So an online student, who is a high school teacher, says to me "I teach the high school version of this class, and yours is much more detailed and harder." 1st reaction - No S---! 2nd reaction - As a former high school teacher, how is this person teaching without having taken this class before? -Matt
This is not my thing but I think that if you're certified to teach K-12 you can teach anything that is K-12 if your school system asks/tells you to do it. No?
Depending on the state, you can become certified in very broad areas. Even at the secondary level, one can pass the test and become certified to teach social studies or science without knowing all of the subjects within those areas. For example, you can get all of the physics questions wrong on the general science test, but still be able to pass and probably asked to teach physics if your school is desperate.
While it's true that licensure varies from state to state, to be highly qualified one must have a degree in the subject area. One can become highly qualified in additional areas by passing an assessment like the Praxis II exams, but usually they have to already be licensed in something else first. Licensure generally is broken down into Elementary (K-5/6) in which they can teach any core subject for those grade levels and Secondary (6-12) in which they must have a specific certification in an area such as English, Mathematics, History, etc. Part of the whole No Child Left Behind movement, as flawed as it was in certain areas, was to ensure that teachers had an adequate knowledge of the subjects they were teaching. Prior to NCLB, schools were having teachers do whatever they needed, which wasn't very good at all. Now if a teacher teaches something outside of his or her discipline under an emergency situation or something, it has to be reported to the state and published in the school report card. Many states, Virginia included, actually have a licensure query that allows people to look up teachers to see what they're certified to teach. -Matt
Actually, that's not quite accurate. While History & Social Sciences are lumped together, as are the branches of mathematics, science disciplines are different. The teacher would have to pass the test for the individual science discipline such as physics, chemistry, biology, etc. There's no general science test. Now with History and social sciences, it could be true. The individual could fail all of the US History questions, but pass the geography, economics and political science portions, and as long as the candidate scored high enough, he or she could pass. -Matt
In Texas, there is a general science test. Texas uses the TEXES exam instead of the Praxis. So, yes, it is accurate. In order to be considered qualified to teach a subject, all you have to do is pass the content area test. You don't need credits in the subject. http://cms.texes-ets.org/cat/aboutthetest/#about I'm looking to become certified in the life sciences and my degree is in social science. All I have to do is pass the TEXES exam for life science. Another way to be considered highly qualified by a certification program is to have 12 credits in a subject. This is a an approved alternative teacher certification program in Texas. http://www.iteachtexas.com/iteachtx_TeacherAdmissionRequirements
I found the Texas administrative code. http://info.sos.state.tx.us/pls/pub/readtac$ext.TacPage?sl=R&app=9&p_dir=&p_rloc=&p_tloc=&p_ploc=&pg=1&p_tac=&ti=19&pt=7&ch=227&rl=10
Thanks for the clarification. Leave it to Texas, the land of iron fisted textbook controllers and standardized testing nazis to continue to screw up public education. -Matt
