Teachers, I have a question......

I know you ladies are always bombarded but I am looking for advice. I am looking to go back to school for either speech or hearing impaired (elem level) How do I go about this?

Background:
Worked for 6 or 7 years as an assistant in a summer program.
Taught 5th grade in a parocial school.
Was a second/third grade science cluster replacement in a NYC public school.

Problem is I have never been certified and still need to take the required exams. I am an English major but I have approx. 16 credits toward education. I know the obvious choice would probably be to go back immediately for master's. But how do I go about the process in general? Any suggestions before I rip my hair out? I do not know where to start.

Thanks in advance for any help.

Kathleen

Do you have schools in mind that offer programs in your area? You may be able to use some of those ed credits towards certification. Though since you want something specialized you may have 'undergraduate deficiencies', as they were called when I did my master's at Hofstra. For example, a lot of English teacher masters' candidates had English degrees but never took a grammar course, so they had to take it at Nassau. You may have to do something similar for speech and hearing.

So I think that is where you should start- find a college with a program and see if someone will look at your transcript. BOCES also does something similar so you could call them too. Since you taught I wonder if you will have to student teach, but again since you want speech or hearing impaired you will probably have to do a semester of ST, but it can't hurt to ask! I hope this helped a little.

Tracy, thanks so much for the response!! It really helped. I just have so much to mull over and so many potential decisions to make it is overwhelming. My one hope is that I can take my teaching experience and ed credits and use them towards something and not feel as if I am starting back at square one!!

I am a speech pathologist so feel free to ask any questions. You don't have to have an undergrad degree in teaching or speech. There are some prerequisites that you need to take before starting a masters program though. A masters in speech does not require many credits in education, but the ones you already have may fulfill those requirements. Actually, you may not need to take any ed credits if you don't want to work in a school. To do that you have to take extra credits and do a semester of student teaching which will give you a Teacher of Specch and Hearing Handicapped certificate (TSHH). I got my TSHH so when i did my masters there were 3 ed classes you needed to take to get a TSHH. If you don't have a TSHH you can still work in private practice or in adult setttings (hospitals, nursing homes, etc).

A masters program in speech typically 4 practicum placements: 1 in an on-campus clinic, 1 adult placement, 1 child placement, and 1 other placement-either your student teaching or some other placement if you are not going the TSHH route. The first 3 are less time-generally 3 full days per week for a semester, but the student teaching is 5 full days a week for a semester

Graduate programs in speech pathology are VERY competitive and difficult to get into. When I applied to Hofstra I think they accepted about 30 out of about 400 If you check out the American Specch Language Pathology and Audiology website ASHA I think there is a section for prospective students that can give you a lot of information on programs and requirements.

The schools in the area that have masters programs are Hofstra, Adelphi, CW Post, St. John's, NYU, Columbia, and some of the CUNY schools. St. Joseph's has an undergrad program, but no masters.

I wouldn't worry about taking the LAST and ATS-W right now. You have plenty of time for those. I didn't take those until my last semester of grad school. The only thing you would need right now is to take the GRE. Most schools only have admissions once a year. They make decisions in the spring for the following fall. A masters program will take you 2 1/2 years if you go full-time including full time in 2 summers.

I've babbled a lot so I hope this is helpful. If you have any other questions let me know.
The good thing about speech is that there is a huge demand for SLPs so you won't have to worry about finding a job!

Well said Lisa (but then I would have said the same thing being we went to school together!)!! Definitely get your full certification from ASHA. Many schools (at least as far as I know on LI) will take people with their CCC over those who just have the TSHH (or whatever they are calling it now). It will also give you more options, such as doing early intervention, etc.

Lisa, How do you like your new job in NJ?