ESU encourages career-changers to seek teaching degrees with new Alternate Route program

Has the employment outlook in your present field taken a downturn? Are you in the midst of re-evaluating the kind of work you want to do? A new program being launched by The Teachers College at Emporia State University this summer offers career-change opportunities in the fields of education, school counseling, and library media specialist.

In doing so, the Alternate Route/Restricted License Program (www.emporia.edu/teach/altroute.htm) will help counteract personnel shortages in Kansas school districts and make the process of earning a secondary education teaching license more accessible to potential graduates.

“We’ve never done this on a statewide basis before in Kansas,” explained Dr. Kirsten Limpert, the director of the alternative licensure program.

To be considered for the program, applicants must have earned a bachelor’s or master’s degree in the area in which they will teach. “For instance, for someone who wants to teach math, we’d be looking for a degree in mathematics,” said Limpert, adding that the program is especially geared toward alleviating the shortage of math and science teachers and school counselors in the state.

Students enrolled in the Alternate Route program work as paid teaching interns while they earn their teaching certificate, a process that requires between one and three years to complete.

A cohort group will begin coursework on June 30 with orientation on the ESU campus. The first online coursework session will begin July 1 and end July 31. The nine hours of coursework will include topics related to principles of learning and teaching, addressing needs of exceptional children, and classroom management.

During a yearlong internship, each candidate will be provided with mentors and will attend seminars that result in an additional 12 semester hours of credit. “All the coursework is delivered online, so the students choose the time and place that’s most convenient for them to complete it,” said Limpert.

The Teachers College at Emporia State University is a nationally-recognized teacher education program. It was named one of four ‘model’ teacher preparation programs in the nation in the report, “Educating School Teachers,” written by Dr. Arthur Levine, president emeritus of Columbia University Teachers College. Currently, one in every six classroom teachers in Kansas holds a degree or licensure endorsement from ESU.

For more information on the Alternate Route/Restricted License Program, contact Limpert by phone at 620-341-5654, or by email at klimpert@emporia.edu.

Last Updated June 12, 2008>