<p>My D is at a small liberal arts college out of state. She was undecided about a major when she applied, however, now she says she wants to teach. She is at a ranked LAC but it appears their education program is sparse. She had mentioned the possibility of transferring, however, it appears that she decided a little too late and most deadlines have passed for transferring out. There is a bridge (?) program btwn her school and the university in town where she would be allowed to take the required courses at this university. But again, we live in another state and my D has expressed the desire to teach in our home state. I think if she were to have transferred, this is the time to have done it. Now I feel that she is "stuck" at this wonderful LAC that lacks a good education program. Any advice out there? What other avenues can she take? Thanks in advance.</p>
<p>If she wants to teach a secondary level subject, she probably can just get teacher certification after she gets her BA/BS degree. Is she going to be a sophomore? If so, couldn’t she transfer between soph and jr years?</p>
<p>Yes, she is going to be a sophomore but I don’t think she’ll want to transfer into another school as a junior. Every kid is different and for my D, I think she would have adjusted better if she transferred to another school now. But we’ll see. It’s just too bad she didn’t know that she really liked education sooner. There are some terrific schools in our state for that and I’ve read that it’s best to get your degree/certificate from a school in the state you want to teach. Thanks for your reply.</p>
<p>She might finish out her B.A. at the LAC in peace, take a one-year Masters of Teaching back in your home-state, and then apply to teach, with her credentials all finished. She’ll have a smoother first year than people who are hired with only a B.A./EdMajor and expected to attend grad school --evening classes, more assignments-- at the same time they figure out how to teach their first year and impress their school district evaluators. </p>
<p>See if there’s a one-year M.A.T. (Master of Arts in Teaching/with Teacher Certification) program in your homestate, and set her hopes for that following the LAC degree. That’s NOT a Masters of Education (MAE), which leads to PhD work. Seek the MAT with Certification. She’ll have the in-state networking advantage you mention in your post above. Good luck!</p>
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Reframe your thinking! She is getting a great foundation that will help her throughout her teaching career. She is not spending her undergraduate course credits on classes that can be taught as pre-professional grad school courses with well-supervised student teaching (the M.A.T. model) when she’s a few years older and able to handle the challenges of student teaching.</p>
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OK, there’s another way to handle it! Have her do that bridge program^, get her certification in the state that has the LAC, and look into (long ahead of time) the possibilities for “Reciprocity” which means interstate transfer of teaching credentials. On your state’s home webpage for teacher education (your state’s Department of Education) see if they name the states where there is already reciprocity in place.</p>
<p>About the reciprocity idea, I would try to see if your state schools ever actually hire teachers under that arrangement. I’m sure all states are different, but the schools in my area tend to hire people from this geographic area of the state, sort of like the other side doesn’t even exist. I actually know a person who has been unsuccessfully trying to reciprocate from another state for the past five years. 
So, your daughter might be better off to get her bachelors at the LAC and confine her search for MAT programs to the state she hopes to work in.</p>