Are there any colleges in California that have an Education undergrad major or are geared towards students who want to be a teacher? She wants to be a Middle or High School Math teacher. Are there other schools in the Western US that have programs geared towards people who want to teach?
We are from California and my daughter is a freshman at University of Vermont, which has an excellent College of Education. She loves that she is taking education classes already and has even had some time in a classroom. She really wanted to get out of California for college but has realized that while she is happy with the UVM program, she might want to teach in California down the road. To do that, it makes more sense to get her degree in California. Also, there are some fit issues that she’s struggling with being in Vermont, so she’s looking to transfer, probably for a spring admit Sophomore year (unless there’s a school that is still admitting for Fall).
I wish I could. What I think I understand is that you get an undergrad degree in whatever subject. I don’t know if it needs to be in what you want to teach, though for Middle or High School I assume if you want to teach math you would major in math? I would love to hear if that’s true. Then maybe you do a credential program after that? I don’t know when you get classroom hours in?
At UVM she would be in the classroom all four years, with Spring semester her senior year she would be in the classroom full-time. She took education classes already during freshman year. That’s hard to give up compared to not getting into education specific classes until much later in the game. But, she’s finding being in Vermont more challenging than she expected, so she’s looking at her options.
@TLZT i have tagged another poster who should be able to explain. I didn’t mean for you to try! @aunt_bea should be able to do so. Hopefully she will respond.
WRT colleges in CA, check your Cal States. My guess is they offer teacher education programs.
St. Mary’s College of California just introduced a fabulous program where you can pursue one of dozens of majors AND earn a single subject teaching credential at the same time:
Many of the Cal State schools have programs for what your daughter wants. Here’s an integrated program for aspiring math teachers at San Jose State, as just one example: SJSU NOYCE INTEGRATED MATH PROGRAM Only campuses that have extended the deadline are still taking apps for the fall. As of today, those accepting fall transfer apps are: Chico, East Bay, Cal Poly Humboldt, Maritime, Monterey Bay, Sacramento, San Bernadino, San Francisco, San Marcos, Sonoma, and Stanislaus. Of these, the most promising residential campuses (i.e. not primarily commuter) are Chico, Humboldt, and Sonoma. Application Dates & Deadlines | CSU
There are many one-year masters/credential programs that she could enter after finishing her degree at UVM. I’d suggest giving it a chance for now; she can always apply as a junior transfer if she really isn’t loving UVM, but she can also just come home and do her teacher credentialing here once she’s done, or transfer her credential if she gets it there.
ETA, my daughter’s friend who is now a high school math teacher did her teacher training through this program https://aldergse.edu/ after getting an undergrad stats degree at a CSU. That’s just one of many, many options.
Cal State schools should all have teacher ed programs (so do UCs, but they’re tougher admits). My advice is to apply for schools near where the student would want to live, because she could develop professional contacts in her field placements that could help her find a job.
However – if she’s happy at UVM, another strategy would be to get her degree there – California is a full reciprocity state, which means that teaching candidates with credentials from out of state should have no trouble getting certified in California with few additional requirements. See more here: Reciprocity | TEACH California
The only disadvantage to doing that is that your daughter would miss some networking opportunities through her field experiences and student teaching. But she’d have to weigh that against staying in a program she really likes.
You can become a teacher with any degree. You don’t need to study child development or education.
There are two credentials - multiple subject (grades TK-6) and single subject (grades 7-12). Many, but not all, math teachers have studied math. Prospective teachers used to have to take the CSET in the area that they wanted to teach. While the CSET is no longer “required”, prospective candidates still need to prove subject matter competency. The math CSET is not easy, so I would imagine proving competency in math would not be easy either.
A student can finish undergrad and spend one year getting their credential and a second year getting their masters. In those scenarios, the masters classes are in the evening. There are some schools that offer dual credential and masters programs in one year. Off the top of my head, UCSB, UCI and UCR all offer that type of program.
I’m not sure if CA pays teachers differently than other states. A teacher’s salary is based on the number of units they complete after their undergraduate degree. The more units you complete, the more you are paid. Each district has their salary schedule posted on their website. The columns across the top are the number of units completed. The steps going down are the number of years you have taught. For example: Irvine Unified School District. Many districts stipulate that a teacher can’t get past a certain pay column if they don’t have their master’s degree. For example: San Diego Unified School District.
Because pay is tied to the number of units you complete, she should weigh the pros and cons of a bachelors/credential program vs. bachelors degree plus one year credential/masters program. The later would start a teacher out at a much higher salary.
San Diego State University has a phenomenal College of Education. The issue is that it’s so hard to get into SDSU, even as a transfer but she should try. Way back, San Diego State was called San Diego teachers college in the early 1900s, So they have a really long history and good experiences with placing teachers.
All of the CSU’s are good with Teacher Education. CSU Long Beach, Northridge, Fullerton, and Chico are really good too. It’s been awhile since I’ve spoken to my colleagues at those campuses. Are there any issues with her Vermont school that may carry over to a new school?
The biggest issues with her experience in Vermont have nothing to do with the school. She found the weather to be more difficult than she thought it would. It snowed two days ago. She misses the sunshine and has found that the lack of sunshine affects her mood more than she thought it would. Also, Vermont is essentially an island of sorts. There is no direct route there so traveling home is at least 12 hours of travel. It is also at least $800 and usually $1000 plane ticket which means it’s just not possible to come home very often. With both of my kids going to school in New England, we’ve found that the bulk of kids who go there are from New England, and so can go home more frequently. That’s difficult.
The one thing that will carry over is that she has an advisor this year who gave her bad advice about the program. He told her not to worry about taking math classes her first year and to concentrate on her entry level education classes. I tried to convince her to push back on that but she wanted to trust him so she didn’t. What that means is she’s a full year behind on math. She took stats this year but won’t start Calculus until Fall. I think what that means is she would be a year behind at most colleges in CA. I think that means she would essentially be starting over as a Freshman, though that’s hard to tell. She has some history and English courses that I assume will transfer, but we don’t know how likely it is that her education classes would transfer since most CA schools don’t offer education classes during the first two years. Anyway, this will make it the hardest to switch schools. She’ll probably need to spend a year extra at one end or the other, either possibly adding a year on to her undergrad here or if she stays there, adding a year on here post-grad to get her credential. The Vermont system doesn’t transfer easily like some other states do.
Look the CSU link I shared above. For lower division transfer(<59 units), the following campuses are accepting transfer applications for Fall 2024. Again, she doesn’t have to study education. She can likely add a double major or a minor after she starts.