<p>My niece is a high school English teacher and as part of her job she teaches English as a Second Language. Apparently her school district is starting a new, expanded ESL program in the fall and she has been encouraged to apply for the director/coordinator/dept head position. This would be a great job for her but the problem is that the job description will state that preference will be given to those candidates with certification in Teaching English as a Foreign Language, and she does not have that certification.</p>
<p>She would like to obtain the certification this summer, but because of work and other commitments, she only has from July 15 to Labor Day free.</p>
<p>So, does anyone know of any college or university that is offering an intensive summer Teaching English as a Foreign Language program? From what my sister has said that my niece has said (I know, double hearsay), the program can be anywhere; my niece is even talking about the possibility of an overseas program. She works for a private school, so state licensing is not a problem, it's just getting the credential. Also, if anyone happens to know of a reputable online program, that might be an option, too--my niece seems to think that online programs have a bad reputation and she would rather not go that route, unless it's an online program run by a reputable college or university.</p>
<p>It depends on what you mean by “certificate.” There are some training programs that are aimed at providing a crash course for newbies who plan to go overseas for TEFL. Maybe that is enough for your niece’s employers. But if she needs to take courses that include observation/supervision training, she will probably need to find a summer program at a university. I am an ESL teacher and have an MA in TESOL. That’s the usual requirement to teach ESL in public schools in our part of the world, let alone to be a supervisor or program coordinator. The TESOL program at our state flagship is a grad program leading toward an MA. Is she currently certified in English in her state? If so, it may be possible to get a second certificate in TESOL (in such a short period of time) at a summer program in one of her state’s colleges with a TESOL program. We have such a program at the college that was once the state normal u for teachers. Good luck to your niece!</p>
<p>Shenandoah University offers a number of entirely distance ed. TESOL options. They used to offer the add-on coursework for the VA state TESOL certificate but I haven’t looked at the website lately, so I don’t know what they are up to right now: [TESOL</a> | School of Education & Human DevelopmentSchool of Education & Human Development](<a href=“http://www.education.su.edu/departments/tesol/]TESOL”>http://www.education.su.edu/departments/tesol/)</p>
<p>The go-to source for information for her would be [TESOL</a> International Association](<a href=“http://www.tesol.org/]TESOL”>http://www.tesol.org/) Her state or regional affiliate will also have useful information on local options.</p>
<p>[Welcome</a> - TEFL.com](<a href=“http://www.tefl.com/]Welcome”>http://www.tefl.com/) and [CELTA</a> (Certificate in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) | Cambridge English](<a href=“http://www.cambridgeenglish.org/exams-and-qualifications/celta/]CELTA”>CELTA (Certificate in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) | Cambridge English) would be places to look for short courses (not necessarily fully university accredited) outside the US.</p>
<p>It’s very possible that they will give preference to someone in the district without that certification and make it a requirement that they get that certification within X amount of time of hire. I would suggest she contact whom ever is doing this hiring for this and inquire. Usually schools have eyeballed the person they want for the job but are required by law to still post those jobs. If she is being encouraged to apply, she may be their candidate. That would allow her some time to get this certification completed.</p>