Teacher moving to Texas- Free to choose any city! Any advice on best cities/districts to work in? (Houston: dorm, school districts)
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TEATIME--you and other people are talking about two different certifications...Bi-lingual and ESL have entirely different teaching formats and backgrounds--Bi-lingual does require fluency in usually Spanish and Spanish and English are used interchangeable in the classroom but ESL certification is different...ESL classes are normally taught in English and use strategies to improve students understanding and fluency in English use--writing/reading/speaking...
many districts that I know of in Tarrant co area (HEB ISD being one) required ALL teachers in elementary schools and I think most of them on secondary level to take the ESL certification training--which is not college-course-work but professional development classes done in summer or after school and take/pass the test giving credential for ESL specialization--that means a teacher has learned skills and strategies to help ANY student who is not an English-speaker to do better in school...My daughter did that right after graduating from UTA in elementary ed and she did not have major/minor in ESL---Florida where she now teaches requires that type of professional development training as well I believe...
while there are many students from Hispanic heritage and who have Spanish as first language in Texas---in my area there are also many students from other countries--Russian area immigrants, the Sudan and other African countries some of whom have a native African dialect or even French as their first language....there are Asians as well --one school in my district had students from 26 different countries in one year...so ESL does not apply to Spanish only and teachers do not have to be fluent in any other language when they get the ESL attachment although I am sure that it helps...
Notice that the ESL link only refers to foreign language not any specific one ...
My son dated a young woman who got her MA in ESL/English at UNT--she was a native English speaker who was fairly fluent in 4 languages by the time she finished her MA and went to teach in Italy and learn Romanian...but she never intended to teach in public schools...much more for work as interpreter for business or government or teacher at foreign language school...
Lots of areas in Houston you might like. Kingwood, The Woodlands, Sugar Land, Clear Lake, etc. Flower Mound is nice up near DFW. Pick a nice area and there's bound to be nice schools.
Texas isn't like Illinois. No unions, tenure, etc. The cost of living may be leass, depending on where you move in Texas. Texas is also big on high stakes testing.
I'd suggest a wealthy small town school district as opposed to a struggling big city district. Some oil towns have VERY wealthy schools. Shoot for TEA (Texas Education Agency) recognized or exemplary districts. Look at the schools facilities and alumni. Make sure to teach in a district you will be proud to work for. A few names that come off the top of my mind are Highland Park (tons of nice districts around Dallas), Carroll, and Andrews.
Last edited by tgannaway89; 08-01-2007 at 10:59 PM..
Personally, if I were going to teach and was free to chose wherever I wanted, I would have to priortize somethings:
location;
pay;
quality of school; and
quality of job.
Those are the ones that come to mind and of course would be in whatever order you feel is important.
Anyway, it can be hard to find all of them. Some of the really 'good' schools can be tough to work for if you don't like rigid work environments. Many of the best paying schools are in areas that you may not want to live. Many other examples.
Personally (and this may not apply to you at all) I would look at the 3A and 4A schools in single HS towns. I prefer the smaller student body and smaller staffs so that there is more of a community feeling (of course, there still might be several elem. schools). It also usually significantly dampens discipline problems. You will get paid less than the bid districts, but not sure on numbers and they will vary. Of course, if you are looking at many more years of teaching, you might end up in a much bigger district, but at least you would have been there at the beginning .
TRAINWRECK--you make a valid point--but smaller districts like you suggest often are very "incestuous" in that everyone is somehow related by marriage or blood to everyone else--it can be difficult to get into a teaching situation there and in a smaller town, everyone knows your business---some people from larger cities and urban environments aren't prepapred for that...
some small towns are fairly narrow in their expectations and standards as well---having access to larger towns--like FTW close to Granbury
or Waxahatchie close to Dallas might work out for some people better---
some towns/districts like you suggest might be pretty isolated and get some or large part of their students from outlying areas via busing which makes after-school programs more difficult to sustain...housing prices might be less but selection also might be restricted...
life style would be as much a consideration as teaching environment, I would think---but there are definite attractions to going smaller rather than larger...
something else to consider is how the district receives much of its funding--
when Abilene had big downturn in air-base and other businesses several years ago--really had negative impact on ISD--plenty of people like teachers and admins had to look for work elsewhere--gave up senority/pay scale to just find a job--
districts with large tax/income based on something like oil/gas would probably be pretty safe bet for coming years...ranch land more iffy because of meat prices and drought's effect--
TRAINWRECK--you make a valid point--but smaller districts like you suggest often are very "incestuous" in that everyone is somehow related by marriage or blood to everyone else--it can be difficult to get into a teaching situation there and in a smaller town, everyone knows your business---some people from larger cities and urban environments aren't prepapred for that...
some small towns are fairly narrow in their expectations and standards as well---having access to larger towns--like FTW close to Granbury
or Waxahatchie close to Dallas might work out for some people better---
some towns/districts like you suggest might be pretty isolated and get some or large part of their students from outlying areas via busing which makes after-school programs more difficult to sustain...housing prices might be less but selection also might be restricted...
life style would be as much a consideration as teaching environment, I would think---but there are definite attractions to going smaller rather than larger...
something else to consider is how the district receives much of its funding--
when Abilene had big downturn in air-base and other businesses several years ago--really had negative impact on ISD--plenty of people like teachers and admins had to look for work elsewhere--gave up senority/pay scale to just find a job--
districts with large tax/income based on something like oil/gas would probably be pretty safe bet for coming years...ranch land more iffy because of meat prices and drought's effect--
All the reputable districts hire based on merit. Most 3A and 4A schools are above that "everyone is related" point. Yes, any small town (say less than 25,000) everyone will know your business. This works in other ways, in that during hard times everyone has your back. Growing up in a small town (10,000) I did notice when a house burned down all the local churches got together to get the family into a new house. When you had a loved one die, people brought food over and supported you, and even helped with funeral expenses, etc.
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