Western Governors' Teacher's College

Western Governors U. Opens a New Online College for Teachers

 

layoffs

"Western Governors University is opening a new college that will let teachers earn certification online, and that could help ease the shortage of educators in schools across the nation, WGU officials said Monday."

Shortage? How can there be a shortage when teachers are receiving layoff notices?

http://news.google.com/news?hl=en&q=teachers+layoffs&btnG=Search+News

 

The article has nothing to do with the shortage of teachers. It is talking about budget. They may have to lay off teachers due to budgets but there will still be a shortage. CA should find alternatives other then just cutting teacher's positions to optimize their budgets.

 

Quick question for everyone. Why would any University seek Accreditation from more then one Accreditor? Do you think they applied to all of them with hopes that one would come through? Is this or could this be common practice? I have never seen anything like it. Shed some light on this for me. Thanks!!

Duff

 

As to Duff's quick question, this was treated in an earlier thread ( http://www.degreeinfo.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=7643 ):

David Boyd asked: "It's interesting to note that the Inter-Regional Accrediting Commission disbanded immediately after accrediting WGU. Does anyone know why the Inter-Regional was formed in the first place?"
oxpecker responded: "I think IRAC was formed because none of the regionals wanted to shoulder the political pressure alone -- and none of them wanted to carry the blame for breaking their own accreditation guidelines if they caved in to the pressure."

As for "shortage" -- well, I would say, if there are teachers out on the streets looking for jobs, there is no "shortage", regardless of how many teachers you think there "should" be.

 

Hi Duff,

Actually, this is quite commonplace. Although a regional accrediting agency might accredit a school, it is often important for certain disciplines to be recognized by national or professional accrediting bodies, such as the APA for psychology or NCATE for teacher education. Back when I worked as a community college faculty, I remember that the nursing department seemed far more concerned about their National League of Nursing (NLN) accreditation visit than they were about the WASC acceditation visit.

If I were starting a university (especially a non-traditional one) and I really wanted regional accreditation but was not positive that I could achieve it yet, I would likely consider an additional application to the DETC or other national accreditor.

Tony Pina
CSU San Bernardino

 

Tony:

Yes, I knew of that type of situation and why a school would have regional/national/professional accreditation. I just did not understand why they would want to be accredited by two regionals. (i.e. North West and North Central)

Mark:

I agree with your point now. If we have Teachers in the unemployment there must not be that much of a shortage. It is sad to see that kind of thing happen though over something like money.

 

As I understood it, the regionals that serviced the various states involved in the Western Governors University partnership formed a unique alliance to accredit this institution.

Tony

 

I find it interesting that they allow NA degrees as a basis for the masters degree designed to gain licensure for the student. Most other schools (that I've looked at) that routinely accept NA undergrad degrees for admission to grad programs, usually make an exception in the teaching licensure programs. It's usually one big asterisk on the grad schools admittance policy.

(other)Tony

 

Yeah, but try to get a job with it. I've worked for three districts and they have all required that degrees be regionally accredited. No exceptions. There's an interesting study (for someone else). If a person has an NA bachelor's, but an RA MEd or teaching credential, what percentage of districts would accept that person?

I have no idea, but something that I would encourage people interested in this program to check out first. Commissions on teacher credentialing tend to be a conservative bunch when it comes to such things.



Tom Nixon

 

I imagine that if the highest degree was RA, fewer eyebrows would be raised.

Tony Pina