Re: Social Studies Licensure (from MA)

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On 8/23/09, L wrote:
> If you have the college credits for it, can you just sit for the
> social studies exam? Seems like you should be able to... Are
> they just telling you what your license converts to here in MI?
>
> L
>
> On 8/22/09, CC & RX wrote:
>> That does stink. However, I'm very surprised that MA doesn't
>> have a Social Studies certification. So then, are you highly
>> qualified in MA to teach Econ, Govt with just your CC
>> endorsement? If so, perhaps MA can do something. But in
>> Michigan, you're not. CC is only U.S and World History (and
>> any other History class). If you took all the Govt and Econ
>> classes in MA, then I would think you are set, and that you
>> need the 2 states to communicate. Otherwise, you'll have to
>> hit the books.
>>
>> Out of curiousity, why did you leave MA to come to MI? It is
>> widely known that this state has had the highest unemployment
>> rate, and that finding teaching positions for many is
>> impossible.
>>
>>
>> On 8/21/09, from MA wrote:
>>> So I moved here from Massachusetts about a year ago. When
>>> I applied to transfer my license here in Michigan, I was
>>> given a CC designation. My license in Massachusetts is
>>> history, they do not offer or have a social studies
>>> license. The history license is the entire umbrella of the
>>> social sciences disciplines. So fast forward, I now need a
>>> RX certification to teach the other sciences, ie economics,
>>> government, etc. I called the MI DOE and they told me I
>>> have to take 24 semester hours to get the RX
>>> certification! I told them about the simple difference in
>>> names on the licenses, but they told me it does not
>>> matter. History license gets a CC endorsement, and a
>>> social studies license gets a RX endorsement.
>>>
>>> Help! This seems completely illogical!! What do I do or
>>> does anyone have any experience with this? My next step is
>>> to call MA DOE to chat with them about the problem. Maybe
>>> they could issue me a letter telling MI DOE that history =
>>> social studies?
>>>
>>> Thanks a bunch

I realize this post is over a year old however it wouldn't surprise
me if you were still struggling or moved back to MA! My husband
has been seriously mislead by the Director of Education at his
college regarding the Social Studies RX endorsment.

First of all he is a very "book smart" man so never has problems
passing classes and getting good grades. In fact, he overall
enjoys school. What he (or I) do not enjoy is the money and time
wasted. To sum up his background, right out of college he had
gotten his bacholers degree in general business and minor in
communications (at that time he didn't go into teaching) which took
him 4 years. For obvious reasons it was hard for him to find a job
with the economy here and such a general major. After working tool
and die for a year with no luck finding a job pertaining to his
degree, he had gotten laid off and from there did some soul
searching and decided to go into teaching, realizing it was his
passion and was ment to teach history/social studies.

Enrolling back into the same college, taking more classes, more
money, more time, I was still ok with it because we both knew it
was going to work out. When meeting with the Director of
Education, she stated he just needed a major in history in order to
teach it. "No problem" we thought since he was almost there. He
had taken everything, both history and education classes and was
ready to go. While talking to a family member he had asked my
husband if he was getting his RX endorsement. He replies "What's
that". To make a long story short, my husband spoke to the
director again and she says, "Oh yeah, that is brand new and you
should get that endorsment". Come to find out this was not at all
brand new and had been around for approximtly 4 to 5 years. Plus
he didn't even need his MAJOR in histoy but only a MINOR. Then she
has the nerve to ask my husband as she could see he was getting
frustrated, "Well what's your hurry?". Ummmm....I'm thinking
$60,000 in student loans and 7 years of college to be a teacher is
the hurry.

Now we are not the type of people to go around blaming others for
our mishaps and in actuality, we try to take responsiblity for
ourselves however colleges are sopposed to guide you appropriatly.
Maybe we are a little responsible for this outcome and should have
done more research but still can't shake the fact he will be taking
more classes once again.

As of right now he is signed up for the rest of the classes next
semester (6 classes). I told him just to take them, get them done,
and it will all be behind him. As my father would say "Education
is never wasted. A super nice car can be worth just as much if not
more than a degree and that will only last 3 years until it starts
to need work." The nerve racking part is, is even if you are a
spectacular teacher (so my husband has been told through his
student teaching and long term sub job) MI still is barley hiring
any teachers.

Eventhough it's my husband who has mainly been affected, I have
also have been and my advise would be just take the classes. It
will help and make you stand out in the long run.  

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