Increasing chances of new teacher being hired?

Parents Forum
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<p>My D will be graduating with a B.S. in Psychology and is planning on going to grad school in New York City (Fordham, CUNY Hunter, Touro College) If you know anything about any of these colleges, please share!</p>

<p>She keeps hearing that being hired is tough so she wants to do all that she can to increase her chances of getting a job in New York City. </p>

<p>Since she already has a bachelors degree, does it make any sense at all to go for a bachelors degree rather than a masters in special education so that she's not "too expensive" for a potential school district?</p>

<p>Does it matter what college she has a special education degree from?</p>

<p>Any other ideas, incites would be much appreciated.</p>

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<p>In order to teach in NYS public schools, one must have or earn a Master’s degree within a set timeframe (I think it’s 2 years) of being hired.</p>

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<p>The special education credential is highly valued. There is still a shortage of teachers with this qualification, and other than a math or science teaching credential I can’t think of something that would make her more likely to float to the top of the applicant pool.</p>

<p>While hiring is very, very tight right now, I’d guess that by the time she finishes it will loosen up some, and then there will be a large number of vacancies as more and more boomers approach retirement.</p>

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<p>If NY is like CA the vast majority of the few job openings there are can be found in Special Ed, Math and Science.</p>

<p>A caution though, she should perhaps sub in special education for a while. It is demanding emotionally and sometime physically and not everyone is able to make a go of it. I know I wasn’t even though it was my original career goal.</p>

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<p>I believe that post #2 refers to the fact that a master’s degree from an accredited college is required to obtain a permanent certificate to teach in NYS. (A provisional certificate can be obtained with a bachelor’s degree only, but it expires in 5 years.)</p>

<p>With one bachelor’s degree, it really doesn’t make any sense for your daughter to get a second one. A master’s degree would do far more for her long-term career prospects. I wouldn’t worry about pricing herself out of the market in view of NYS certification requirements.</p>

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<p>What will she be getting her graduate degree in? If she’s serious about teaching, she should focus on getting her Master’s in sp ed. (like MAT) One of the best school’s for teaching training is Bank Street @ Columbia. If she gets her degree there, she’s much more marketable. If she’s uncertain about her interests in special ed, she should substitute, which she can do with just a bachelor’s and no certification.</p>

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<p>Just to clarify post #6…I’m fairly sure Bank Street is not affiliated with Columbia. It is a separate institution. Columbia has its own Teacher’s College.</p>

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<p>I know that Bank Street and Columbia are, in fact, two seperate schools.</p>

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<p>Things are so tough in New York City that we want to give my D the best chance for a good teaching opportunity. She will get a dual degree in education and special ed so she’ll be able to teach either regular or special needs students.</p>

<p>We’ve heard that there is still a great need for teachers of special ed…do you happen to know anything in particular about that?</p>

<p>My D wants to work during the day while she attends graduate school and take classes at night - any suggestions for who might hire her. She has a bachelors degree in Psychology and a minor in elementary education. She heard that paraprofessional teacher assistants jobs are frozen, which is what she planned on doing.</p>

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<p>Hopefully things will ease up within a year…I heard that many teachers were due to retire.</p>

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<p>Things likely will not ease up in a year, unfortunately, as my D will graduate next year and will, simultaneously, be most of the way toward certification in middle school special ed. There is a hiring freeze in NYC that will likely last for a while. There are countless new grads from local colleges/grad schools who can’t get jobs, there are hundreds of people in the “rubber room” and over a thousand on the reserve list who already have their foots in the door. There are also substitutes at each school, and there are many public schools set to close this coming year, leaving their teachers in the pool for new jobs. I told my daughter to come up with a plan B, as did her special ed advisor, because there aren’t going to be jobs for years in any meaningful sense.</p>

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<p>Just to piggy back on the other post:</p>

<p>Your daughter will need to take the following exams in order to obtain initial certification: the LAST, the ATS-W and the content speciality test (if she plans on teaching middle school or h.s.)</p>

<p>[New</a> York State Teacher Certification Examinations Home Page](<a href=“http://www.nystce.nesinc.com/]New”>http://www.nystce.nesinc.com/)</p>

<p>In addition for NYCDOE, she should go to 65 court street to be fingerprinted (the cost will be about $115) she will also need to be fingerprinted for the state (however they will use the same fingerprints that she uses for the city).</p>

<p>She Will have to submit paperwork for certification to the office for teaching initiatives (she needs to set up a teach account)</p>

<p>[Office</a> of Teaching Initiatives Home Page:OTI:NYSED](<a href=“OTI : NYSED”>Office of Teaching Initiatives Home Page:OTI:NYSED)</p>

<p>If you can, you should apply for a sub license (the doe is finally now taking applications again for sub licenses). </p>

<p>[Substitute/Per</a> Diem Teachers - Human Resources - New York City Department of Education](<a href=“http://schools.nyc.gov/Offices/DHR/SubTeachers.htm]Substitute/Per”>http://schools.nyc.gov/Offices/DHR/SubTeachers.htm)</p>

<p><a href=“http://schools.nyc.gov/Documents/Offices/MISC/SUB%20TEACHER%20ONLY%20HANDBOOK%2008-09.pdf[/url]”>http://schools.nyc.gov/Documents/Offices/MISC/SUB%20TEACHER%20ONLY%20HANDBOOK%2008-09.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Right now you can only get a sub license through a principal nomination. I would recommend that she contact principals to set up interviews about the possibility of becoming a sub in their school. For the sub license she will need; a transcript(orricial or unofficial as proof that she has graduated college) , she will need a tb test, </p>

<p>A sub license will do the following :</p>

<p>You will get a file # (payroll # in the DOE)</p>

<p>You can work as a day to day sub working where ever they send you or you can simply be assigned to one school (if you get assigned to one school, there is going to be someone out everyday so you will be regularly working).</p>

<p>Depepnding on the number of days worked as a sub, it can be changed over to service time in the DOE for seniority purposes. </p>

<p>Sometimes it is also a matter of timing, being in the right time in the right place when something opens up.</p>

<p>If she has been certified in your state, she would be able to get a transitional certificate</p>

<p>hope this helps</p>

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<p>My neice did the New York City Teaching Fellows program for Special Ed.Her undergrad major was Anthropology with a smattering of education courses. Shes been very successful in the past 5 years now having a masters and now participating in an advanced certificate program.Classroom assignments have been in the borough of Queens.All paid for courtesy of the city of New York.
heres the link : nycteachingfellows.org.
Best of luck to your D.Special Ed teachers are sorely needed,still.</p>

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<p>My D does not qualify because she has a minor in education with too many education courses.</p>

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<p>My future DIL attended Columbia Teachers College in a spec ed 2-year masters program that has a special focus on Children with Autism, using a model called ABA. (adaptive behavioral aaa? something).</p>

<p>She has found employment in NYC since her graduation with that Masters degree, first in a charter school and now doing client services in individual homes. </p>

<p>You might zoom in on what kind of Spec Ed work she might do. While it was by no means easy for DIL to get offers, she was immediately employable and works as hard as I imagine your D would. The number of cases of children with autism is increasing. (I’m talking about extremely low functioning autism, here, not along-the-spectrum.) Also forgive me as I’m not a professional in the autism field and don’t always turn the phrases exactly correct. My DIL is an ace at all of this. I surely admire her.</p>

<p>By the way, a missing link in this is more teachers who can speak foreign languages. It helps, if one works in client homes or with families, to speak any of the languages popular in NYC. At the moment, the need often expressed is for someone who can speak Chinese with the parent of the client child. Spanish is also a help, but Chinese is very much sought-after right now. </p>

<p>So if she’s looking for an additional edge, she might (in her ha-ha-ha spare time…) work up any degree of fluency in a language. Rosetta Stone? Even if it’s clumsy, it’s a step ahead of the others to say, “I can communicate with the parents in X language, to a very limited degree.” The parents need to be taught how to administer/follow-up some of the home work of the Spec Ed, especially in autism where some of the kids are preschool and only in the homes, so far. The parent becomes the child’s teacher when the visiting teacher isn’t there, so that communication piece is essential especially for children still living and schooling inside the home all day. For example, if one of the lessons is how to sit and eat at the dinner table, or to do nighttime bathroom routines, the parent needs to understand what to do when the teacher is not around, to advance the child’s progress.</p>

<p>I’m sure language is an advantage even in classroom teaching, although in my experience in public schools, most families came to conferences with a teenaged niece or nephew to do the translating for unusual languages. With visiting services, however, most often the teacher is facing the parents with no translator. If they can get a neighbor to pop over they do, but again, it’s always great to have the language inside your own head. I realize that a new foreign language kind of a big hunk of learning “just to get an edge” in a job interview, but thought I’d mention it since you were brainstorming for ideas here.</p>

<p>If you think about it, it’s sobering that we need more teachers for students who can hardly communicate at all (low functioning autism) who can speak in foreign languages to their parents, but that’s NYC.</p>

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<p>I don’t know anything about Rosetta Stone. Is it expensive? Are they tapes that you listen to at home?</p>

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<p>I have read here on CC that they are effective computer home programs, also used by the U.S. state department for diplomats and such. They are described here as “expensive but worth it” whatever that means to an individual. I had the impression that the computer programs sold to the public for home use are based upon how the State Dept teaches diplomats who attend intensive weekend courses (24/3). OUch. They have to learn a language fast.</p>

<p>I’ve seen them for sale at local bookstores, not hard to find. </p>

<p>People who seem to be skilled with language (other CC readers) have spoken well of Rosetta Stone. </p>

<p>You can google, also look up old threads here for comments to see if you think it’s worthwhile.
Click the “search” button (top center of this page) and try typing in the words Rosetta Stone for your keywords. Ask for results in threads, not posts, at first.
Hope that helps.</p>

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<p>Any other ideas for my D to position herself in the best possible way to get a special ed job in NYC?</p>

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<p>Your daughter needs to do some related work to position herself to get a teaching job…anywhere. She might want to be a special education para educator (aide) for the summers or for a year or two. She could work in a camp for disabled children. Get some kind of job that relates to working with special needs students. This will give her valuable experience. I work in special education and even in our small district, we have lost a full position in that field in the last two years. If she is interested in working with students on the autism spectrum, she will likely find a job more easily than if she is interested in working with learning disabled students. Another thing…she could become Wilson Trained. Wilson is a reading program requiring specialized training. Become familiar with augmentative communication and other computerized types of learning tools. </p>

<p>When we have a teaching opening in regular education, we get at least 200 applications. For special education, the numbers are less…“only” 50 or so.</p>

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<p>Where would she get Wilson training?</p>