Chicago opens doors to career-changersMaureen KelleherOver the last 15 years, shortcuts to teacher certification, once vilified by critics as a back door for substandard teachers, have slowly but steadily gained acceptance among state legislatures and school districts. Even teachers unions and universities, both bastions of traditional teacher training, have begun to inch their way onto the bandwagon. Illinois has begun to go with this flow, but just barely.
Until 1997, the only way to start an alternative-certification program in Illinois was to win approval from the state's Teacher Certification Board, composed largely of union and... > Read More |
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Alternative certification ends shortageMaureen KelleherIn 1985, New Jersey became the first state to create an alternative route to teacher certification for people with a bachelor's degree but no education courses. Since then, 8,347 career-changers have received teaching certificates this way, all but eliminating teacher vacancies and out-of-field teaching in the state.
"We don't have unstaffed classrooms," observes Edward Richardson, spokesman for the New Jersey Education Association. "We have very few people teaching outside their content area expertise, which is unusual among the states. ... The provisional teacher program and some... > Read More |
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Learning by doing for teachers and kidsMaureen KelleherOn a sultry late July morning, teacher intern Carlos Cortes is feeling pressure that's familiar to teachers, but brand-new to him. Not long ago he was a chemist for Abbott Laboratories. Now his hands shake as he weighs out the zinc nitrate required for the electroplating lab he will lead in less than five minutes, when his Steinmetz High students come back from break. "Don't have enough time in summer school," Cortes mutters to himself. Although he shares the class with veteran teacher Arthur Reliford, a mentor in the Golden Apple Teacher Education program, and fellow intern Shannon... > Read More |
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Fast-track program allows mom to fulfill a dreamMaureen KelleherAt first glance, it would seem that the Golden Apple Teacher Education program is a home-grown version of Teach for America, attracting hard-charging over-achievers who have caught the fever of community service and are ready to toss high salaries aside. Its roster tilts heavily toward professionals, including a former law partner and an Annapolis graduate who left a lucrative career at General Electric. But it also includes Caterina Plummer, a 33-year-old lab technician who always wanted to teach and finally switched into teaching because of the money.
After completing her yearlong... > Read More |
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Police officer reverses course on teachingMaureen KelleherTwenty years ago as a student at Lindblom High, Ladesta Skulark was chosen to counsel elementary school students. After her experience, she swore she would never be a teacher. "I was with them 23 hours a day," she recalls. "By the end, I was like: No, no, no—I don't ever want to do that." Today, Skulark is cooking up chemistry labs at DuSable High after completing a master's degree in education under the Teachers for Chicago program.
Skulark enrolled in TFC in 1997, after 12 years with the Chicago Police Department and a year-long stint as a substitute in CPS elementary schools. She... > Read More |
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Washington fills up on internsMaureen KelleherOn an early afternoon in September, Ayanna Mitchell, a Teachers for Chicago intern who teaches 2nd grade at Harold Washington Elementary School, is away at Chicago State University. Traina Tucker, her TFC mentor, has taken over her class. Smiling cheerfully, the 16-year veteran appears to have slipped in without missing a beat.
On closer inspection, though, it's clear she's broken into a sweat; perspiration streaks stand out on her cheeks. Only minutes ago, Tucker was helping another of her interns with a child's crisis. "He freaked out," Tucker says of the child. "I don't know why... > Read More |
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CAST helps aides become teachersEricka Moore-FreemanWhen Saadia Brooks walked into a summer seminar for Chicago Public School "paraeducators," or teaching assistants, she was hoping to learn about new and improved ways to help her special education students. She walked out of the seminar with an even better deal— an opportunity to complete a tuition-free college education and become a Chicago public school special education teacher through a new CPS program called Project CAST, for Creating A Special Teacher. Developed by the Office of Specialized Services through a federal grant, the program is aimed at easing CPS's longstanding shortage... > Read More |
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