What' I'm Reading Now..

Oh this one is exciting. Snore. NOT. "Becoming a Middle School or High School Teacher in Texas" "A Course of Study for the Pedagogy and Professional Responsibilities (PPR) TExES.

Let's be clear about one thing, I'm not going anywhere! I've got the best job in the whole wide world @ Synchro32, although my buddy Matt up at UT Tyler disagrees and believes he has the best job in the world being a PhD and teaching and having an inordinate amount of time off. I still prevail.

Back when I was transitioning from Citation Lufkin Texas Foundries to the unemployment line to a job at Stephen F. Austin State University, SFASU, I took up and completed the college course work for becoming a technology high-school teacher in Texas. In the USA, President Bush came up and endorsed this plan called NCLP - No Child Left Behind. What it basically means is that no child is left behind with regards to education. So, the Federal Government and the State and Local governments took up the challenge of insuring that all teachers are well qualified. As such, in order to become a teacher in Texas, you have to complete x hours of college level education courses and pass several exams.

I have already passed the technology exam and need to complete teh TExES PPR. Well, as it turns out there is a limited amount of time between course work and taking the exam before you are deemed ineligible. In Texas, not anyone can just take the exams. The universities and colleges are "protective" of their track record and success rates and only individuals that are approved by the university or college can sit for an exam. Thus, you can not just pay your $120.00 take and pass the exam and be certified to be a teacher. No. The process forces the perspective teacher to take the course work and then be "allowed" by the univeristy/college to sit for the exam. At SFASU, they go so far as requiring students to take and pass "pre exams" before they will allow you to take the state exam. There is a maximum of two years at SFASU between completing the course work and sitting for the exam. If you exceed the two years, then SFASU will convine a special education board to decide what to do with you - either allow you to sit for the exam, take some remedial courses, or recomplete the entire program.

Mind you, these university courses were anything but cheap. Even though I have an undergraduate degree in computer science, a masters of business administration - I was required to reapply to the graduate school at a fee, then apply for the education program for a fee, then take fifteen graduate level hours, five three-hour courses, and then pay more money to take the exams, etc. Even though all of the course work was online, at about $900 per class, plus books, etc. my total "investment" approaches $6,000. This is for a STATE OF TEXAS PUBLIC UNIVERSITY. The deregulation of state colleges and universities in Texas is the subject for another blog.

So, SFASU has allowed me to take the PPR TExES on Saturday Jan 31st 2009 at 8am w/o having to do any redmedial work, pay more money, take more classes, fight the system, etc. I want to get this out of the way and have the paper to prove it, even though I never plan on using it. It's like a doctoral student that does all of the course work, but never completes the discertation - it's known as a PhD ABD - all but discertation - and of course the discertation is the "hard part" of getting a PhD. One can not call themselves a PhD that is an ABD. I don't want to be in those shoes and complete what I started out and invested $ in - at a time when I was unemployed and underemployed.

Of course, the reason I didn't take the exam back when I finished the course work is that I was graced with the appearance of Synchro32 in my life and taking the exam was not a priority :)

Wish me luck on the exam so that I can put that behind me, hang the certificate on the wall, and move on down the road. Normally, on exam like this I would just walk in "cold" and take it and if I passed it great, if not, study and take it again. There is sooooo much beuracracy involved in this process that I don't even want to think what would be required if I didn't pass. I'm not about to go and retake all the courses, etc. It's not that important. This is basically a one shot deal and do it right the first time.

I'll be glad to getting on to read something more exciting... Suggestions?

Cheers Everyone.

ShaneA