Certification and teaching at Charter Schools, Prep Schools, etc.

[Duns Eith]

Hey all,

I went into grad school with the hope of teaching humanities (philosophy, religion, etc.) at a college level. I knew the odds were (are) against me, and I'm considering alternatives to academia and the university system.

If I want to teach at a public high school, teaching certification definitely comes in. But some have told me that I could teach at a charter school (or maybe a prep school?), or some other privately funded school, without needing state certification in teaching. It seems that whether those schools need a certification is determined either by state (some states don't regulate, others do?), or merely virtually through the competitiveness of the market (private schools can afford to require certification)

Why Not Certification? I am in New York (upstate, not city), and it looks like NY's education department requires a lot of different things that I don't have the money or time to do, such as taking a pile of courses (6 or more college courses) in my subject area or in pedagogy. (I'm interested in pedagogy and theory, for sure, but there is a lot of fluff and busywork in college courses that I'd like to skip if I can)

Yet it seems that some certification requirements can be waived or considered equivalent -- this is where I am getting tripped up: it is opaque whether my credentials get me there or a long ways off.

Here's what I do have:

• en route to PhD in philosophy (ABD later this year)
• MA in philosophy
• MA in religion
• BA in psychology & philosophy
• Teaching experience as instructor of record with undergrads for over 3 years (non-continuous, irregular appointments), i.e., 9 semesters

Any tips on how to go about this process?

 

Edited May 6, 2019 by Duns Eith

[PsyDuck90]

Would these 6 or more college courses in your subject area be in addition to the ones you have taken as part of your degree completion? I find it hard to believe that you have not completed 6 college courses in philosophy across your BA and MA and en route to your PhD. 

[Duns Eith]

6 hours ago, PsyDGrad90 said:

Would these 6 or more college courses in your subject area be in addition to the ones you have taken as part of your degree completion? I find it hard to believe that you have not completed 6 college courses in philosophy across your BA and MA and en route to your PhD. 

In addition, I think. Not in philosophy

Edited May 7, 2019 by Duns Eith

[Duns Eith]

On 5/6/2019 at 4:07 PM, PsyDGrad90 said:

Would these 6 or more college courses in your subject area be in addition to the ones you have taken as part of your degree completion? I find it hard to believe that you have not completed 6 college courses in philosophy across your BA and MA and en route to your PhD. 

Here's a list of requirements if I wanted to get certified to teach at a high school grades 7-12:

http://eservices.nysed.gov/teach/certhelp/CertRequirementHelp.do

• Education - Bachelors Degree
• Minimum 2.50 Undergraduate GPA
• General Core in Liberal Arts and Sciences - 30 S.H.
  • College Coursework - Artistic Expression
  • College Coursework - Communication
  • College Coursework - Information Retrieval
  • College Coursework - Humanities
  • College Coursework - Language other than English (including American Sign Language)
  • College Coursework - Written Analysis and Expression
  • College Coursework - Concepts in Historical and Social Sciences
  • College Coursework - Scientific Processes
  • College Coursework - Mathematical Processes
• Content Core - Social Studies - 30 S.H.
  • College Coursework - Government
  • College Coursework - Economics
  • College Coursework - Social Studies Set including U.S. History, World History, Geography - 21 S.H.
  • College Coursework - World History
  • College Coursework - U.S. History
  • College Coursework - Geography
• Pedagogical Core - 21 S.H.
  • College Coursework EXCLUSIVELY at Student Developmental Level - Adolescent - Grades 7-12 - 6 S.H.
  • College Coursework - Human Development and Learning
  • College Coursework - Teaching Students with Disabilities & Special Health-Care Needs
  • College Coursework - Teaching Literacy Skills Methods - 3 S.H.
  • College Coursework - Teaching Literacy Skills - 3 S.H.
  • College Coursework - Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment
  • College Coursework - Foundations of Education
• Student Teaching - Social Studies grades 7-12, for 40 Days
• New York State Teacher Certification Exam - Educating All Students Test (EAS)
• edTPA - Secondary History/Social Studies
  • This is a certification exam: http://www.highered.nysed.gov/tcert/certificate/certexamsedtpa.html
• Content Specialty Test (CST) - Social Studies or Safety Net Social Studies
  • So is this: http://www.nystce.nesinc.com/
• Workshop - Child Abuse Identification
• Workshop - School Violence Intervention and Prevention
• Workshop - Dignity For All Students Act
• Fingerprint Clearance

---

Now for me, I'm pretty sure I would need to go back and take more history courses, even though I have done plenty of work and research in history of philosophy. I would definitely need to take courses in teaching methods. I'm all for learning those, but I don't think I can afford 21 credits of undergrad coursework just in teaching. That's over $8,000 just in courses, and that's not the certification exams. I might be able to convince my advisor and DGS that I should take a teaching course in the graduate school of education. But that's just one course. Hardly enough.

 

But returning to the original question, does anyone have any tips on how to go about teaching without certification? Are there some strong recommendations to get certified anyway? How do you tackle this?

Edited May 11, 2019 by Duns Eith

[Duns Eith]

Looking into National certification standards, it looks like they won't consider my teaching in undergrad adequate at all:

 

6 minutes ago, Duns Eith said:

The following activities do not count toward the teaching or counseling prerequisite:

• time spent in administrative positions
• student teaching or teaching internships (or student practice or school counseling internships)
• employment as a teacher’s assistant
• employment under an intern or a similar teaching license
• teaching or school counseling done at the postsecondary level (e.g., community college or university/college); teachers or counselors with students who are over the age of 18 years must be teaching at the pre-K–12 level and in pre-K–12 settings (e.g., vocational classes in a high school setting), not in a community college or university/college. Teachers in administrative positions or those teaching in the adult learner community may pursue National Board Certification only if they are able to provide evidence of classroom teaching with pre-K–12 students within the timeframe specified in the component instructions.

https://www.nbpts.org/wp-content/uploads/Guide_to_NB_Certification.pdf

[SPEDucator]

Certification will be hard if you haven't student taught in middle or high school. You are better off looking for independent schools or charter schools that don't require certification. NAIS (National Association of Independent Schools) has a job board that you can look at. Just a warning hiring season is at the tail end in the independent school world. 

[CozyD]

Lots of states have various kinds of "alternative certification" for people who are switching career paths.

[Duns Eith]

On 5/20/2019 at 12:07 PM, SPEDucator said:

Certification will be hard if you haven't student taught in middle or high school. You are better off looking for independent schools or charter schools that don't require certification. NAIS (National Association of Independent Schools) has a job board that you can look at. Just a warning hiring season is at the tail end in the independent school world. 

Thanks! This looks like a helpful route.

I am not trying to land a teaching gig this new academic year, I'm just thinking about future cycles (I should be done with my PhD in three years) and when I get close to finishing I want to have something lined up. So, I'm not worried about the current hiring season. I'll look into NAIS!

22 hours ago, CozyD said:

Lots of states have various kinds of "alternative certification" for people who are switching career paths.

This is good to know. Can you say more? I posted some stuff for NY state. Is that basically the same, or do you have something different in mind?

[CozyD]

I really don't know specifics.

I'd just recommend[ searching "[STATE] alternative teaching certification."

Like, here's stuff that pops up for NY:
http://www.nysed.gov/college-university-evaluation/alternative-teacher-preparation-programs
http://www.highered.nysed.gov/tcert/certificate/teachalt.html
https://www.teachercertificationdegrees.com/certification/new-york-alternative/

Generally, the requirements for career changers with advanced degrees are easier to meet than the general requirements for teacher certification (which is what it looks to me like you're quoting above).

[AfricanusCrowther]

Private high schools, particularly the most "prestigious" and wealthiest ones, will hire PhDs without any teaching certificates or degrees.