Best university in the Dallas area to get a teaching degree (Arlington: insurance, home)

[jonsproudwife]

My husband and I are moving to the Dallas area shortly, and I am looking to transfer to a university in the area to finish my teaching degree in elementary education. I was just wondering if anyone had any advice or suggestions on universities with good education programs. Thank you!

Jennie

[cityconvo]

I think you would be ok with any of them. UTA, UTD, North Texas etc. If you can do bilingual you will be golden and it won't matter where you go to school.

[Grainraiser]

Texas A&M at Commerce (formerly East Texas State) cranks out more teachers than any other school around here. I can't call it local because it's a little more than a hours drive. UNT & UTA are much closer and offer a education degree.

[CMDallas]

^
yeah... but its a fairly small campus... and a long drive...
UNT would be a 2nd, UTA is also very common...
I've seen a couple of SMUs.. but I wouldn't go for the price.

[FarNorthDallas]

Don't get an elementary certificate. We have too many of those. Also add Texas Woman's University. Don't pay for SMU. No need. Too many public options.

[GayleTX]

In other words.......no more money than a teacher makes, it's not wise to spend a lot of money getting a teaching degree. Most schools are not impressed with where your degree came from.....they just want you to be certified and capable.

[loves2read]

no so true about any school/degree will do--TCU has excellent reputation in tarrant co isds for its education grads and they are usually hired fairly readily...UTA and UNT graduate MANY students --UTA in elementary and UNT more in secondary it seems...but it is true that going into debt of 30-50K to get teaching job that will pay maybe 60K by the time you have 15 years exp does not seem very smart financially...we were lucky enought to be able to pay for college for our two kids who both took teaching degrees--one in English/Secondary and one in PreK-3 Early Childhood--
the secondary one went back to get MA in creative writing and is working as writer for company that does instruction design/web-based--but he is still not making more than a first or second year teacher would be--since he did not really have exp or background in tech writing--but he could not stand the classroom any more...

you need to find out where different universities place their student teachers--they dont go anywhere they want to--each university has contract/agreement with specific ISDs--my daughter graduated from UTA with Early Childhood and wanted to student teach in HEB ISD where she went and we live--there was principal who was friend of ours willing to take her as student teacher but UTA would not make exception and llow her to student teach there --- my son graduated from UNT and student taught in Birdville--he had to take a class in summer semester and they would not hold a contract for him because he did not graduate until AFTER school started in August--

being student teacher is how MANY graduates get jobs--if there are no vacancies in that particular school at least it helps to get to know people to get foot in the door in that district--your cooperating teacher/principal knows someone who knows someone with a vacancy...hopefully...

but are you sure that you want to persue teaching in public schools as career move--some districts pay pretty well for the first few years but the increments each year are not that great--you pay a large portion of health ins coverage if you have family--there are many demands on teacher's time and it is very stressful---
it can be very rewarding but it is becoming more and more frustrating because teachers have little power to change the system and yet take 90% of the responsibility/blame for system failures/mistakes...

Tarrant Co:Northwest ISD, Keller ISD, Lewisville ISD, Grapevine-Colleyville ISD, HEB ISD Birdville ISD
Dallas/Collin Co: Frisco ISD, Lovejoy ISD, Plano ISD, Coppell ISD, Richardson and Highland Park have no real growth so no new schools. There is growth in Forney but I don't know if you would want to teach there...
Mansfield ISD south of Arlington is growing--they probably are allied with UTA--

you are going to be paying out of state tuition for public school--so tuition in private school may be about the same
and there may be some better opportunities for scholarship/grants

you also have to consider what are you doing for the next 30 years--are you content to be classroom teacher--do you want to go into admin (that is UNT's strong point--MANY MANY admins have gone there for their certification degree)
but if you think you want to teach on post-secondary level--you might as well go for the best BA you can get and then go for the MA right away--but that is expensive--you need to work every angle to get as much financial--no pay back--money you can--
SMU has good English dept if you are interested in college teaching--

I really wish my son and daughter had gone into the library school at UNT--there several branches there--you can do medical, legal, or info systems in addition to more conventional library science --pays fairly well incrementally--translates well in and out of public and private environments...

[jonsproudwife]

Thank you guys for replying, that's a lot of helpful advice. I think that I am kind of leaning towards Texas Woman's University in Denton, I checked out UNT, but I didn't like it as well. I am considering doing the whole ESL thing, but unfortunately I am not bilingual, so that is not an option for me, but I am hoping that if I do the ESL thing that would make me more marketable. I realize that the market for elementary teachers is tough. Thanks for all the great advice!

[ChristieP]

Here's a story from the Dallas Morning News about the surplus of Early Childhood teachers:
Newly minted elementary teachers find few jobs in North Texas | Dallas Morning News | News for Dallas, Texas | News: Education

I agree that the cost/benefit of a teaching degree from an expensive private school, such as TCU, just isn't there.

[loves2read]

the really stupid factor in all this clamor about hiring new grads is that Bridville ISD is not going to offer 1st yr teachers 47K or 48K to teach
take it from someone who has taught
most first year teachers are not worth that
the districts offer a big salary the first year--and then teachers get a measley pay raise the 2nd year which might actually bring home less money after increases in insurance --

most teachers leave teaching within the first 5 years because of teaching conditions/pay/family reasons--like women teachers stay home with their children and return to teaching later--but some never come back
but ISDs make it sound like they are on the cutting edge of being great employers when they announce that first yr salary--today heard on the news that teachers in DISD are picketing because the district is not paying cost of living increases--that is tacky and that 2-3% DOES make a difference to most teachers especially when the prices of gas and food have increased so dramatically....

TCU and SMU --Texas Weslyan--TX Women's--all private schools do have scholarship/grant assistance--don't know how that works for most applicants -- especially older ones that are married-

and the advice in that article to overabundance of EC teachers to get more qualified is not a saving grace---that costs money and does not guarantee a job in a quality district

what the new grad meant when she said she did not want to work with older kids is the discipline issue--starting as early as 3rd or 4th grade--many students act out, become disruptive, start neglecting schoolwork and in general ruin the classroom atmosphere because they intimidate their classmates and just overwhelm the teacher's time--
often there IS no real time for teaching because of these bad apples
teachres opt for the the younger grades thinking to avoid those issues

if only schools would get real--and the courts--parents need to understand that any child in a classroom has tremendous potential for being a problem and teachers have too much on their plates to treat each child as the only child in the classroom

any parent with a problem child should have to teach for a day---and be held accountable for expected results--they would have better appreciation for what is going on...