Career changers and those looking to strengthen job security sometimes turn to the American Board for online teacher certification. Elementary education was just added to Missouri’s list of approved online certification programs with the American Board in August.
“It actually didn’t take us very long,” Miranda Amir senior director of operations at The American Board said. “We just requested to ad EE this year and it only went through one legislative session so it was quite fast in comparison to how long it usually takes to get a subject.”
Information sessions for the American Board certification are Monday, Sept. 29 at Mid-River Regional Library in Jefferson City and Wednesday, Oct. 1 at Boone Electric Coop in Columbia. The requirements to be a candidate for certification are a bachelor’s degree GPA of over a 2.5. To be certified, candidates also must go through a background check and complete 90 in class hours for elementary education. The classroom time must be completed within a year of passing exams.
“For Missouri, this is the quickest and easiest route to certification,” Missouri Director with The American Board Kimberly Polk said.
This program has been offered in Missouri for high school teachers since 2008 and has certified 800 Missouri teachers. The candidates for the certification are usually middle aged “career changers.” There is, however, another key demographic.
“Sometimes [candidates] are afraid that their bachelor’s degree will not provide them the ability to get a job so they want a backup plan,” Amir said.
American Board boasts a teacher retention rate after three years of 85 percent compared to the national average of 67 percent.