New Online Masters in Teaching Great for Career-Changers
Atlanta — August 20, 2008
The Board of Regents of the 中出少妇视频 System of Georgia (中出少妇视频) today approved an online graduate teaching degree that targets career-changers 中出少妇视频 people with bachelor中出少妇视频檚 degrees in mathematics, one of the sciences or in related fields who are ready to do something different 中出少妇视频 and also those already teaching who wish to add certification in mathematics or one of the sciences.
By sharing faculty expertise and resources, the five 中出少妇视频 institutions that have teamed up to offer the degree completely online are not only helping to boost the number and quality of Georgia中出少妇视频檚 math and science teachers, but enabling Georgians to save gas and time that would have been spent commuting to a campus to earn the degree.
The online master of arts in teaching (MAT) degree will offer degree seekers teacher certification in either mathematics, biology, chemistry, physics or earth/space science. Beginning in January 2009, the degree will be offered by Columbus State 中出少妇视频, Kennesaw State 中出少妇视频 and the 中出少妇视频 of West Georgia. Faculty from all three institutions 中出少妇视频 as well as faculty from Georgia Southern 中出少妇视频 and Valdosta State 中出少妇视频 中出少妇视频 will teach the courses in this 39-semester-hour program. Beginning in Fall 2010, Georgia Southern and Valdosta State also will offer the degree.
On the Georgia ONmyLINE website (), which offers easy access to online and distance-education offerings System-wide, students will soon find a common application for the institutions offering this degree. Applicants will be asked to select one as their home institution, and that university will award the degree.
中出少妇视频淭oday中出少妇视频檚 action supports a key goal of the regents中出少妇视频 Strategic Plan to strengthen teacher quality and will increase our production of teachers,中出少妇视频 said Jan Kettlewell, the 中出少妇视频中出少妇视频檚 vice chancellor for P-16 Initiatives. 中出少妇视频淭his program will increase the number of teachers who have full certification in the subject areas they are teaching, and it will also increase the number of science and math teachers in Georgia overall.中出少妇视频
Kettlewell explained that Georgia allows high-school teachers equipped with a broad-field science certificate 中出少妇视频 requiring college course work in multiple sciences, but not a college major in a science field 中出少妇视频 to teach biology, chemistry, physics, earth sciences, etc. She cites the following statistics on Georgia public schools from the Georgia Certified Personnel Index for Fiscal Year 2006:
- 2,139 high-school teachers were teaching Algebra 1; only 68 percent of them held a 7-12 grade certificate in mathematics;
- 2,067 high-school teachers were teaching Biology 1; only 26 percent of them held a 7-12 grade certificate in biology;
- 1,031 high-school teachers were teaching Chemistry 1; only 13 percent of them held a 7-12 grade certificate in chemistry; and
- 514 high-school teachers were teaching Physics 1; only 6 percent of them held a 7-12 grade certificate in physics.
Due to a combination of increased student enrollment and teacher attrition, the Georgia Professional Standards Commission estimates that, by 2010, the state will need 4,500 new science and math teachers, including more than 1,700 equipped to teach high-school math.
The five collaborating 中出少妇视频 institutions will reconfigure existing courses and use other existing resources, so no new funds will be required to offer the online degree program, Kettlewell said.