New program a fast track to teaching
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The new program, entitled “Teach Tennessee,” allows a person who already has a bachelor’s degree and who is considered an expert in his or her field a chance to get into the classroom as a middle or high school teacher and eventually earn a professional teaching license.
While the program has strict criteria that must be met before candidates are considered for the program, such as requiring them to have bachelor’s degrees, 24 credit hours and five years experience in the chosen subject area to be taught, many people are interested and have already sought application packets.
“We’ve mailed 400 or more so far, just within the last three days,” Tennessee Department of Education spokesperson Rachel Woods said of state-wide interest in application packets after the program debuted April 15.
The state is looking primarily for highly-qualified math, science and foreign language teachers, but the offer extends to other subjects as well, with needs determined by individual school systems. If chosen, Teach Tennessee teachers could be in area classrooms as soon as this fall, where they would participate in a regimented plan while working toward full certification.
In Warren County, some have already inquired about the new program, according to the school system’s human resources director Roy Pierce.
“It streamlines the process,” Pierce said. “I like the fact that they’ve cut off jumping through all the hoops. In the past, to get alternative licenses, the state appeased the university system by allowing them to work but made them go through the education classes, which they shouldn’t have to do if proper mentoring is in place.”
Woods said the intent of the program is to make it easier for those who are otherwise qualified an opportunity to earn licenses.
“There is a lot of frustration from people who are already college graduates who have decided they would like to teach and then they find out one school says two years, one says three years or one school is a full year,” she said.
“So it is a program focused at people who are experts in the subject material they would be teaching and this is one of Governor Bredesen’s initiatives he asked be developed. It really targets people who are not just one year out of school, but people who have spent a while working in a professional career and who now would like to switch over.”
If chosen for the program, which does not guarantee a teaching job, candidates would be required to attend an intensive two-week institute offered this summer. Once in the classroom, mentoring would also be a big part of the program.
The two-week training is expected to help new candidates transition with less difficulty.
More information about the program can be obtained on the state’s Web site at www.state.tn.us/ and searching for the Teach Tennessee program under the education directory.
Teach Tennessee requirements