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On 4/23/16, tangelo wrote:
> Thanks for the tips. I guess my follow up would be, why
> attempt a masters if I'm only teaching high school, and only
> need a teaching credential and my BA? Don't most attempt the
> masters to help them enter college teaching? If so, I assume
> most spend that time teaching HS, right? Thanks for the help,
> just trying to clarify all this before starting. Ill look
> into LAUSD for certification/interning you mentioned. But
> again, I want to eventually teach at a CC, so hopefully I can
> intern and attain my masters at the same time.

In answer to your questions:

1. "why attempt a masters if I'm only teaching high school, and
only need a teaching credential and my BA?"

I'll let the "only teaching high school" thing go, but be careful
talking like that around teachers. College teachers aren't better
or higher than HS teachers and HS teachers aren't better or higher
than elementary... Back to your question: Teachers earn more
money as they progress in education and in California, you pretty
much need to complete a Masters degree to renew your credential.

2. "Don't most attempt the masters to help them enter college
teaching?"

No. Most teachers earn a masters degree to renew their teaching
credential and move up the salary chart. While it's not unheard
of, it is rare for a high school teacher to earn a masters degree
in the academic subject they teach. A Math teacher, for instance,
doesn't get a Masters in Math. Typically, K-12 teachers get
masters degrees in education, which can specialize in a number of
things like: Curriculum and Instruction (being a better teacher),
Educational Technology, Administration (becoming a Principal), or
Counseling. I've never known a high school teacher to teach
community college full time as it typically results in a pay cut
once a teacher has a Masters and several years experience.

3. "If so, I assume most spend that time teaching HS, right?"

That's up to you, but I think you have one basic premise wrong.
There is no pipeline from K-12 education to college teaching.
Almost no college prof has significant experience teaching K-12...
with the exception being profs who teach in colleges of education
training future K-12 teachers.

If your ultimate goal is to become a college prof, you're going
about it the wrong way. You should talk to community college
teachers to find out how they got their jobs. From what I
understand, there are few full-time community college teachers.
Many CCs now use adjunct (part-time) teachers. Most college profs
I know went to grad school and got a doctorate in their academic
subject. While CCs do accept teachers with Masters degree, the
preference is for the PhD. If a college prof did teach K-12, they
were essentially starting at the bottom in a new field. It would
be like a teacher trying to break into IT..., it would be a career
change.

The relatively few K-12 teachers who become professors of
education at a University's education department typically take a
pay cut, at least in California, but they take the job for a
variety of reasons. They're tired of dealing with kids, parents,
the politics of public ed, or they have enough years to retire and
get a pension and look at the prof job as a second income.

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