Charley wrote in about job fairs, with some frustration about the job fairs being open only to the graduates of those institutions. Here are a couple of ideas that might help you: 1) contact the job fair's sponsor to see if there is a way to register and attend as a non-graduate. I used to manage very large job fairs at Ohio State and they were for OSU graduates only. Yet, we had a system whereby someone not from OSU could register as a reciprocal attendee.
For Michele who was inquiring about being approached about an assistant principal position and wondered what licensure program to pursue --- from Dawn Jones, AAEE President, from Northern Ilinois University.
I would recommend that you obtain your Type 75 certification, especially if you envision progressing as an administrator in Illinois. The Type
75 is considered to be the standard for administrative positions. It will open far more doors for you than a master's degree in Teacher Leadership. If you peruse administrative openings - from assistant principal through superintendent - you will see that they almost always require a Type 75.
Your principal must think very highly of you to consider you for an assistant principalship, and it sounds like you will have some excellent administrative skills already.
Your experience may count for more than you expect, because that very experience might be useful to you as you complete the coursework for your Type 75. I've done many presentations for soon-to-be administrators, and they come from a wide variety of experiential backgrounds. Your background will help you to enrich your own curriculum as well as that of your cohort group.
I wish you the best of luck.
Dr. Dawn Jones
Michele in Illinois, who has been asked about taking an assistant principal position for next fall and already has administrative experience, wrote in to ask whether it would be better for her to obtain a principal's license or a Master's in Teacher Leadership. Jack Kronser, a school human resources director in the Denver area, responds: "I am an HR Director in Colorado but I came from Illinois. If you are being asked to look into the position of Assistant Principal, you will need a state license (Type 75 in Illinois, Principal License in CO) to be able to evaluate certificated or licensed staff at a building level. If you complete a Master's Degree in Teaching, that will not do it for you. You will need to enroll in a college or university program designed to complete an administrative licensing program."
The only thing I would mention in addition to Jack's advice is that the district might be able to ask the state—if your principal is willing to go to bat for you—for a temporary license until you can receive the full certification from a college or program. Also, you may be able to find programs that will talk with you about accepting courses of your previous Master's degree and/or your work experience in order to waive some of the required coursework.
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