2008 Woodie Awards
Bredesen revisits teacher licensing rules
Matt Cook
Issue date: 2/20/07 Section: Campus News
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The standard method of obtaining a license to teach high school in Tennessee is fairly straightforward: Go to an accredited, four-year university and complete the coursework, student teaching and pass the PRAXIS exams.
The process becomes confusing when trying to obtain a secondary teaching license by an alternate method. Because of a shortage of teachers across the state, Gov. Phil Bredesen and the Department of Education are doing all they can to simplify the process through two programs aimed at professionals and college graduates: Teach Tennessee and Transition to Teaching.
Bredesen launched his "Teach Tennessee Initiative" in 2005 to give professionals and others interested in teaching the opportunity to teach the subject area in which they hold at least a bachelor's degree. People invited into the program - called "fellows" - attend a two-week training institute where they learn pedagogical theory and practice.
Fellows are then assigned a mentor at the school where they begin teaching. This mentor helps the fellow with lesson plans, classroom management skills, offers advice and observes the fellow through their first year. Fellows are sought in the areas of math, science and foreign language primarily, but other fields are accepted depending on the needs of particular school districts.
The second program, Transition to Teaching, is the product of a federal grant written under the Department of Education's Teaching Quality Enhancement program.
Because it was written as another direct response to the shortage of math and science teachers, participants in the program must have a Bachelor's degree in math, science, engineering or nursing.
Participants in Transition to Teaching take 18 hours of graduate-level education courses during the summer, offered online through UTM's Department of Education. All participants are given a $5,000 stipend to help defer the costs. Participants agree at the beginning of the program to teach for three years in a school district that is in need of math and science teachers. The Transition to Teaching Participants - similar to the Teach Tennessee fellows - are provided with a mentor during the first two years of teaching.
The process becomes confusing when trying to obtain a secondary teaching license by an alternate method. Because of a shortage of teachers across the state, Gov. Phil Bredesen and the Department of Education are doing all they can to simplify the process through two programs aimed at professionals and college graduates: Teach Tennessee and Transition to Teaching.
Bredesen launched his "Teach Tennessee Initiative" in 2005 to give professionals and others interested in teaching the opportunity to teach the subject area in which they hold at least a bachelor's degree. People invited into the program - called "fellows" - attend a two-week training institute where they learn pedagogical theory and practice.
Fellows are then assigned a mentor at the school where they begin teaching. This mentor helps the fellow with lesson plans, classroom management skills, offers advice and observes the fellow through their first year. Fellows are sought in the areas of math, science and foreign language primarily, but other fields are accepted depending on the needs of particular school districts.
The second program, Transition to Teaching, is the product of a federal grant written under the Department of Education's Teaching Quality Enhancement program.
Because it was written as another direct response to the shortage of math and science teachers, participants in the program must have a Bachelor's degree in math, science, engineering or nursing.
Participants in Transition to Teaching take 18 hours of graduate-level education courses during the summer, offered online through UTM's Department of Education. All participants are given a $5,000 stipend to help defer the costs. Participants agree at the beginning of the program to teach for three years in a school district that is in need of math and science teachers. The Transition to Teaching Participants - similar to the Teach Tennessee fellows - are provided with a mentor during the first two years of teaching.
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