How important is getting your degree in the state you plan to teach in

@AroundHere

If she works in a nursery school or private daycare…she wouldn’t need a teaching certification…but she would also earn peanuts. Those folks are fabulous…but the pay is terrible.

This student wants to do early childhood and special education which is actually a program offered in every public school district in the country (some through intermediate agencies…but programs are offered). These special education preschool teachers have dual certification in regular education (prek-whatever) and a special education endorsement. They are paid teacher salaries…like school district teachers…and are required to be certified.

Yep…recognized. All that means is that the graduate can now apply for and get certification elsewhere…which WILL require an additional praxis test…and completing all the application forms, and sending transcripts, etc. Its not like the grad can now walk into another state and have automatic certification. Oh…and if there is a fee in the new state (most now have an initial certification fee) she will be paying that too.

@thumper1 Ugh! What a pain in the butt. They really don’t make this an easy profession for a young kid just starting out. Especially when you are from a state with so few in-state options. Thanks for all the input.

My S’s good friend went to school and did all his student teaching in NY and got his first job in MD. I don’t know the details but it didn’t seem to be an issue (this was a few years ago). Usually licenses like that can transfer with some paperwork as long as all of the state’s requirements have been met.

Perhaps she could look to see if there is reciprocity between VA and MD or she might contact the department at JMU and ask.

@happy1 Thanks. We will look into that a little more. We attended an open house at UMD back in Feb and they mentioned that they have helped many students get licensed back in other states. They did mention some difficulties with NY.
We are attending an open house at Towson on Friday. They have a well known teaching program so I’m hopeful they will be able to answer a lot of these questions for us.

Your kid WILL be able to get certification in another state. She can attend college in a different state and return to Maryland. It’s not impossible, and many kids move from state to state which often is needed to GET a forst teaching job. As noted above…there are hundreds of applicants for each elementary teaching position…hundreds. So many students need to be flexible and willing to relocate.

My point was…if she is positive she wants to teach in Maryland, it easiest if she goes to a Maryland school.

As noted…she will need to meet the requirements of any state in which she plans to get certification.

Maryland doesn’t have a lot of public universities…but they have some.

UMD is a fine school. Towson is a fine school. Both have early childhood and special education.

UMD Baltimore County has elementary and early childhood.

@thumper1 Unfortunately D19 is unlikely to be admitted to UMD so really only leaves us Towson if she wants to pursue the special education degree.

Depends on where you live…in my area (Northern VA outside DC) we are facing a critical shortage of Early Childhood and Elementary teachers, so new grads have their pick of jobs.

My friend’s D attended a SUNY school and got a teaching job after graduation in Northern Virginia. While there, she earned a masters at GMU. She then moved to Maryland and after obtaining a second masters is now a school librarian. She likes that better than classroom teaching.

My daughter just graduated in 2017 with a BA in elementary ED, a minor in sociology, and mild intervention licensure (K-6) from Saint Mary’s College, Notre Dame IN. She is a resource teacher in Chicago and spends a large portion of her time testing and developing IEP’s. She also participates in guided reading and makes sure accommodations are being made. We are also from Virginia (and I agree there is a need in central Virginia as well as NOVA), but my daughter chose to stay in the midwest to teach (for now ). I realize IN isn’t MD but my daughter will tell you she got a fabulous education and she found a job immediately. All of her fellow education majors are either employed or are in grad school (she got accepted to BC’s Lynch School of Education but decided not to attend). Saint Mary’s is also adding a Masters Program In Autism in the fall of 2019, which my daughter is considering. Despite only working for one year, she is already fielding calls to work at other schools in Chicago. SMC might be worth a look, plus, they give great merit aid :).

https://www.saintmarys.edu/majors/elementary-education

https://www.saintmarys.edu/minors/early-childhood-education

https://www.saintmarys.edu/majors/mild-intervention-education

https://grad.saintmarys.edu/academic-programs/master-autism-studies

Just wanted to add, many people mention NY to another state, NY is one of the longest processess to become a teacher. In general, if one is certified in NY they only need addition tests vs additional credits-

I also agree,with money. I went to a fancy private for 2 years then transferred. My mom took out a plus loan that I pay a portion of monthly, but i certainly could’ve done the public i ended up at for SIGNIFICANTLY less.

Also important to keep in mind whether she will need a masters or not.

This is an important question and IMO, speaks to one more reason why certifications should be national. The world is much smaller now and people want and need the ease to be able to move from state to state.

Honestly it is much easier to become certified in the state in which you plan to work.

I will also suggest to immediately get your masters after the undergraduate degree. It just makes everything easier since you need it anyway and your pay step starts out at a higher rate. Good luck!