in place.
In the face of a teacher shortage in specific essential areas, eventually
there will just have to be a better system for licensing teachers. And academic
credentials will have to be separated from professional ones.
Greg Cruey, Guest Blogger
They did not give you lifetime learning credit or anything? I feel your pain although I do not have as many credits are you. Each class is over 3K in my program and I can only afford it because I am working at the university fulltime. They give remitted tuition but then tax you on it…a lovely system. I do not understand why graduate classes are so pricey. Which state had the tests? Good luck!
Georgia
One day, the people making decisions will actually understand that taking college courses is not what makes you highly qualified as a teacher. I know many teachers that are highly qualified, but pass out worksheets consistently to their students. Caring about teaching the students and keeping them engaged is what makes you highly qualified. Great post… this gets me angry
Many of the most practical, useful things I’ve learned have come at seminars and workshops sponsored by my school district. College classes are entertaining, but they cease to be professional development at some point…
A smart teacher (or “HQ” or with grad degrees, etc) without passion will of course realize that they can work completely from pre-packaged curriculum and be impossible to punish or fire.
I have an undergrad degree and it’s frustrating to me that the jobs I would be interested in arbitrarily require a graduate degree — I can only imagine how frustrating it would be to not have an undergrad degree. In some technical areas, it seems like employers are starting to believe a little more in “comparable experience”. If I were an employer, should I hire someone who paid tens of thousands of their own money to get a certain degree, or an equally-qualified person who spent the same amount of time to learn the same things on the job and was paid to do so? Interesting to think about.
I live in Virginia and Work in West Virginia. WV has a statewide payscale that compensates teachers at different rates based on whether they have just a 4 year degree, a 4 year degree and an additional 15 semester hours of graduate work (BA+15), a masters, a masters +15, a masters +30, a masters +45, an Ed.S., or a doctorate. That’s eight different pay categories. There was talk of adding a master’s +60 a couple of years ago, but it went away.
Here’s a county version of the state scale. I’m not sure why the Ed.S. is left out…
http://boe.faye.k12.wv.us/departments/personnel/teacher_scale.htm
In the county in Virginia where I live, there is a flat payscale which gives teachers an additional stipend ($1800 a year, last I looked) for having a masters degree PROVIDED it is in reading and PROVIDED they teacher reading in grades K-3.
Very different philosophies.
My problem is not with the idea that teachers should be rewarded for continuing their education. I believe that. But that is a different question than requirements for certification to start with.