At this point, I am going to stop looking for teaching positions and just wait until hiring for the next school year starts to start applying again. I start my Masters program for education Reading this fall (I have a BA in English), I am going to keep subbing for a good school district, and keep my current part time job (non-educational related) I am in the alt cert program. I keep going back and forth in my head to either take the ec-6 certificatin test or the 7-12 ENGL certification test. I can only use one during my probationary cert, so no use taking them both. In south Texas, I don't know which one I will have a better chance in landing a job with under my circumstances. I plan to take my ESL supplemental with either test I take as well. There seems to be more jobs in Elementary, but English is what I have my degree in. I would be happy teaching either route, I just want to make sure I land a job next school year.
It's certainly not impossible to get a secondary teaching English job, especially around the Houston area, but there are more elementary openings. I say go with the one you're most passionate about!
I'm in TX and also did alt. certification. I think you really need to ask yourself which grade level you mesh better with. I don't think it would be too hard to find 7-12 Eng if that's what you really want. That being said, I would wait closer to the next year to take your test. Why? Because I did my ec-6 generalist, passed it but it expired two days ago. Since I couldn't find a job and now have to re-take it :|
I went through Texas Teachers and because of my college major (English) I was able to be highly qualified for teaching high school English. I went ahead and took the 4-8 Generalist exam, and that got me my first job. I liked the fact that I was able to be eligible for both middle school and high school jobs, and that I wasn't limited to English for middle school. (IN fact, for half of the year I taught a Math Enrichment, an experience which was mostly positive).
The test expires? I am alt cert in Texas and also passed my EC-6 test last summer 2014 but did not land a job. Im an aide now. Please advise.
No, the test doesn't expire. I am just barley getting any interviews with an ELAR 4-8. I don't want to take the new core generalist, so I am going to take 7-12 ELAR. What do you need advice in?
Well---I passed the generalist, was given a position, and quit in the beginning of the year. It may not expire 'until' you are given a job but you should definitely inquire about it. I do know that you can file for extensions for a fee but only if you're offered a job.
In some states, test scores are only good for a set number of years for initial licensure. For example, in TN, test scores must be within the last 5 years or you have to retake it.
I think what everyone is referring to is the phasing out of the EC-6 Generalist exam. If you were not hired for this school year and have taken and passed that exam you will have to take the new core subjects exam in order to be hired next summer. The same thing happened to me when the EC-4 was phased out. I had passed it, but didn't secure a job in time so I had to take the EC-6.
