alt.education

"Wide Eyed in Wonder" wrote in message
news:37b4c90e-0c39-40a1-a495-57c1a596c1b2@x30g2000hsd.googlegroups.com...
> 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.

About what? Your good reason to have a persecution complex? I really don't
have any idea what you are talking about on that score. As for ABCTE, I
have no problem with alternate paths to certification. A couple of our best
teachers came to us through alternative licensing plans. Why would anybody
attack you for that?