alt.education

On Mar 1, 12:47 am, "teachrmama" wrote:
> "Wide Eyed in Wonder" wrote in messagenews:a86d5e65-e0dc-4f7b-9b27-b431d37bcba5@q78g2000hsh.googlegroups.com...
> Not being one to avoid confession or run from confrontation, I wanted
> to inform others of my recent change in my Education training. I
> fully expect this change to be attacked by those with a personal
> vendetta against me (I offended them in the past or such), but I
> wanted to get it out in the open, so we can move on from it.
>
> I guess I should give a little context. I had finished a Religion
> degree from Liberty University. It became necessary for me to get a
> job to cover my wife's lost income, when she stopped working, due to a
> disability. So, I started school for a MAT degree to cover the
> requirements to teach Elementary Education, having enjoyed teaching my
> daughter at home for many years. Actually, I didn't need the degree,
> being qualified, already, for a temporary teaching certificate from
> Florida (have the Statement of Eligibility, now), and I could use
> their ACP program or EPI to finish the rest of the requirements. But,
> I figured that, with my wife's disability, I couldn't teach right now,
> anyway. So, I started the degree program. In ONE semester, I
> completed 19 credits of teaching courses, including Schools and
> Society, Human Development and Learning, Diversity and Inclusion,
> Classroom Management, Testing, and Instructional Presentation and
> Follow-up...among others. However, at the end of the semester, I
> didn't feel I had really LEARNED anything (already knew most of it and
> didn't need to do much studying to get near perfect scores on my
> papers and assignments). Meanwhile, I had racked up a large student
> debt. So, I started looking for other options. This led me to ABCTE.
>
> ABCTE is a competency passing program. You gain your certificate by
> passing exams on your subject area and teaching knowledge. It is
> basically the effect of having passed the state subject test (which
> I've also done) and the state teachers test. After you demonstrate
> your knowledge by passing these difficult tests (only 40 percent
> pass), you still must demonstrate your teaching ability in the
> classroom (just like every other teaching training program) to be
> fully certified, which requires passing the 12 Accomplished Practices
> (closely tied to the interstate required competencies) by
> observation. At present, ABCTE is a fully accepted method of gaining
> certification in Florida, Mississippi, South Carolina, Pennsylvania,
> New Hampshire, and such. As of this last week, Missouri's state
> Senate approved a bill to use ABCTE, as well. It goes to the House
> there, next, and the state governor is already behind the program.
>
> http://www.teachermagazine.org/tm/articles/2008/02/27/08apfastrack_we...
>
> There are some teacher unions that fear this program could...I
> guess...put them out of business. However, it just makes sense, in
> our age of accountibility assessment, that passing a teacher
> assessment program would prove you able to enter the classroom and
> (with observation) be fully certified.
>
> So, this will be how I will finish my requirements, and the whole
> program will cost me less than half of the tuition for ONE semester at
> my other school. This makes sense to fill the teacher shortage need
> in America, and I am glad to use their program for myself.
>
> Now....let the "attack the religious nut / conservative" session
> begin, with all the lies and hypocrisy I expect.
>
> You really *are* going to have to do something about that
> persecution complex, Kenneth.

I've had good reason to develop one, but...looking at your past posts
(prior to our discussions), I guess you know all about that.

Kenneth Clifton
christiansuperhero.com