How do I apply for teaching jobs with one test left to pass? (degree, principal)
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Talk about being between a rock and a hard place...
The rock is the end of my graduate degree program - this semester. The hard place is - trying to apply for fall teaching positions when I have one state exam left to pass (that I have failed multiple times already).
It's only February but my spring refund money won't last me for my living expenses beyond August (esp. since I"m planning a 2 week trip abroad to celebrate the completion of my grad program since I haven't had a social life or vacation for the past 3 years).
The Gov. of my state officially had the 3 year grace period for graduated pre-service teachers removed, so that the law states that public schools cannot hire a pre-service teacher who has not finished passing their state exams. Until 2010, the law stated that public schools could hire pre-service teachers, who had 3 years to pass their state exams.
So that is the hard place I find myself in right now. I legally can't apply for fall teaching jobs unless I have even a provisional license. But I can't get the provisional license anymore because the Gov. had the 3-year grace period removed and changed the education law regarding the teacher hiring process for public schools.
Do I sacrifice my life for yet another year in studying hard to pass this one last state exam, and then try to apply for a teaching job once I pass? Or do I go down to my state's board of education to meet with the director to find out if there is a way I can still be hired by a public school with all but one test passed?
Obviously I can apply to private schools for a teaching job, as the state doesn't require them to hire licensed teachers. But it seems that the trend in private schools nowadays is to hire licensed teachers over non-licensed teachers.
So I really feel stuck in my situation. I feel like my life has been in limbo for so long already. And now that I'm done with my grad school education program with one test left to take that I've already failed multiple times, I feel like there's no easy way out of my situation.
Any advice would be helpful in how to get hired by schools. I also don't like applying for jobs with "pools of candidates" because I've applied for those assistant jobs before and never was interviewed. Too many applications to compete with in that case.
Yeah...that's not really helpful. Ha ha! I went to my state's education fair last year and was told by the principals there not to bother applying for a teaching job at their school until I pass my last dreadful state exam. But I know that there are provisional licenses available for my content area. I just need to figure out who to talk to and how to apply for one this spring so that when I go to my state's education job fair this month, I'll be prepared to apply for the teaching jobs available for fall.
Seems some people already knew the answer to this dilemma. HA ha! Not sure if they thought someone on CD could rewrite the rules or perhaps get the state to make an exception for them?
There may be more success if one spends less time on CD and more time preparing for the test.
You can legally apply for any job you want as long as you don't lie on the application. Doesn't mean it will do you any good or that you'll get any call backs, is all. You can ask the state board about a waiver, but I wouldn't be surprised if those are really hard to get. Getting a job at a private school and studying for the missing test would be your best option. You say the trend is for private schools to only hire certified teachers, however, they are far, far more likely to hire a non-certified teacher compared to the public schools - who generally can not hire an uncertified teacher if there is a certified teacher application in the pool.
What is your certification in and what state is your program in?
Yeah...that's not really helpful. Ha ha! I went to my state's education fair last year and was told by the principals there not to bother applying for a teaching job at their school until I pass my last dreadful state exam. But I know that there are provisional licenses available for my content area. I just need to figure out who to talk to and how to apply for one this spring so that when I go to my state's education job fair this month, I'll be prepared to apply for the teaching jobs available for fall.
Well, when I taught in the midwest and a teacher was on a provisional license and still couldnt pass the test, she lost the job-in a district that was in high need of teachers!
I know someone that is a recent grad in my area who cannot apply for jobs because she does not have her certifications yet. She's graduated, passed the tests and is just waiting for the paperwork. She said that when she tries to apply for jobs on-line the system won't let her because when she logs in, it shows she doesn't have the official certification yet. She has been able to sub because she had gotten her Bachelors five years ago in a different content area. This is what most new grads do in our area because teaching jobs are highly sought after.
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