Alternate Route Teaching - PA or NJ

[amylevan]

I have a BS and MS in civil engineering, but after 10 years in the biz, I'm looking for a change. I have about 7 years experience coaching hs & rec cheerleading and I've worked at a summer camp every summer since high school so I know that working with teenagers is where my heart rely lies. So, I'm seriously considering a change to secondary education - mathematics.

Since I already have a BS & MS, I'm not really interested in another degree. We live in PA, but near the PA/NJ border, so I could concievably work in either state. PA has 2 alternate routes to certification - 1 requiring more college credits (I can do it all online through Drexel) but it still requires completing student teaching which would not only be 12 weeks of no income, but 12 weeks of no income + daycare. Not to mention paying for 30 credits.

PA's other route is through ABCTE. In a nutshell - I take 2 tests, one in teaching skills, one in math. If I pass, I can get a Temporary Teaching Certificate in PA. Once I have a job, I have to enroll in Point Park University and do 6 credits plus mentoring through them. You have to get a job through this route, and I'm concerned that I'll pay the $1700 to take the two tests and never be able to find a job. Does anyone know any one who has gone this route in PA? Were they successful?

NJ's route is a little easier. I take the math Praxis and apply for a CE. Then get a job and complete a year of mentoring. Again, does anyone know anyone who has done this in NJ?

I know teaching is not a great climate right now. But I do have an engineering job, and I could keep it while I pursue certification and a job in teaching. I realize my earning potential will be significantly lower in teaching, but my DH has a great job so I'm not particularly concerned.

Does anyone have anything to add? Anything I may not have thought of? Advice, experience?

 

[java]

I have a 2 friends that did the 2 year degree add on(I really don't know what else to call it) to get certification. One did it about 7 years ago and she has a job.
The other just finished last year and has yet to find a job. Our district is letting go of a teacher. And with the union fight here in NJ I think it's going to get ugly.

Good luck with your new path.

 

[tinker&belle]

Do you know which Praxis test you would have to take? I had to take 3 to get into my teacher education program and two to get my license (in Indiana with an El Ed degree.)

 

[bigmama67]

I started out going alternate route in '09, got my C.E. after passing the Praxis, and was halfway through my 15 credit program when I started hearing how many, many districts are not hiring alternate route candidates as they have so many fully certified teachers to choose from. Then I got downsized from three paralegal jobs in the space of a year and a half. I am now going for the full M.A. in Pre-K through Grade 3. I already have (had) an M.A. in Theater. I will be doing my student teaching next spring and am currently tutoring. I just got added to the substitutes list for my town as well.

YMMV as Math is a higher-demand subject than Early Childhood, but I'm not sure. I believe the school where I am getting certified, New Jersey City University, is offering a program for Math and Science teacher candidates in which they get some sort of fellowship during their training. Perhaps see if there's something similar in your area?

Best of luck to both of us...these are crazy times!

 

[lucigo]

I honestly wouldn't recommend it if you have another job you can keep. The teaching profession is brutal right now. Teachers instead of helping each other compete for jobs. You would start at the bottom of a very low pay scale and work double the amount of time you think you will work. What grade are you considering? Kids are so manipulative and sophisticated today, upset one with a bad grade and they will say you did something to them. You will have to pay big bucks to a union to protect yourself from the liability of angry students and parents.

All that said, if you are lucky enough to get into the right school fit for you, it could be a rewarding profession. Maybe you could substitute for a year to make sure you like it...although subbing doesn't provide the same stresses of lesson planning, grading, extracurricular activities, tutoring etc. it will at least get you into a classroom.

My DH is a 2nd year teacher after 20 years in the Navy and then 5 years of college. He really loves teaching middle school, he just hates the politics. He loves the school he is with now, but its a 45 min commute. We could never afford for him to teach without his Navy retirement benefits.

 

[Dopey19]

My DH is a teacher in NJ and the other poster is correct in the fact that many teachers will be losing their positions come the summer. You will have alot of competition finding something and some of your competition will already have year(s) of experience in the classroom under their belt. Also many districts look for "Highly Qualified" teachers, I believe this means college degree in Education. The other method I believe is referred to as the alternate method and you may have difficulty completing having received your license that way. I do not want to discourage you (I'm not doing a good job of that!) because I believe anyone who has their heart in teaching should do so as they make the best teachers and if your willing to make a career change for it then your meant for the job. Just keep in mind that you may have a tough road ahead of you getting a foot in the door.

Best of luck to you!

 

[aprilfoolwed]

Another Lehigh Valley DISer here!

And I am back in school to get my teaching cert (sec ed English & special ed).

I would not recommend the emergency certification - I don't think you'll get a job. Too many teachers are losing jobs, and if school districts have the choice between someone who got emergency cert and an experienced certifited teacher, you won't stand a chance. I do know someone who did do this type of certification (she already had an MA in English) and can't get a job. She said schools aren't really interested in that type of certifiation.

If you really want to make the switch, get the real cert. In math, you should have an easier time finding a job than some other certifications.

I am getting my certs through Cedar Crest college because they offer the Special Ed add-on.

Honestly, if I were you, I'd look into Kutztown - you'll get your cert at a fraction of the cost of a private school, and KU has a great education reputation.

I have checked out nearly every local program, so if you have any questions, ask!

Good luck!

 

[Debbie Jean]

My DH is a teacher in NJ and the other poster is correct in the fact that many teachers will be losing their positions come the summer. You will have alot of competition finding something and some of your competition will already have year(s) of experience in the classroom under their belt. Also many districts look for "Highly Qualified" teachers, I believe this means college degree in Education. The other method I believe is referred to as the alternate method and you may have difficulty completing having received your license that way. I do not want to discourage you (I'm not doing a good job of that!) because I believe anyone who has their heart in teaching should do so as they make the best teachers and if your willing to make a career change for it then your meant for the job. Just keep in mind that you may have a tough road ahead of you getting a foot in the door.

Best of luck to you!

Not what you want to hear, I know, but this is true. Before you decide to pursue this path Google Gov. Christie and the negotiations with the teachers union. It has been very adversarial and shows all the signs of becoming increasingly ugly as the deadline for the contract approaches. Whatever the union settles on, there will be difficult times ahead for teachers in NJ.

 

[MinnieGi]

I went back to school for an M.'Ed for cert for elementary ed. I had a B.A. in poly sci, but wanted to teach the elementary grades. Anyway I just wanted to comment on the two ways to cert. - I would recommend student teaching plus credits. It may not be the fastest and may mean lose of income for twelve weeks, but I think you will find a job faster. I ended up being hired by the school where I student taught. Many teachers do. The staff and principal get to know you and your level of work and if you are someone they want to keep they will hire you or give great recommendations to other schools in the district.

 

[eeyorethegreat]

Getting into teaching these days is not easy. Colleges keep turning out teachers but there are very few openings for new hires. I live next to a college town where a majority of the graduating students are Education majors all certified and ready to teach. I feel badly for them. Many schools are cutting teachers and then existing teachers get shuffled around to fill open positions. DH is a Secial Ed teacher in civillian life (away on active duty now) and I also have my degree in Spec Ed. I stayed home with the kids then taught pre k in the district (but not funded by the district long story for another time or not) and now I Ed Tech in Spec Ed. There just are no jobs out there. A new teacher is pretty darn lucky to get into a school district straight away. I know there is a perception with people who are not involved in education that teaching is an easy, secure job and that just isn't true. With all the cuts no teacher feels secure in their job. Around here some of the teachers who have been in the district for years have been encouraged to take early retirement. Once they do the district doesn't fill the position. A new teacher is first in first out so even if you were to get in you would be the first to get cut. It is really a sad situation. What is even worse once cuts in programs and positions are made they are rarely reinstated later. We don't live in NJ or PA but We follow the current events so to speak in education and it isn't much different here than it is in the rest of the country. You might be able to get a job in the inner cities where possibly there is a higher turn over rate of teachers. Even then I think right now teachers are desparately trying to hold onto their jobs as leaving the profession very well could leave them jobless entirely.
If you can take a class per semester and keep your job that you are in now maybe with any hope there might be more openings for you to get into teaching later. This way you keep an income and still work toward the goal of becoming a teacher. It sounds like you have a real heart for it and that tells me you would be fabulous as a teacher, I just don't know that now is the time economically to take the leap.

 

[Kathi OD]

My DH is a teacher in NJ and the other poster is correct in the fact that many teachers will be losing their positions come the summer. You will have alot of competition finding something and some of your competition will already have year(s) of experience in the classroom under their belt. Also many districts look for "Highly Qualified" teachers, I believe this means college degree in Education. The other method I believe is referred to as the alternate method and you may have difficulty completing having received your license that way. I do not want to discourage you (I'm not doing a good job of that!) because I believe anyone who has their heart in teaching should do so as they make the best teachers and if your willing to make a career change for it then your meant for the job. Just keep in mind that you may have a tough road ahead of you getting a foot in the door.

Best of luck to you!

Districts have no choice but to hire "highly qualified" teachers as per the federal NCLB law.

Highly qualified means that teachers must have a certain amount of education or experience in the specific field they are teaching. For example, a 2nd grade teacher cannot be changed to teach high school history unless they have the appropriate amount of educational background in history, even though they have an education degree.

I'm thinking that given the OP's current employment status, she would have enough credits to be considered highly qualified in both secondary math and science. However, that doesn't mean that a job will be easy to find in the current environment.


OP, if you have your heart set on pursuing this course, I would suggest the student teaching route. Finding a way to make it work financially for 12 weeks will be the easy part. It's what happens if you don't land a job right away, and those 12 weeks turn into 12 months or more, that the real problems will start.

 

[momtosam]

NJ and PA are not good states to get into teaching right now. Our governors are cutting budgets like never before and teachers are being furloughed. I wouldn't suggest this path if your family is dependent upon your income.

 

[MrsPete]

I honestly wouldn't recommend it if you have another job you can keep. The teaching profession is brutal right now. Teachers instead of helping each other compete for jobs. You would start at the bottom of a very low pay scale and work double the amount of time you think you will work. What grade are you considering? Kids are so manipulative and sophisticated today, upset one with a bad grade and they will say you did something to them. You will have to pay big bucks to a union to protect yourself from the liability of angry students and parents.

All that said, if you are lucky enough to get into the right school fit for you, it could be a rewarding profession. Maybe you could substitute for a year to make sure you like it...although subbing doesn't provide the same stresses of lesson planning, grading, extracurricular activities, tutoring etc. it will at least get you into a classroom.

My DH is a 2nd year teacher after 20 years in the Navy and then 5 years of college. He really loves teaching middle school, he just hates the politics. He loves the school he is with now, but its a 45 min commute. We could never afford for him to teach without his Navy retirement benefits.

Even though I am a teacher, I agree. This is a poor time to get into the profession. We live in a part of the country where teaching jobs have been easy to get (last fall some positions went unfilled because we could not get teachers to fill them), but we're told that next year people will definitely lose jobs. This is not a time to put money and effort into becoming qualified to teach.

By the way, here we call what you're discussing "Lateral Entry".

Of course, it's going to change, but that won't be today or tomorrow.

Also many districts look for "Highly Qualified" teachers, I believe this means college degree in Education.

No. In my entire school not a single teacher has an Education degree, yet the vast, vast majority of us are "Highly Qualified". Why? Because only elementary teachers have Education degrees, and we're high school. Highly Qualified varies depending upon the age of the children being taught.

For high school it means having at least a 4-year degree in the subject being taught, having a teaching license, and teaching at the age level for which we are certified. So a brand new, just out of college teacher who'd gone the traditional college route would almost certainly be "Highly Qualified". Whereas, if I were assigned to teach something outside my certification -- let's say something like Freshman Seminar -- I would not be "Highly Qualified" for that class (though I would still be "Highly Qualified" for my English classes). I can legally "teach down one level", so I could go teach middle school, but I wouldn't be "Highly Qualified" there. But those are extreme examples; in reality, almost every teacher teaches exactly what he's licensed to teach.

Highly Qualified is a vague term that sounds good to parents but means little in the school building.

 

[onceinalifetime]

NJ and PA are not good states to get into teaching right now. Our governors are cutting budgets like never before and teachers are being furloughed. I wouldn't suggest this path if your family is dependent upon your income.

I couldn't agree more. NJ is going through so much right now with the Gov and the Teacher's union. PA is making cuts as well. The field is beyond flooded. Colleges are turning out teachers left and right, BUT there are NO jobs for them.

 

[Aliceacc]

I'm secondary math in a Catholic school on LI.

The one thing REALLY in your favor is that engineering background.

Is there any way you could teach Physics in addition to math? The best job markets in most of the Northeast, if not the country, are Physics, Chem and high school math.

 

[RangerPooh]

To echo what others have said, I'm a teacher with Elementary Education certification in K-8 (in WA and MD) with a Master's degree, is considered highly qualified, and was laid off. The job market is brutal right now. I remember attending a couple of job fairs in PA two years ago and noticed that very few districts were actually hiring, many teacher job fairs across the country are like this these days.

Be aware that many districts aren't looking for someone with alternative certification, as you need to be highly qualified, and honestly they can pick and chose who to hire based on education, degree, certifications, and experience.

As another poster mentioned, if you are looking at both PA and NJ be sure to register for each Praxis as not all states are the same. I know that when we moved to MI they would not accept my Praxis scores as their test requirements were not the same as WA, but when we moved to MD they accepted mine for certification. So double check before deciding where to invest the money as the tests aren't cheap. Also, some states require additional testing beyond the Praxis.

My honest opinion is to go through the actual teacher certification program as it makes you more desirable to districts. Plus, if you wait another year or two (possibly 3) the economy will have hopefully improved enough that districts will be hiring again. There's just so many unemployed teachers these days that the competition is heavy.

 

[Mary•Poppins]

Another teacher here ... and I would also go for an official degree. I am in western PA and things are REALLY tight here. Our district has to look for ways to cut spending next year and the PA governor has not released his budget ... which could alter our district's budget even further.

Is is a really tough time to be looking for a teaching job in PA.

 

[starry_solo]

Have you tried substitute teaching? I'm not sure how to be one in either of those states but in CA, you take the CBEST (California Basic Educational Skills Test), pass it, and you can be a substitute teacher.

Then, do that for a bit on the side, if you can (and not give up any permanent position you may have) and see if you really like it.

 

[aprilfoolwed]

To sub here in the Lehigh Valley, you can go through the Intermediate Unit and get an emergency temporary certification. It only allows you to sub - and they only offer it once a year (applications are chosen in September and training is in October). I think I may apply next year.

Some of the urban school districts will hire you as a sub with only a Bachelors or Masters degree.

It's going to be harder to sub though too - with the amount of teachers losing their jobs, the market is going to be flooded with highly qualified subs.

I also wanted to concur that you would be a highly qualified teacher if you get your cert through the student teaching method - because you have a degree in your subject matter area. I have a degree in English and am taking the education classes - I will be highly qualified.

 

[Cindy B]

Camden NJ will hire alternate route teachers. I think a good portion of the middle school teachers in my building are alternate route. However, all the new hires (I am one of them) all have not been alternate route.

I took the traditional route and even with the full standard certifcation route (education bachelors and another bachelors in English along with student teaching) it still took me 22 months to find a teaching job. I graduated near top of my class at a local teaching university as well. It is very rough out there. It took me all that time and I'm working in a challenging urban environment.

Most other districts in the tricounty area won't even touch alternate route. I had an interview with Voorhees and they said flat out no alternate route ever.