This is blog chronicling the adventures of a new college graduate through the steps of Alternative Teacher Certification of Florida in the summer of 2009.
Since 2009, changes may have occured, so please consult the FLDOE Educator Certification website for more details: http://www.fldoe.org/edcert/
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Professional Education Test
Hooray! I've passed the PET and am now, in theory, ready for my professional teaching certificate!
The PET had lots of questions regarding English Language Learners (ELL), so be ready for that when preparing for it. Probably about 30% of the questions were related to ELL.
Those choosing Alternative Certification in Florida have to go through a few steps.
First, all people wanting Alternative Certification must have a Bachelor's Degree. It doesn't matter what the subject was, just that you have one. So, if you don't-- go do that.
So, you have your Bachelors? The second step is getting your "Status of Eligibility" for a Temporary Teaching Certificate at this website. There, you must pay a $75 fee for each subject area they want to be certified in. (I paid 150 bucks for K-6 Elementary and Middle Grades Integrated Curriculum).
Third, register for your FTCE test by going here. Each test costs $50 to take and $100 to retake. Buy a test information guide from the website for $5 while you're at it. It's very helpful and worth the cost. There are a variety of preparation materials you can get at bookstores, I've reviewed some here (link coming soon).
For your Temporary Teaching Certificate all you need is:
Passing scores on your subject exam of choice (K-6, ESE, Middle Grades, etc.)
Status of Eligibility (indicating you are eligible for your intended subject area)
AND a teaching job (That's right. You don't get anything for being jobless. Just a piece of paper saying you're eligible. How worthless is that?)
For your Professional Teaching Certificate you need:
Passing scores on your Subject Area Exam (SAE), General Knowledge Test (GKT), and Professional Education Test (PET)
Status of Eligibility (Indicating you've passed all these tests.=)
AND a teaching job (Again. Yay)
And, that's it! Now, finding a job in these hard economic times is difficult.. blah blah blah, we've heard it all before. To make yourself marketable to principals, try getting multiple subject area certifications and be sure to get in volunteer hours in an educational setting. It can be a pain, but if you're wanting to teach for the right reasons, it shouldn't be too painstaking. =)
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