Once I receive my credential to teach what are the best one year master’s in elementary education? I’ve been looking at BU’s program how is it?
The best program is going to be one in the area where you plan to live once you get your license or near where you work. Most masters classes are held in the afternoon so it is not unusual for people to go to work and then go to school. Keep in mind that there is a glut of elementary ed teachers so you need to know how easy/hard will it be to get a job as an elementary ed teacher in your desired location.
Yes, go to school at night and get a job in a school (teacher’s aide if you aren’t certified) during the day. In some districts getting a special ed or ESL certification as well as general ed will give you a big advantage over other applicants. You may not have to pay for an expensive program; in New York City a masters from Hunter College (CUNY) can get you the same job as a masters from Columbia Teachers College.
^^^^Coming from a family of teachers, I think that Teachers College/Columbia could open some doors for you initially that Hunter might not – but it would be up to you to decide if it is worth the price differential or not.
It depends on where you are going to teach. If it is in NYC, then the only thing that opens doors is having connections.
If you don’t have connections, then having certification and training in a “hard to staff” subject or area can do the trick.
My own town had trouble hiring a teacher for AP Physics and Chem a few years back when the teacher who had taught those subjects retired. The local paper reported that the “glut” of language arts, special ed, bilingual ed, phys ed applicants masked the fact that although there wasn’t a “teacher shortage” per se, there are often shortages of particular subjects.
Not to argue with Zoosermom- just to give another perspective.
We live in California. After getting her bachelors degree in math, my daughter got her teaching credential at UC Irvine. In addition, she went the summer before and the summer after and ended up with both a Masters in Teaching and a credential. So as a brand new teacher she already had her masters. For your credential I think it is best to do it in the area where you plan to live, that way you make connections while doing your student teaching.
- If what you want to do is teach and get paid a reasonable salary, then the best master's degree is the one that is cheapest, most convenient, and located where you plan to live. But you should also read Elizabeth Green's "Building a Better Teacher" to understand why you aren't actually learning much that's valuable in your graduate classes.
- You can think about going to one of the places identified in Green's book as bucking the general trend in American ed schools and actually trying to teach people how to teach.
- If you want to get into public policy, or running a school district, or being a high-level government education official, then think about prestige. The usual-suspect names include Harvard, Stanford, Columbia (Teacher's College), Penn, and many top-shelf public universities like Michigan, Wisconsin, Washington. In elementary education and early childhood education, there are some other institutions that are especially strong: Bank Street (NYC), Erikson Institute (Chicago), Wheelock (Boston).
Go to one that won’t cost you a lot and in the area where you’ll be working. There usually isn’t aid for this beyond loans.
Once you have credentials hopefully you will get that elementary education teaching job. This is a totally different field than those wanting to teach at the HS level. I’ll assume you get the student teaching as part of your undergrad education (found out from a friend a student could major in education at Emory but they couldn’t do the required student teaching- shocked me).
Then you do as many teachers do- take classes during summers et al while working to obtain the masters, which is often required to stay licensed/employed. Look in the area you are working. Many colleges/universities cater to teachers needing/wanting the masters credits while working the school year.
What- going to a prestigious school such as listed above to move up in the ranks??? Most teachers in Wisconsin will have gotten degrees from the UW system schools that were originally State Teacher’s Colleges a century or so ago. Their upper degrees may be from UW-Madison, if that works with their location et al.
Folks- this student want to be an elementary school teacher. This requires a different skill set than that of a HS teacher (and licensure reflects that). Teachers need continuing education credits to keep their licensure. Some districts do require a masters- meaning one gets the credits needed for licensure. I’m sure not all districts require a master’s to get a first job or all programs would include the masters in today’s world. This student may need to start in one district and move to the more desired one later.
Short answer- there is no “best” one year program. Be a good teacher, not just one with degrees. This means classroom experience.