How much does grad school prestige really matter in early childhood education?

[Laurenxox1]

I have Umass Boston, BU, and Merrimack College. 

 

UMB / Merrimack are 10k less per year (for a 2 year program) than BU. I know that a better grad school equals a higher pay grade but is BU really worth it? Early childhood teachers don't make a whole lot of money to begin with so tacking on another 20k in student loans would be a nightmare if it didn't help me to secure a job or bump up my pay scale a decent amount. I can't find any definitive information on whether or not this truly matters in early childhood ed. 

 

I also don't know much about Merrimack College in general since i'm not from the area so if anyone knows anything about whether that is considered above / below Umass Boston that would be great.

[Catria]

I do not think prestige is overly important in early childhood education; pay grades often are determined by seniority and # of years (or level) of schooling, irrespective of the quality or prestige of the schooling you've got.

Edited March 12, 2015 by Catria

[iphi]

I have Umass Boston, BU, and Merrimack College. 

 

UMB / Merrimack are 10k less per year (for a 2 year program) than BU. I know that a better grad school equals a higher pay grade but is BU really worth it? Early childhood teachers don't make a whole lot of money to begin with so tacking on another 20k in student loans would be a nightmare if it didn't help me to secure a job or bump up my pay scale a decent amount. I can't find any definitive information on whether or not this truly matters in early childhood ed. 

 

I also don't know much about Merrimack College in general since i'm not from the area so if anyone knows anything about whether that is considered above / below Umass Boston that would be great.

 

Is your end goal to be a teacher? If so, then I would not worry about prestige one bit. It's a different story if you want to go into academia.

[Laurenxox1]

Is your end goal to be a teacher? If so, then I would not worry about prestige one bit. It's a different story if you want to go into academia.

Yes, my end goal is to teach k-2. It makes sense that prestige wouldn't matter much. However, i'm also afraid of job competition / job availability.  At what cost though, you know? Is the job market so bad in this field that it's worth 20k in extra tuition? Ugh. 

[Laurenxox1]

I wonder who I could even talk to about this. It would be nice to have some sort of advisement from someone within the field but I know pretty much no one since my undergraduate degree is in neuroscience! 

[perpetuavix]

Yes, my end goal is to teach k-2. It makes sense that prestige wouldn't matter much. However, i'm also afraid of job competition / job availability.  At what cost though, you know? Is the job market so bad in this field that it's worth 20k in extra tuition? Ugh. 

Job competition, especially for early childhood, is real. But it doesn't seem like prestige is what makes a difference to principals. Especially since it sounds like your undergrad is not in education, you should look for a Masters program that will give you the most time in a classroom. You want time to develop your skills and try new things, and ideally get support from your program/mentor teacher. I previously taught high school, but have a lot of teacher friends across age groups. It seems like one of them best ways to get a teaching job, especially without experience, is to have a well developed teaching portfolio. This includes references letter, observation reports, sample lesson plan/unit plans/curriculum maps, examples of student activities and completed student work, etc. 

If you're looking for a community of teachers, both tumblr and twitter have strong education representation. There's also a ton of teaching blogs that aren't on either of those platforms. In true teacher fashion, most education bloggers are happy to answer questions. 

[Laurenxox1]

Job competition, especially for early childhood, is real. But it doesn't seem like prestige is what makes a difference to principals. Especially since it sounds like your undergrad is not in education, you should look for a Masters program that will give you the most time in a classroom. You want time to develop your skills and try new things, and ideally get support from your program/mentor teacher. I previously taught high school, but have a lot of teacher friends across age groups. It seems like one of them best ways to get a teaching job, especially without experience, is to have a well developed teaching portfolio. This includes references letter, observation reports, sample lesson plan/unit plans/curriculum maps, examples of student activities and completed student work, etc. 

If you're looking for a community of teachers, both tumblr and twitter have strong education representation. There's also a ton of teaching blogs that aren't on either of those platforms. In true teacher fashion, most education bloggers are happy to answer questions. 

I have been working as a substitute teacher in early childhood for a little over a year now. For a couple teachers, I am their preferred substitute and they exclusively use me when they are out. I also have been working at a KUMON math / reading center for a year and a half! I took a child nutrition course in college where I spent a semester as a preschool class room aide, and I also was a teacher's aide in high school for a year for a child development class. I'm only mentioning this since I do have a good amount of teaching experience! If it weren't for this experience it would have been much harder to make this transition. I also plan to work during grad school and sub / aide in whatever district I plan to slide into after graduation. I assume that this will help me when I do apply for a job, but I will also include everything else you mentioned. Thanks!

[lxwllms]

I also don't know much about Merrimack College in general since i'm not from the area so if anyone knows anything about whether that is considered above / below Umass Boston that would be great.

Can't speak to how important prestige is (I'm in a different field). But to answer this question: I go to school in the Boston area and have lived in MA my entire life. These would be ranked Merrimack < UMass Boston < BU.