a non distance learning question about HS teacher credentials

[Anonymous]

"Exactly. At most private shipload you only need a bachelors degree to teach. Your degree can be in anything and you can teach anything. Public school licensure is much stricter and harder to get and maintain. You have to have a bachelors degree minimum in the subject or a degree in another subject but X hours of additional coursework in your subject area to her endorsement (and it’s not a few- it’s like 36-40 hours of college level content courses). Then other trainings like first aid CPR and child abuse reporting and then you get a license in that area and have to earn at least 180 hours of continuing education and professional development to renew it which you must. Again, in a private or charter school, this won’t apply."

Or pass a state approved test in place of the additional hours.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:"Exactly. At most private shipload you only need a bachelors degree to teach. Your degree can be in anything and you can teach anything. Public school licensure is much stricter and harder to get and maintain. You have to have a bachelors degree minimum in the subject or a degree in another subject but X hours of additional coursework in your subject area to her endorsement (and it’s not a few- it’s like 36-40 hours of college level content courses). Then other trainings like first aid CPR and child abuse reporting and then you get a license in that area and have to earn at least 180 hours of continuing education and professional development to renew it which you must. Again, in a private or charter school, this won’t apply."

Or pass a state approved test in place of the additional hours.

You can for some but like CLEP tests and such are not available for all. I teach English and I could CLEP out of Brit Lit, but not a teaching of writing or linguistics requirement because CLEP tests don’t exist for those. But yes, if you have the knowledge to pass a content exam and it’s available you can then waive the class requirement because you’ve shown you have the knowledge.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m just getting the titles from the school website, teacher is listed as an “emotional disabilities” teacher but teaches math. Does that mean she is as qualified to teach math as a high school “math teacher” but also has extra sped credentials?

Probably. Ask the principal. Many teachers have more than one certification. I have 4, for example, and I would have 2 more if I filed the paperwork. In general if the teacher is teaching a core content class like math then the teacher must be certified in that content. It is much easier to get the SPED endorsement than it is to get the math endorsement fwiw.

OP-thanks. These are teachers at a special ed only high school who are teaching, for instance, geometry but only have a K-12 special ed certification and are listed as "emotional disabilities teachers". That sounds like it is not the norm.

If this isn’t a public school, teaching cert is irrevelant

OP-this is a public FCPS high school, but for kids with SN.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m just getting the titles from the school website, teacher is listed as an “emotional disabilities” teacher but teaches math. Does that mean she is as qualified to teach math as a high school “math teacher” but also has extra sped credentials?

Probably. Ask the principal. Many teachers have more than one certification. I have 4, for example, and I would have 2 more if I filed the paperwork. In general if the teacher is teaching a core content class like math then the teacher must be certified in that content. It is much easier to get the SPED endorsement than it is to get the math endorsement fwiw.

OP-thanks. These are teachers at a special ed only high school who are teaching, for instance, geometry but only have a K-12 special ed certification and are listed as "emotional disabilities teachers". That sounds like it is not the norm.

If this isn’t a public school, teaching cert is irrevelant

OP-this is a public FCPS high school, but for kids with SN.

So like Mountain View or somewhere like that? I would *assume* that if a teacher is teaching geometry anywhere for FCPS, she would need a math endorsement even if the class was at a special ed school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Are you following any of the posts on DCUM lately? Schools are trying to fill special ed positions with anyone they can. At this point, they can’t demand both a math or English certification along with special education. They can barely find applicants with any special education course work.

Would you want your child learning geometry from any warm body or do you think the person FCPS hires should be qualified?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are you following any of the posts on DCUM lately? Schools are trying to fill special ed positions with anyone they can. At this point, they can’t demand both a math or English certification along with special education. They can barely find applicants with any special education course work.

Would you want your child learning geometry from any warm body or do you think the person FCPS hires should be qualified?

It's not her kid so she doesn't care.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are you following any of the posts on DCUM lately? Schools are trying to fill special ed positions with anyone they can. At this point, they can’t demand both a math or English certification along with special education. They can barely find applicants with any special education course work.

Would you want your child learning geometry from any warm body or do you think the person FCPS hires should be qualified?

If the child has SN, the SPED cert will matter more than the math cert. this is why co-taught classes in public have both a content specialist and a SPED specialist rather than two content teachers.

[Anonymous]

Sped certs are good for k-12 all subjects. You do not need a separate math credential. I am a high school math teacher and have team taught with numerous sped teachers over the years. Some know the content as well as I do, others struggle to keep their head above water (but their strength is in differentiation and accommodations and such).

[Anonymous]

To PP, Mountain View is not a school for special education students. OP, there may be a reason you are not asking the question to the school, but if you have a question or concern, that is where you should ask the question. You are getting speculation here (and incorrect answers - even from some who state the PP are teachers) that will get your head all worked up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m just getting the titles from the school website, teacher is listed as an “emotional disabilities” teacher but teaches math. Does that mean she is as qualified to teach math as a high school “math teacher” but also has extra sped credentials?

If the Emotional Disabilities teacher is teaching Math that means that not only does this person have a SPED certification, but this person is also highly qualified in Math. Either they passed the required tests, took the required tests, or even got multiple degrees (say BA in Secondary Ed -Math and MED in SPED). I'm currently an inclusion teacher, but when I taught self-contained at the elementary level, I had to submit my elementary ed content praxis results to prove that I have the content knowledge to be the sole teacher in the classroom who is responsible for both content and SPED knowledge.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m just getting the titles from the school website, teacher is listed as an “emotional disabilities” teacher but teaches math. Does that mean she is as qualified to teach math as a high school “math teacher” but also has extra sped credentials?

If the Emotional Disabilities teacher is teaching Math that means that not only does this person have a SPED certification, but this person is also highly qualified in Math. Either they passed the required tests, took the required tests, or even got multiple degrees (say BA in Secondary Ed -Math and MED in SPED). I'm currently an inclusion teacher, but when I taught self-contained at the elementary level, I had to submit my elementary ed content praxis results to prove that I have the content knowledge to be the sole teacher in the classroom who is responsible for both content and SPED knowledge.

I should clarify, if the Emotional Disabilities teacher is teaching a self-contained math class, then they also need to be highly qualified in math. If the emotional disabilities teacher is co-teaching, then they do not need to be highly qualified in math as their primary job is to work with the math teacher to differentiate and support the various needs of the students, they are the ones who are highly qualified in sped where the math teacher is highly qualified in content. A general ed math teacher never has to have the SPED background, even when in a co-taught class; where is if the SPED teacher is in a self-contained class, they need to have both the content and the SPED background.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
(1) If a teacher teaches high school and is an "English" or "Math" teacher-what are the minimum credentials for that designation.

(2) If a high school teacher is just described as an "emotional disabilities teacher" who teachers math, for instance, does that teacher have the same "math" qualifications as the first math teacher?

1- Minimum credentials are different because you have to take specific classes for each subject and specific tests. Math and Science also have different requirements depending on what you want to be certified to teach.

2. Emotional Disabilities isn’t a cert. You’d likely get a Sped cert and potentially one for whatever subject area you plan on concentration upon.

All of this is on the VDOE website

Emotional Disabilities is most certainly an endorsement listed on a VA teacher license. I know this because I have one.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are you following any of the posts on DCUM lately? Schools are trying to fill special ed positions with anyone they can. At this point, they can’t demand both a math or English certification along with special education. They can barely find applicants with any special education course work.

Would you want your child learning geometry from any warm body or do you think the person FCPS hires should be qualified?

If my child had emotional disabilities or special needs to the point of needing to be in a high school for SN, I wouldn’t give a sh*t about geometry of all things, I’d care the people teaching her were trained in handling the needs that necessitates her going to that school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Sped certs are good for k-12 all subjects. You do not need a separate math credential. I am a high school math teacher and have team taught with numerous sped teachers over the years. Some know the content as well as I do, others struggle to keep their head above water (but their strength is in differentiation and accommodations and such).

This.

FCPS has co-taught and self-contained classes. Co-taught are with two teachers, one who should be a licensed math teacher. Self-contained is one teacher who is sped licensed. Some sped license have math endorsements but most do not.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are you following any of the posts on DCUM lately? Schools are trying to fill special ed positions with anyone they can. At this point, they can’t demand both a math or English certification along with special education. They can barely find applicants with any special education course work.

Would you want your child learning geometry from any warm body or do you think the person FCPS hires should be qualified?

If my child had emotional disabilities or special needs to the point of needing to be in a high school for SN, I wouldn’t give a sh*t about geometry of all things, I’d care the people teaching her were trained in handling the needs that necessitates her going to that school.

I disagree with this premise. My neighbor’s dc has been in special Ed only schools for almost all of his school years-not fcps schools but fcps pays and sends a bus. The low quality of the teachers and staff hired at these schools according to her are often bottom of the barrel types who can’t get hired by the public schools and they are often not qualified at all. His academic education has been very poor. It’s not just like, six months out of a child’s education gets spent at these schools and then they are “fixed” and can go catch up with qualified teachers at a good school.
It’s his whole entire education.