I have not found a job for the upcoming school year and a district I would like to work for has an opening for a gifted teaching position grades 3-8. The position has been open since March and they have yet to fill it. I'm just wondering if I should apply for it even though I do not meet all the requirements for the position. I am only certified for teach grades 1-6, only have one year of teaching experience and I am not gifted certified. I do have a BA in psychology, Master's in teaching and elementary education certification. What do you guys think, should I go for it or not?
I say go for it! They say there is a teacher shortage. (right?) What is the worse that can happen? I would apply to any and everything....sooner or later something will stick!
I know some who had previously applied for positions for which they were not qualified and they had to take coursework (paid by the school) during the school year to become qualified so I say anything can happen.
My advice to anyone who asks if they should apply to something is always yes, of course you should apply. Worst case scenario, they don't call you for an interview, which obviously is guaranteed to happen if you don't apply in the first place. Obviously I wouldn't get your hopes up because it's unlikely they'll call someone that doesn't meet the qualifications, but you have nothing to lose by trying.
What about different subject certifications at high school level? I just had an interview canceled for a science position that was the next day because a social studies teacher wanted the position. I am wondering if I can apply for the social studies position now open if I agree to take coursework to obtain the endorsement. I would like to get endorsed in other subjects anyway and my local university offers online classes.
Keep in mind the SS teacher may have had a Science endorsement. While it doesn't hurt to apply SS positions are a dime a dozen with applicants they'd pick someone already endorsed. Work on adding those endorsements though to make you more marketable.
In most schools, at least in the US, you need to have the endorsement or at least be eligible for the endorsement based on your college coursework. If you had the credits (usually a major for HS endorsements), they might allow you some time to pass the Praxis II exams or what other assessment tests that they require. Keep in mind that the standard of content knowledge is usually highest to teach at the high school level. Example: to teach elementary science, I have to pass general knowledge exams, but there is no actual requirement for a single science class in my transcript. To teach middle school science, I need fifteen hours of science in my transcript. To teach any of the science content classes in high school, I had to pass the Praxis in General Science, as well as the Praxis in Biology, in addition to having a minimum of 30 hours of biology courses in my transcript, at least 1/3 of those hours as upper level courses and in a logical sequence. If I want to teach Chemistry then I need 30 chemistry credits and a passing Praxis score. To earn any other endorsement to teach at the high school level is going to follow the same format. Granted, this is NJ, but I think many states have similar requirements for certification. If you are only a course or a test away, maybe, but if the structure is similar to ours, I seriously doubt the school is going to take the risk of being in noncompliance when there are teachers who are qualified now, with their credentials in hand. If you want to work towards more credentials, go for it. I just have doubts that many schools will hire you on the promise to meet credential requirements if the courses aren't already in your transcript.
My reply to Camel 13 was based on the comment that coursework would be required to earn the endorsement. I know that some states go with the attitude that if you can pass the Praxis or assessment exam you just earned the endorsement. In those states no coursework would be required, only the passing score on the test.
Again, you have nothing to lose by applying, but I definitely wouldn't get your hopes up. SS is an extremely saturated market and people who already have the certification have a hard time finding jobs, so in that specific scenario I find it highly unlikely that they'd have any reason to consider someone who wasn't already certified. You have a much better chance of just finding a Science job at another school, IMO. The difference between this scenario and the OP is that at least in my area, gifted certification isn't something a lot of people have, and if the job has been open since March they are obviously having an extremely hard time filling it. In that case they might be willing to take on a new hire who has to go through some steps to be certified because they may have no other options.
I would think it depends on the state you're in. There used to be a K-8 cert in the state I'm in, I think, but it no longer exists. A school here would have a hard time finding someone who would be certified 3-8. I was offered a gifted position without a gifted endorsement. It was expected that I would take the courses needed to obtain the endorsement - though it was certainly not done on the school district's dime, but my own. At this point in the summer, it's entirely likely that they'll hire someone who doesn't fit all of the criteria so it won't hurt you to apply for it. The thing that most works against you, however, is that you have only a year's worth of teaching experience. In my district the gifted resource teachers need to have a lot of experience working with gifted kids in the context of a gen ed classroom as a big chunk of their job is helping teachers to differentiate and plan appropriately for those students. We're also responsible for doing pull-out groups and that means knowing how to plan for instruction, sometimes on an individual level for students who are well above and beyond their peers. It's easier to get teacher buy-in for your help when they feel like you know what they're going through. I think it's hard to be a specialist - assuming part of your job means working with teachers in the way same we do - when you have so little regular classroom experience.
