Sideways: Sometimes upward career mobility means moving horizontally
Sideways: Sometimes upward career mobility means moving horizontally
North Carolina has the fifth fastest growing education system in the nation, but it’s commonly known that the need for new teachers each year is outpacing the number of college graduates who will go into education careers.
To play catch-up, school systems have begun investing time and resources into recruiting more college graduates, but also rely on mid-career professionals who have an interest in teaching.
The N.C. Department of Public Instruction mandates that these career-changers, called lateral entry teachers, meet certain prerequisites, which vary depending on the grade and subject being taught. Once a school system hires them, lateral entry teachers must meet testing requirements within the first two years of employment and finish their coursework within three years of starting it. Currently, Guilford County Schools (GCS) estimates that 10.8 percent of its educators are lateral entry teachers.
Ryan Cobb is one of them. About four years ago, Cobb, who spent 20 years in the military, says he received a job offer from a military contractor that would have paid him a hefty salary and solid benefits. But when his sister, a recruiter for GCS, encouraged him to apply for an opening for a high school electronics teacher, Cobb decided to go for it, surprising himself with the change of direction.
“Teaching really wasn’t in my five-year plan, mainly because I thought you had to have a four-year degree to do it,” says Cobb, 41.
In fact, the county’s program does generally require applicants to have a bachelor’s degree, but Cobb’s electronics and military background was considered commensurate experience for teaching a technical trade.
That experience landed him a job at Weaver Academy, a school for arts and technical education in Greensboro.
Cobb’s first day teaching was a sobering experience — there’s a vast difference between understanding a curriculum and the actual experience of teaching it — but a required 10-day intensive summer training program for lateral entry teachers and a supportive mentor at Weaver helped Cobb transition to his new profession with much success. In 2005, he was named GCS Rookie of the Year.
Cobb is passionate teaching his students not only about a possible trade, but also about life. At the beginning of the school year, he teaches a unit on goal-setting, encouraging students to think about their futures.
“Some of the kids in my classes are paying their own rent, have kids at home (or) don’t have a home,” Cobb says.
By teaching students a trade and bringing in companies to talk about jobs available in the community, Cobb tries to offer his students hope for a better future.
He also has his own goals. He will complete his lateral entry coursework this fall and begin a master’s program in education at N.C. A&T in the spring. He says he wants to become a principal some day.
Amy Holcombe, executive director of talent development for GCS, recommends those interested in making the leap into teaching from another career field begin by attending one of the lateral entry information sessions offered throughout the year by GCS.
Applicants start out with a bachelor’s degree from a regionally accredited university or college; other qualifications vary depending on the position and the subject one is interested in teaching. How easily one finds a position also depends on the subject one wants to teach. For example, candidates with science, math and special education backgrounds will generally have an easier time finding a job due to the number of openings.
“In a high-need position, it’s conceivable that within three to fours weeks of applying, you could be in the classroom,” Holcombe says.
Those seeking positions in other subject areas such as language arts, physical education, art and social studies might not find a job as quickly because there are sufficient numbers of teachers for those subjects.
Once hired, lateral entry teachers then need to begin their coursework and certification process, though they may not run concurrently. GCS hopes to streamline this process with help from its new Lateral Entry Resource and Advising Center. Through the center, Guilford will be the first county in the state to offer in-house licensure via an 18-month program taught by GCS master’s-level teachers and GTCC instructors.
“The classes are the same as those at a university, but personalized to GCS,” Holcombe says. “Our mission is to prepare and support lateral entry teachers so they become successful teachers and leaders in Guilford County schools,” says Holcombe, who started looking at ways to provide more support to lateral entry teachers when her father, a retired businessman, became a lateral entry teacher last fall. “It was a shock to him how different education was from the corporate world,” Holcombe explains. “It led me to realize how little support we provide to lateral entry teachers.”
Another avenue, NC TEACH (North Carolina Teachers of Excellence for All Children), is a statewide teacher preparation program for mid-career professionals and college graduates conducted at 11 host universities, including UNCG and N.C. A&T. Programs and schedules vary at each university, so interested individuals should contact the institutions directly for details.
Making it happen
Working at a new career and taking classes at night and on weekends may not be for everyone, and by anyone’s measure, teaching is a demanding job. But Holcombe says there is one common denominator for the most successful lateral entry teachers. “They’ve always dreamed of teaching — that is the story that we hear over and over,” she says.
For Lande Brady, teaching had always been “something that I looked at, but not what I went to college for.”
A lateral entry teacher at Page High School, Brady, 23, tutored children during high school and college, which initially got her thinking about a teaching career. When she graduated from Meredith College with a degree in biology, Brady turned away from the possibility of pursuing a career in business or research and opted to enter the GCS lateral entry teaching program instead. She’s in her second year teaching science at Page, and doesn’t regret her decision or the long hours she has had to put into coursework to become certified.
“I absolutely love it,” she says. “I just like explaining things to kids and seeing the light bulb (turn on).”
About lateral entry teaching
Salary: According to Guilford County Schools, the 10-month annual salary for a licensed first-year teacher with a bachelor’s is $34,730. This also would be a typical salary for a first-year lateral entry teacher with no experience teaching.
Cost:
For more information about lateral entry teaching:
■ Visit www.gcsnc.net/HR/lateral.htm, or call the Lateral Entry Resource and Advising Center at 378-8823.
■ Visit ncteach.ga.unc.edu to learn more about the NC TEACH program and its host universities.
Qualifications
To qualify for the Guilford County Schools Lateral Entry Teaching Program, you must have the following:
■ A four-year degree from a regionally accredited college or university
■ An overall GPA of 2.5
■ A degree directly related to the area you wish to teach
■ A 2.5 overall GPA and 24 semester hours in a particular subject if your degree is not related to what you want to teach (Example: If you have a degree in business administration, but want to teach math and have 24 semester hours in math, then you may be eligible.)
