What schools on the east coast have a strong elementary ed program where students actually get teaching jobs? Is being a paraprofessional for a few years after college just par for the course? Does anyone get hired right out of school? DD is looking for a small to medium size school. Location doesn’t matter as long as there is a strong on campus social culture. Thanks!
Elementary Ed, at least anywhere near the northeast, is a brutal job market. That said, some people do get jobs; just don’t expect it to be easy.
Some things that may help you tip the scales:
- Since certification is different from one state to the next, it probably makes sense to stay in your home state for college, or at least in the state where you hope to live after college. Otherwise, you’ll likely graduate without all the requirements you’ll need to find a job right away where you want to be.
- No one really cares about reputation. Probably the worst teacher I ever worked with graduated from a strong program with a good reputation. The problem is that only about half of being a good teacher can be taught in a classroom, the rest has to come from inside you. Ironic I know. So make I would suggest a state college, saving money for grad school.
- I would advise her not to jump at one of those "Master's in 5 years" programs. Yes, in many states she'll eventually need a Master's. But job candidates with Master's are more expensive to hire than those without one, and there's no guarantee that it will make her better at her job. It's more expensive to gamble on someone with no experience who has a Master's than someone with no experience who doesn't have one. Those programs are designed to keep your dollars in the school, not to make you a better teacher or a better candidate.
- She'll want to make her resume stand out somehow. A minor in literacy or ESL or something will help. Likewise, any sort of extracurricular activity she can do during college-- working with a local middle school or parish on their play, helping some elementary school with a yearbook, coaching kickline at a local school, all look better than a resume that doesn't include that extra focus on after school activities.
- Make sure she finds a program that gets her observing early in her college career and often. The more observation hours she has, the more she'll see of teaching from the perspective of a teacher, as opposed to a student. And, equally important, the more opportunities she'll have to make a good impression and to network. Needless to say, she should dress professionally at every one of those observations (regardless of the college requirements.) Minimum: dress pants, a nice shirt/sweater, dress shoes, NO GUM, NO PHONE. A warm smile and handshake, a thank you note to the teacher and the Principal afterwards. Every observation is some part of a job interview. Administrators see a lot of kids observing each year. It's an opportunity that's equally important to the job search as to learning how to teach, and too many kids blow that part of it.
- That means she'll need to start to acquire an adult wardrobe before she heads off to school. Christmas is coming. A pair of black and a pair of grey pants, along with a few sweaters, would probably be enough to get her started.
- As she approaches Senior year, make sure that no stone goes unturned. Public, private, charter and religious schools-- she should be looking at all of them. You don't typically have to be a member of the religious group that runs the school in order to teach there. (I'm Catholic, teaching in a Catholic high school. I've worked with people who were Jewish. And when I returned to teaching after being a SAHM, I got offers from The Society of Friends and from a Lutheran school.)
@bjkmom, as an ECE major with a concentration in special ed and a minor in psych, I find this advice very helpful! Thanks!
You’re welcome.
I’m always amazed to see some of the kids who observe at my Catholic high school. Many are alumni and should absolutely know better-- they know our dress code and rules. But they come in jeans, they text as they’re observing, they chomp on gum and leave without even a thank you or any sort of followup.
Please.
It’s my job to know what’s going on in my classroom-- I can see you texting the same as I could when you were a student. And it’s far less amusing now, that you’re asking to be considered as an adult professional.
@bjkmom -
My D did the 5 year program at a SUNY. Her first semester of grad classes/last undergrad semester was charged at UG rates, which saved a few thousand dollars. Although she taught for only one year and has moved into educational technology, I don’t regret having her get the masters straight up. Her current employer hired her in part because she has the masters.
As for clothing, I insisted that she observe and student teach in a skirt and blouse or a dress. I only assented to allow her to wear pants when she showed me pictures of the teachers at the (highly rated) NYC public school where she was assigned and they were wearing pants. I am very old-fashioned and think women wearing pants at work is an unappealing and unprofessional look in my career (trial attorney). However, my D is in her 20’s and it’s a new generation. I have never worn pants to work except on dress down day but my female boss wears pants quite often.
The poster who said competition for elementary jobs can be brutal is correct. The salary and benefits in NY and many other Northeast states is outstanding making it an amazing career choice. Teachers in the northeast are retiring close to 100K and often more. Don’t forget all of that is at 180 days of work, healthcare and a pension.
I disagree though…quality of program and school do matter. Some of the standouts (IMO) are SUNY Geneseeo, Leslie College (Boston), and Russell Sage (Troy, NY). SUNY Albany also has an excellent literacy masters and I think they have undergrad too which would be a solid choice. The best way to get a job is to do an outstanding job during your field work and student placement experience. You might want to consider going to a college and/or student teaching where you want to live in hopes of getting hired from that experience. I have supervised many, many student teachers and the effort the student puts in and how s/he conducts him or herself often seals their fate. A few basics hints for you - along the way invest in some appropriate professional clothing for work. You don’t need to dress like you are the school superintendent but being neat, clean and conservative are key. If you really want to be a standout leave your phone in your car during the day. It would be so refreshing to see one student who was focused on work rather than their phone all day long (even at lunch). Remember, the people hiring you did not grow up with phones or use them early in their careers. At the very least, leave it in your bag and only check it at lunch. Work extremely hard putting in your best effort. This will mean a lot of work after school, evenings and weekends. Take constructive criticism and advice from your cooperating teacher(s) and supervisor. Many students are defensive and have a hard time with this piece. Get to work a few minutes early each day, well rested and focused. Never, ever complain and leave all personal problems in your car. Above all, make sure you get excellent grades all four years. Your transcript will be sent to all potential employers as part of the hiring process. Good luck! Its am amazing career for those that its a fit. Remember, teaching is a lifestyle not a job. It will consume you, your free time, your vacations and be very hard work. That is one way you will know you are doing a good job.
I also disagree not to jump into one of the “masters in 5 years programs.” Many schools will only hire someone with a Masters and you have to get one anyway so getting it out of the way would be key. I would look for dual programs that have literacy and special ed. You really need one of those to get hired.
The college of New Jersey is very highly rated in the state for El Ed
As the one person stated, many of the School Districts in NJ are more likely Not to hire a new grad with a Masters as by contract they must be paid more. This info was given to us when my daughter was interested in making this same choice by one of our local principals
She graduated from TCNJ a few years ago and was fortunate to get a job right out of school and has been teaching ever since
Good luck
Of course, you’ll get a huge variety of opinions on everything. That’s what’s so great about forums like this one: they give you a lot of information to think about.
Here’s my background, so you’ll see where I’m coming from:
I’ve been teaching HS math since 1980 – since 1987 in a suburban Catholic college prep high school.
I was math department chair for 8 (I think) years. I then took 5 years off to be home with my kids, and returned to the same school in 2000. I’ve been there ever since.
My role in hiring as department chair was to go through the applications and choose the people to interview. They interviewed with me first, and then with the principal. After they left, I met with the principal and gave him my input; he made the eventual decision on hiring.
I have a lot of friends who have held similar positions in other schools, public and private, and their experiences and opinions pretty much mirror my own.
As with everything else, your mileage may vary.
@bjkmom -
In NYS, teachers at private schools don’t have to be certified in the same way public school teachers do. I have friends who teach at religious and secular private schools because they never got a masters. My D’s masters is in special ed.
In NY, now, you have a certain amount of time to get a masters after you begin teaching. I felt that for my D doing the 5 year program was optimal. One, she didn’t have to worry about grad school admittance. Two, she finished in 3 semesters and one of them was at UG rates. She was hired immediately by a highly rated public school in NYC. It turned out it was highly rated because the principal fought tooth and nail against keeping kids classified and D left after one year because she refused to go along with declassifying 5th graders to make the school’s numbers look better. She is still involved in education but not in the classroom.
@Empireapple - My D got her 5 year degree at SUNY Plattsburgh. She chose her school in large part because it has that option. Her friend attended Geneseo at the same time. Her friend’s masters cost about 5 times what D’s did and I don’t think the basic program was any better. The main difference is that the typical Geneseo student has better grades and test scores than the typical Plattsburgh student. My D was in the honors program at Plattsburgh. Also, her friend was unable to find a job in NY after graduation and she now lives in another state. She has made a life there but still she had to leave NY to get a job while my D found one right away.
I’m aware of the certification requirements. And I would add for anyone who doesn’t already know: to teach in NYC you’ll need a NYC license beyond the State certification.
Every teacher in my school is either certified or going for certification. I got my Master’s in 1984, going part time after school. Almost everyone I know has done the same thing, whether they teach in public or private, suburban or NYC.
Again, to each his own.
To get back to the original question: Teaching jobs, particularly in elementary ed, can be brutally hard to find. So the points about observing, about wardrobe choice, about making your resume stand out-- all are important in separating your application from the 8 inch high stack of job applications.
I LOVE my job. Love it, passionately after 30 years in the classroom. There’s not another career in the world for me. I’m very fortunate that I found a career I love, one that I’m good at, and that I was able to choose a school whose philosophy so closely aligns with my own.
OP, it’s my sincere hope that you’re as lucky as I have been.
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As @bjkmom stated about herself, my daughter is going part time for her Masters with her district is paying for most of it.
She is going to the same college where she did her undergrad and thy do not require GREs etc for their grads.
Another benefit was she started work one year earlier so that helps with tenure, for what that is worth, but also a full year of salary. Many ways to skin a cat, and hopefully all of our kids get jobs. Best of luck
I’m not sure if you still any help, but here’s my story.
I went to a NY private, for childhood education and ended up transferring to a SUNY school because it was cheaper and it had the dual certification program. In NYS, for elementary school you can have an early childhood certification (Birth-2nd Grade) or childhood education (Grade 1-6).
Since before going to college, I knew that I wanted to teach in my home district (poor, inner city, high needs) because its where I’m from and an area like what I am from. SUNY New Paltz has a requirement of teaching in a high need area so I was able to stay there for fieldwork and I fought to be placed in district for student teaching at least one placement; I luckily did both in district.
The networking in the district allowed me to get a job in district, in August! I was certified in June.
Now, I do suggest going to school where you want to teach because state requirements vary tremendously. When I graduated NY and CA were the only 2 states in the country to require the EdTPA for certification, which is something that needs to be completed during student teaching.
I did NOT get my masters, and am not currently enrolled to get it. I am not sure what I want to get it in so I held off. Like someone above mentioned, I had also heard that non MA applicants are preferred because of pay rate.
I was lucky, however, i applied to about 50 school districts.
@Jazzii -
Don’t you have a certain amount of time in which to earn the masters in NYS?
@techmom99 Yes, 5 years