TheApple

I have applied for the altrnative certification program in houston and got accepted. Has anyone completed this program through them?

I'd like to disagree with the comment made by "hotteacher1976" (rather a questionable sign-in name for a teacher?). Not all the schools in the state of Indiana are in need of a "serious re-working." It is mainly the schools in the larger cities with a high rate of poor people and, frankly, large, poor, black communities. This includes Indianapolis (with a graduation rate of less than 20 percent and middle schools with juvenile detention workers!), South Bend, Gary, Hammond, and Michigan City (whose two high schools were unaccredited for a time). Fortunately, most of these school systems are surrounded by smaller school systems that are doing well and have high graduation rates regardless of race or economics. Also of note, the city of Indianapolis rates high on the lists of liveable U.S. cities. My husband is a middle/high school special education teacher and I'm a professional public librarian. We lived in Indy but he had to teach in the Carmel school system, for safety and sanity sake. It was bad enough for me to work in one of the urban public libraries where I dealt with the kids and their disinterested parents. Safety was a constant issue--even at the public library.

I take exception to the comment by pwebbmartin. A quick review of the average salaries for Louisiana, Kentucky, Indiana, and Mississippi will show only a small difference with Mississippi actually being above the national average. One must also take into consideration other positive factors for those states such as quality of life, cost of living, etc., which may make them far more attractive than an evaluation based solely on salary.

Massachusetts is similar. You need a Bachelor's degree in something from somewhere and
you must pass two tests, a literacy test and a test in the field in which you intend to teach. Also,
after five years of teaching, you must get a Master's degree in something or you are OUT.
Tim Anderson

Broward County, Florida also has two programs for those who want to transition into teaching. They are the STAR and Promise programs. These programs can be completed in about a year, and information about the progams can be obtained on the instructional staffing website.