Masters in Teaching Jobs and Careers
The MIT is almost exclusively a teaching degree. On an individual basis a teacher with seniority who holds a master’s degree may find himself accepted for administrative jobs within a school or a school district, based on performance and ability. However the great majority of master’s in teaching graduates are employed in jobs for which they trained – teaching.
A master’s degree definitely has value as a salary booster. Almost every public school district in the country has a salary scale for teachers based on years of service – one set of figures for teaches with a bachelor’s degree, and another set of figures for master’s in teaching graduates. The average difference appears to be about $4,000 per year.
1. Elementary School Teacher: Teachers in this educational segment do it all. They teach every subject to first through fifth graders including history, math, reading, language arts, social studies, penmanship – the list changes with each year. Teachers at this level generate lesson plans and grade homework, working with individual students that are having difficulties.
2. Early Childhood Education: This term can apply to pre-school, nursery schools, day care programs or at the public school level, kindergarten. The larger programs that might be found in licensed pre-schools, community organizations such as the YWCA, and church-based organizations need licensed early childhood education professionals as staffers and as managers. This field is a good opportunity for management work with a teaching degree.
3. Middle School Teacher: This choice for a master’s in teaching will require a double major of sorts. Middle school teachers are expected to manage classrooms in general but also to be accomplished in teaching one or two specialized subjects. Thus a master’s in teaching at the middle school level may include training in teaching mathematics and science, or English and social studies.
4. High School Math Teacher: School districts across the country are looking for teachers with the training and licensure for teaching mathematics in high school. At the secondary school level math teachers must pass a competency exam in order to obtain a state teaching credential. Students who enroll in a master’s in teaching program for secondary school math must have college level experience in algebra, calculus and statistics.
5. High School Science Teacher: Those who teach high school science are usually confined to one field: biology, chemistry or physics. The masters in teaching program for secondary school science requires that enrollees have an undergraduate background in the relevant science. Teaching science in high school can be an interesting proposition because there will always be a few students who are both adept at the subject and fascinated, and because the teacher is working in a lab as well as in a classroom.
6. High School English Teacher: This is a great job for undergraduate English majors who love literature. Each grade level provides a different platform for introduction to literature, allowing the teacher to develop reading and discussion lists for varying levels of maturity. It is also an opportunity to help students who are lagging in literacy skills and to encourage those who show writing ability. This is a teaching career focused on communication with the written word.
7. Special Education Early Childhood is a master’s in teaching choice for those who wish to work with children from three to eight years of age. The students may have cognitive or mild physical disabilities and may exhibit behavioral challenges as well. For many children with learning disabilities in this age range they are still in the diagnostic phase so teachers may play a role in that function as well.
8. Special Education Middle Childhood requires a teaching professional with a lot of patience, as he or she will be working with kids who are not only challenged by learning disability but also by early adolescence. This is the grade 4 through grade 9 age range. In many states special education teaching licenses are segmented by age group as in Ohio. In other states they are also segmented by type of disability such as cognitive, physical, behavioral or emotional.
9. Special Education Adolescent to Young Adult: This age segment addresses the special education requirements for high school students. Studies of special education in high school suggest that about nine percent of all students receive some sort of support for special education needs, from visual or hearing impairment to behavioral and psychological difficulties. At the high school level school counselors often play an active role in special education management.
10. Special Education Cognitive Disability: The range of problems that can affect cognition in a child is vast and multifaceted. There are physical problems, neurological problems, genetic issues and behavioral challenges that a teacher in this field may confront. That is what makes the job so difficult and accordingly, so rewarding. These classes are usually segmented by age in order to try and limit the behavioral issues associated with age.
