different view

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Home : 2004 : November : 16

different view
By JA

Okay, I'm going to be on the opposite side of the fence. I worked in a private grade school where about half the teachers were not certified.

First, there was a great deal of dissatisfaction among the certified teachers.
While we all earned a similar salary, the certified teachers had to take extra steps to maintain their certificates, i.e. coursework, seminars, etc.
Second, there was clearly a difference in the quality of teaching. The uncertified teachers had "no bag of tricks" to dip into. They lacked discipline strategies and did not have an assortment of teaching styles to rely on as they had

never taken an education class nor picked up an educated related magazine to read up on the latest teaching trends. The math scores of the 5-8th grade students, who had an uncertified teacher, went down on the standardized tests, and not one 8th grader qualified to attend a higher level math class in the high school. In every previous years at least three students had qualified (there is only one class per grade and many classes are small).

Obviously, I don't know you personally, but from my experience I have found that the uncertified teachers are less effective than the certified teachers. You already have a bachelors - why not earn a master's in education? That way you will qualify for a higher paying job in the public schools.