background of teachers in the USA presented by Franck McCarty, Fulbright, USA

1. BACKGROUND OF USA TEACHERS AND PROFESSORS By Professor Frank W. McCarty Fulbright Scholar, Department of Economics State University of Moldova Professor Emeritus of Commercial Law, Western Michigan University

2. The K-12 SCHOOLS In the USA, there are generally three levels of schools that children attend -usually between the ages of 5 and 18. Elementary schools , sometimes called primary schools, include grades K (kinder garten)-5. Children must be 5 years of age to being Kindergarten. Middle schools are for children in grades 6-8 (sometimes grade 5 and or grade 9 is included). The children here are usually close to or in their teen years. High school is for grades 9 (or 10)-12. Most students graduating from high school are around 18 years of age.

3. SCHOOLS MAY BE PRIVATE OR PUBLICPrivate school teachers have fewer requirements to meet than do public school teachers, but sometimes they will be very well-qualified.

4. TEACHERS AT ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS In the Elementary schools, students generally have one teacher for most of their subjects and they stay in one room with that teacher. They will have other teachers for physical education or perhaps some special topics like art or music, but generally the children generally do not move around to different teachers . The elementary teachers usually have studied to become teachers at a university and they have chosen to teach elementary school. Thus, they are generally graduates of Colleges of Education in a University. Females constitute about 90% of most elementary school teachers. Graduates of Colleges of Education generally have to do from 5 -9 months of teacher training (working in a school with another teacher) before they receive their Teaching certificate. That certificate is usually required to be employed as a teacher or it must be obtained during the first year of teaching.

5. ELEMENTARY TEACHERS ARE USUALLY FEMALE- ABOUT 90%

6. TEACHERS AT ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS Some elementary teachers did not receive a teaching certificate because they studied some subjects, but did not study education subjects —how to teach! These teachers, who graduated from a university, generally must go back to a university to study some educational courses. Generally this takes a year or a little more. After they complete enough requirements, or are close to doing so, they generally can be hired as teachers. There are also some special programs for university graduates who want to teach, but did not study education. By taking a few education courses, they generally can teach in certain schools where there is great demand for teachers ( such as in a poorer part of a large city or in a rural area).

7. TEACHERS AT MIDDLE SCHOOLS Teachers at middle schools generally have studied educational methods but they also have a major and a minor subject because in these schools the students move from room to room to be with special teachers. About 75 % of these teachers are female. So, a teacher might have a mathematics major and a science minor or a history major and a social science minor. In a large school, a teacher may teach only math classes—to students at several different grade levels. At a smaller school, the teacher will teach math and science and perhaps even some other subject. All of these teachers are university graduates with a Bachelor’s Degree. They may be graduates of a College of Liberal Arts, not a College of Education, but usually they have taken enough education courses to receive their teaching certificate. A few teachers may be taking courses to obtain a Master’s Degree, but they usually do so only after teaching for a few years.

8. TEACHERS AT THE HIGH SCHOOLS Teachers at a high school are teaching teen age students. These teachers generally teach in the area in which they received their Bachelor’s Degree—Mathematics, Science, Social Studies, Home Economics, Art, etc. However, an experienced teacher may be asked to teach a class that is not his or her specialty if no one else at the school will teach that topic. About 60 % of h.s. teachers are female. Teachers at high schools have a Bachelor’s Degree and many either have or are pursuing a Master’s Degree. Teachers with a Master’s Degree are paid more, so teachers often seek this degree during the first 5-10 years of teaching. A few seek a Doctoral degree, usually because they wish to become a school administrator—Principal of a school or superintendent of all schools in an area.

9. LICENSING OF K-12 TEACHERS Teachers are licensed at the state level. Most states require a teacher to be licensed before being hired as a teacher or require they obtain the license within 1 or 2 years. The licensing also requires a new teacher to take some courses in education and in their subject area within the first few years of their teaching so that they will have current information. Teachers also have to show they can deal with technology that will be used in the classrooms .

10. TEACHERS AT TWO-YEAR COMMUNITY COLLEGES A two-year course of study at a local Community College leads to an Associates Degree. While some students transfer from a community college to a 4 year college or university, many do not because their degree is for areas not taught at university (Heating and Air Conditioning, Nursing, Travel Management, Automotive Maintenance). Most teachers at community colleges teach part-time; they are people who work in a business sector and they teach a topic they know. They are not well-paid compared to full-time teachers; Most have a Master’s Degree; a few have only an Associate’s or a Bachelor’s degree. Community colleges hire a few full-time faculty people to be in charge of departments and to provide counseling and perform administrative functions. They generally have a Master’s Degree and 15 % have a doctorate degree.

11. Teachers at a 4 Year College A four-year college is one that offers a number of majors that usually lead to either a Bachelor of Science or a Bachelor of Arts Degree. There are no engineering courses and often few business courses. These colleges offer only a few Masters Degree programs. Teachers at a four year college have either a Master’s Degree or a Doctoral Degree. If many of the students at this college will go on to study at the Master’s level at a university, most of the faculty at the four-year college will have a Doctoral degree. Some of these colleges provide more technical degrees; at these colleges, the professors usually have a Master’s degree. These professors generally have NOT studied education; they are hired for and have studied a certain subject—French, Chemistry, World History, Art, etc.

12. Some colleges have a few buildings; others are like cities with many buildings and >40,000 students.

13. PROFESSORS AT A UNIVERSITY At a large university, with 20,000 or more students, there are generally three types of professors. Some professors are working in business or government full time and they teach only part time. They are referred to as Adjunct Professors and often teach at night, when they are not at their normal job, and they teach one or two classes a term. An instructor is someone who generally has a Master’s Degree ,but not a Doctoral degree. An instructor may be studying for a doctoral degree and he or she teaches as part of his payment as a doctoral student. An instructor may be hired for full-time, but usually only for a few years.

14. PROFESSORS AT A UNIVERSITY Professors who teach full-time at universities that have bachelor, masters and doctoral programs have to have a doctoral degree. The degree usually is a Phd—Doctor of Philosophy—but the subjects vary from Finance to Archaeology to Geography to Spanish to African History to Electrical Engineering. Sometimes the doctoral degree is an MD-Doctor of Medicine; JD-Law Degree of ED-doctor of Education. Usually these professors must do research that either results in grants from government or NGOs or that is published in academic journal. The research is required to have tenure—so that you will be a long term faculty member. These professors are hired for their subject expertise and publication/grant potential. Usually, they are the best paid of any of the teachers at any level. About 60 % of full-time doctoral-level professors are male, but the percentage varies widely by fields.

15. TEACHING OPPORTUNITIES At the K-12 level, the opportunity frequently depends on the population and attractiveness of the area. If the area is growing and adding people, they will need more teachers and frequently the salaries will be good in order to bring people to the area that frequently has a higher cost of living than a non-growing area. At the College and University level, the same is true except that a number of universities have attracted money from donors and companies and they can and do use that money to attract faculty. If a university wants some expertise in an area it is not well know for yet, it will seek to hire faculty—probably from other universities—and build a team who can help that university make a reputation in a new area.

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