Howling Ignorance ... Again! RE: M-Ed

I need lotsa help here folks. After I finished testing out my degree at Charter Oak, I had a brief time window to pursue something else. I decided to enroll in a Masters in Public Adimin. After I started, I realized that I was duplicating what I already knew and that it would be a waste of time. I got bogged down in other matters and put education on hold for a while. Now I am back again. I have decided to go the teaching route and when I explored what I would need I found that I would need 30 more hours. Since a M-Ed can be had for 36 I figured that was the best course. Now I need to know the best way to go. I will need a program that will certify me here in VA. I intend to teach at the Middle or High School level.

 

Well, you don't generally need a master's degree to teach -- you do need *certification* and that's very much a state-by-state thing, as well as pretty hard to get through distance learning.

Liberty University offers programs lead to Virginia licensure -- though I'd investigate carefully into the licensure requirements for student teaching. See http://www.liberty.edu/academics/education/graduate/med.htm for info.

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Kristin Evenson Hirst
http://distancelearn.about.com/
[email protected]

 

There are some states that require an MA to teach. There are more that require it within the first 5-7 years of teaching. However some of these states have combined master's/credential programs.

I do agree with the difficulty of getting a teaching credential via distance ed. As far as I know, there is no way to complete all of units for one in any state yet. One of the hang-ups is student teaching. I'm also not entirely convinced at all that one should be able to get a teaching credential in that manner. Too much of it is trial and error in methods classes.


Tom Nixon

 

As far as I have been able to determine thus far, while you don't need a masters to teach, the courses necessary to be credentialed are within just a few credits of a masters. So, the masters is the way to go. The education departments of the two schools I have looked at so far, are REALLY lame. I am sure that I will have to put my butt in a seat to some degree and I will have to do the practice teaching bit, but I would REALLY like to keep the BS to a minimum.