<p>KandKsmom, Good points about Psych vs. English as her BA. Also, I will pass along the advice about seeking out at least some undergrad/grad SPED experience if possible, if she doesn’t want to get the full endorsement. It looks like it would only be a plus all around. Thanks!</p>
<p>No, the 100% placement was in the elem ed only endorsement. Sped was certainly 100% as well. That is why I say it is unnecessary and if she is not wanting to work exclusively with that population it is a terrible idea.</p>
<p>Here is what I mean.</p>
<p>At most schools if there is inclusion, the regular ed teacher is assisted by a special ed teacher or aide through coteaching. There is also still pull out for students too extreme to be mainstreamed. Every single sped teacher at my school is certified in elem ed and special ed. Every single regular classroom teacher is certified in just elem ed. The sped teachers apply every year to be regular ed teachers and the principal will not move them because it’s so hard to fill their jobs.</p>
<p>The only job I have heard of contrary to this was an elem ed/sped dual major who got an inclusion class – with no coteacher since she was certified sped!! Twice the work for the same pay!!!</p>
<p>Moral of the story: you will certainly have spec ed kids in your class, and at UVA you are required to take at least 1 or 2 classes dealing with that population, but unless you ONLY want to work with those kids, you will receive help when they are in your class and should not pursue certification. Because you will get hired to do just sped.</p>
<p>As far as 100% placement - many used career services, 80-90% stayed in public virginia schools. I know 3 of the 30 that went into private schools (only 1 out of state). One girl did go out of state and only got an aide position since her certification did not transfer well out of state. 5-10 of the 30 stayed in the CVille area. There were 4 of us in Richmond, a good number in Fairfax. At least one down in swva. Oh, another girl went out of state because her student teaching was in Texas. Four of the 30 did student teaching in England, two of them were some of the Richmond teachers, 1 of them is in LA doing teach for america, and the other is in Fairfax (moral of the story: if you want to stay local, do not student teach non-locally).</p>
<p>I am surprised you say we have the least number of hours. Placements start 2nd year with tutoring, followed by a once per week thing both third and fourth years (those are kind of weak placements, you make what you can out of them - they are constantly revamping these to get them to work better), and then fifth year is your student teaching in the fall (the entire semester) and then in the spring you do your master’s paper which requires a bunch more hours of observations. Many students teach all through college in other means - I taught Hebrew, many taught or tutored through church, Madison house volunteer organization, sports tutoring or coaching, subbing, etc. The only placement that matters on your resume is your student teaching. The experience I gained in the other field experiences was great (I did a whole bunch with the same teacher because we were both so strong at our core content area in elem – math) but you’re not going to know what you are really doing until you have your own classroom. I learned way more from teaching Hebrew and teaching summer school math and volunteering with that teacher I did my placements with. I constantly say that Curry is strong not because of its program, but because of the caliber of students in the program. You are certainly going to be prepared to teach any elem grade PreK-6 (which I did not feel at all coming in!!! They do an excellent job at this!! Much more important for marketability than sped honestly if she is not looking for that cert). Reading prep is much more rigorous (3 semesters) than any other subject. I’m not sure of what else/anything I wish I had learned in Curry before starting teaching this year… Does that answer your questions?</p>
<p>Also let me amend: this advice (don’t pursue sped) is for the VA market.</p>
<p>I went to high school in Philly. No one else from my hs class (this is now 2 years out) has been able to find an elem teaching job, so there is at least 1 going back to get sped certification, one left teaching altogether already because of lack of positions, etc. Philly’s job market is really rough - the city teachers are being laid off in droves, and unless you teach in the city schools for a few years you won’t get hired in the suburbs. There are charter schools popping up everywhere but that is the cause of the problem really. So anyways these teachers are completely unable to get elem jobs. Their choice is don’t teach or get a sped certification and job. That is what is meant by add on that certification. However in reality it means you will never teach regular ed. If a vet teacher adds on sped, they get to keep their class. New teachers don’t have that luxury with so many qualified applicants for elem jobs and so few for sped. There is no teacher shortage whatever lies people might say about that. Anyways HTH</p>
<p>Thanks so much for all the super insightful info hazelorb! We appreciate you taking time out to give detailed, helpful, inside advice. Being from the NJ/NY metro area-I see the NYC perpetual hiring freeze and the crazy job market in NJ. Luckily my daughter does not want to stay in the area. Although who knows what the market for teachers will be 5 yrs out. By the way, we got the clinical experience hours for each school here: [url=<a href=“http://title2.ed.gov/Title2STRC/Pages/SupervisedExperience.aspx]Error[/url”>http://title2.ed.gov/Title2STRC/Pages/SupervisedExperience.aspx]Error[/url</a>]</p>
<p>“However in reality it means you will never teach regular ed”</p>
<p>I guess hazel and I have seen different things happening depending on where we are in Virginia… We had two new hires at a local school this last year (9 veteran teachers retired at one time…unheard of for our school where everyone stays forever) and both were grabbed up because they had a spec. ed background with their degree. I don’t know the details of their degrees but the principal is really pushing hiring those who come with that skill set. It is needed.</p>
<p>Not to get too off topic, but even with an aid for the identified kids, you are going to have others…sometimes many others who could use one because they haven’t been through committee and been placed. With teachers’ evaluations becoming more and more dependent on showing actual data based student growth, knowing how to reach the kids who are not yet identified, is going to be very important.</p>
<p>I wouldn’t advise my daughter to teach special ed solely if she didn’t feel a desire to do so, but I would advise her to get an endorsement in it if she were going into teaching elementary education today. And, as we all know a job is a job. Teaching a year or two in an LD class before getting into a regular ed classroom is certainly better than waiting tables at Applebees. Again, hope your girl sorts everything out and does great wherever she ends up!</p>
<p>I teach in VA and have a BA in Psych (emphasis on Child Psych) and a M.Ed. in Elementary Ed, and I agree that it is a good mix. Like Hazel, I have seen teachers with SPED/Elem Ed degrees “stuck” in SPED positions, unable to move out because there is no one available to take the SPED spot. Additional endorsements are useful…I encourage people to get an ESOL or Gifted endorsement or a masters in Reading. In our area, we have an extremely high percentage of students from other countries and ESOL teachers are in high demand.</p>