Seeking advice in Tennessee

Discussion in 'Introductions' started by Pixie2009, May 12, 2009.

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  1. Pixie2009

    Pixie2009 New Member

    Hello Everyone,
    I am looking to get some advice on attending an online school. My goal is to finish with a Bachelor Degree in elementary education or possibly teach
    5-12th grade in a high need area such as the sciences or Spanish. I already have an associate degree, a CVT (Cardiovascular Technologist) certificate and have taken classes beyond that.
    My concern is my age. I am 50 and do not want to be in school for the next four years. I need to get through a program ASAP. I live in Tennessee and need to make sure the school has an agreement with the state.

    Anyone else out there in the same boat as me? I would love to get some advice from some of you. Thank you! Cheryl
     
  2. sentinel

    sentinel New Member

    Western Governors University (WGU) offers competency-based degrees rather than the traditional course-by-course degrees in areas such as education.
     
  3. scaredrain

    scaredrain Member

    Hello I currently am an administrator for a K to 12 school district in NC. In NC you can apply for whats called Lateral entry, as long as you have a bachelors degree and 24 semester credit hours in the subject you want to teach you can become whats called a lateral entry teacher. At this point you have 3 years to pass the praxis 2 exam for the subject you are teaching and to complete the education courses that are required for you to become a fully licensed teacher. You can not do lateral entry for elementary or special education.

    You should talk to a local school district to find out what requirements you need, this will determine what courses you need to take in order to complete a teaching degree. If you go through a normal education program, then you will probably have to do student teaching, which may cause you to have to spend 4 years obtaining a bachelors degree. I am not sure if Tennessee allows lateral entry or alternative licensure. You may also want to check about teaching assistant positions, these types of jobs get your foot in the door and at times universities will allow teacher assistants to use their experience for student teaching, so you gain experience and earn money at the same time.

    One university that comes to mind and is NCATE accredited is Western Governors University, they offer initial licensure programs
    www.wgu.edu

    Most states will not question out of state programs if they are both RA and NCATE accredited. You can pursue an out of state teaching degree and then go through a state supported university so they can recommend you for licensure, many states know that they are losing money in their education programs, due to many would be and current teachers pursuing licensure degrees out of state, due to the quickness, especially with for profit institutions, so they are starting to make it a bit harder to become licensed. I had to do this in order to obtain graduate licensure, since my Masters of Education came from Grand Canyon University, which is in Arizona. After filling out what seemed like a dozen forms and paying $80, I was able to get NC State to recommend me to NC's Department of Instruction for a graduate administrator K to 12 license.

    Good luck and feel free to ping me if you have any other questions.
     
  4. jps4soc

    jps4soc New Member

    Have you looked into the RODP program through the Tennessee Board of Regents? I have students in my class from all over the state. Even though I teach Sociology, I know they have thousands of classes available and they probably have alot of Education classes. Also, if you are near a fairly large university, you could take distance learning (correspondence) courses. There aren't as many of these to choose from, but they could help you get a head start on your degree and will transfer to most other schools.
     

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