Scott

Posted on 10/22/09

Hello everyone,

I have some questions about Ohio licensure, continuing
education, and master’s degrees in education. I apologize
in advance for the lengthy post and amount of information.

I graduated in June of 2003 with a Bachelor of Science in
Education degree (Early Childhood Education). I passed my
Praxis II in November of 2003 and my two-year provisional
License was issued on March 31, 2004. My license was valid
from July 1, 2004 to June 30, 2006.

After completing my degree and receiving my licensure, I
moved out of the country. I have lived in Seoul, South
Korea for the past five years. During this time I taught
two years of kindergarten and three years of first grade. I
worked for two different accredited English speaking schools
that required their teachers to have degrees in education
and licensure just as they would in America. I taught a
mixture of American and Canadian content standards.

I am now planning to return to America in March of 2010
(possibly 2011) and continue teaching in Ohio. Regrettably,
I have let my two-year provisional license expire. From
what I have read, I have up to five years from the
expiration date to renew this. This would include taking
six credit hours of coursework relevant to my degree, paying
a processing fee, and filling out renewal paperwork.

Here are some questions I have about my situation:

1.) How do I know which continuing education classes would
be acceptable to fill these requirements for my degree? Can
they be any education related class?

2.) After graduating in 2003, I took a few classes for my
master’s in ECE. However, I have not pursued my master’s
any further. Do classes taken for a master’s degree
(perhaps in fields unrelated to ECE, such as ESL) count
towards these six credit hours of continuing education?

3.) Do the classes have to be completed before I apply for
a licensure renewal? Or could I apply first and then take
the classes?

4.) Can I still substitute teach with an expired licensure?

5.) Will the five years I taught in South Korea be
recognized as steps on the teaching pay scale in Ohio (or
perhaps other places in the U.S.)?

6.) I am keen to begin my master’s again, but this time
possibly in another concentration other than ECE. Is it
possible to continue to teach in the PreK-3rd grade area,
receive my master’s in another education specialty, and
still be recognized as being on the master’s degree pay scale?

Again, I'm sorry for the amount of questions. I would
greatly appreciate any insight anyone may be able to give
me. Thank you!

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