My daughter plans to major in elementary education and is looking at colleges in PA. She has been accepted to Bloomsburg, IUP, ESU, Point Park, and Rosemont and is waiting to hear back from Temple, Duquesne, WCU and Towson (this is in MD). We found the Title II page where you can see the PreK-4 Modules 1-3 pass rates for each school, but is there anything else we should be looking at when comparing schools? Is that pass rate a reliable or fair way to judge how that school prepares its teachers in curriculum (especially for small schools)? Also, if she met the qualifying composite score of 81 in her SAT, does that mean she would not need to take any basic skills exams like the Praxis or PAPA prior to taking the state certification exams? I apologize if any of this is worded confusingly as we’re still trying to wrap our heads around it all.
I’d encourage you to look at Juniata as well My daughter has had a great experience. She got a waiver for some tests but had to take the Pennsylvania Educator Certification Tests (PECT) the summer before senior year.
PM me if you have questions
Bloomsburg and other PASSHE schools have a fantastic dual certification program.
http://www.bloomu.edu/special-education-ranking
I would talk to teachers/administrators at some of the better PA school districts and ask them from what colleges they like to hire. I guarantee you those on the “inside” have strong opinions of which colleges/universities produce smarter and better prepared teachers.
@bester1 I plan to push a dual program. Do you think that’s doable in 4 years at Bloomsburg? I wonder about class availability and time constraints since they need observation hours too.
BTW, you need a masters so find a program that takes you straight away to one. Get it done. Also you must have special ed. or literacy as you masters. Sadly an elementary ed. degree is not enough.
@Empireapple Noted. Don’t some school districts reimburse tuition towards a master’s degree? She says she’s interested in teaching in Philadelphia or another urban area, though we will see. I’m thinking those areas will be less competitive for new teachers with just an elementary ed degree.
The dual certification is absolutely doable at Bloomsburg in 4 years. Also, I live in a the so called #7 best public school district in PA and the district has hired several teachers this year from PASSHE schools that do not have masters. I also know of one from W&J. My spouse is a teacher…many districts reimburse for graduate degrees.
Cozminok I think it must depend where you live. In my area (state of New York, suburban) you can’t even get hired without a masters degree. At least not at a good district. However, I have a family member who lives outside Nashville TN and she tells me they need teachers so badly I could get hired over the phone. (but what does she really know? She isn’t in the field)
Here you would never get a school district to pay for your masters but you are paid more for an advanced degree and for more credits. It’s all by contract. Suburban NY schools have great contracts and pay well.
It is typical to get an undergrad degree in elementary ed. and then a masters in literacy or special ed. Unless someone wants to go dual all the way through or go SPED all the way through.