Idaho State University in Pocatello has an interesting program going on for teachers. Teachers normally have to take college credits for certificate renewals (i.e. Maryland teachers need 6 credits every five years up until you hit a certain age.) Some districts also allow college credits to be used to move up the pay scale (in my district 12 credits = one pay bump. This can be combined with points you get for yearly evaluations.)

Many colleges and universities have catered to teachers needing continuing ed for years through online programs. They have been pretty typical college courses, from what I've heard, going a semester in length with readings, quizzes and tests, papers, and perhaps online meetings, etc.

But Idaho State has mastered the game. They offer online courses for teachers that only require online readings and quizzes. You can retake the quizzes if you fail the first time or two. A typical class is eight blocks. Teachers in my district are taking these classes like crazy. Idaho State lets us take up to 30 credits per semester. If teachers are familiar with the material, they have been able to complete classes in as little as 30 minutes to two hours. Some classes might take a couple of weeks. Plus the classes are inexpensive. A three credit class is $165.00.

From what I can tell, little to no human intervention is needed on ISU's end of things once the classes are up and running. If you pass each quiz, you are awarded college credit. This is easy money for ISU. My school district is accepting these credits as of right now, but will probably clamp down on our next contract. We can't have teachers earing too much money, now can we, lol? I joke with my colleagues that ISU will probably have to declare some of us alumni at some point. Go Bengals!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/24/2024 10:04AM by summer.

My wife's daughter is in a similar situation in Oregon. Because of the teacher shortage, her school is paying for her Masters to get her quicker advancement (more pay).

BTW, I spent many Friday and Saturday nights at the Bengal Hut.

It sounds like they are paying 100% for her Master's degree? That's awesome. My district pays 75% for a first Master's and any additional courses needed to recertify. After that it's 50%. This is typical for unionized districts.

I came to the job with a Master's degree, so I've only needed to take recertification courses. I took them inexpensively through my local community college. I didn't bother to apply for reimbursement because the deadlines for the associated paperwork were tight, and I didn't care to deal with them, especially considering that my classes were so cheap.

I don't know what to think about this.

Is the quality of the information/class/quiz good enough that it really provides the continuing education teachers may need to keep current? Or is it just a way to exchange some money and wink that they learned something to fill the requirement? ISU isn't horrible. I would think some of the material is helpful.

Idaho has rural teachers who can't afford the continuing ed. The schools are trying to help with it. I know one district has some continuing ed time off and the teachers head here to Pocatello.

Idaho is paying more lip service to helping schools, and I'm figuring out it might be because proliferation of weird charter schools is skyrocketing (thanks to new rules that allow tax payer money to go to private schools hurting public schools even more). These private schools need teachers and pay even worse in many cases. Even in public schools, they are having to hire some unqualified people because there are not enough teachers.

Anecdotally, I know of one school here in Idaho that hired a relative of the administration with no qualifications to basically be a warm body to babysit some classes. The kids deserve so much better. Sigh.

I regard it as being a bit of a scam compared to traditional college courses, since the workload is reduced. But my colleagues say that they are learning things.

You have to understand the "why" of it. The teachers where I live are tired of just scraping by, and if ISU is going to offer an easy way to earn more money, they are going to grab it.

The red states are typically very stingy with teacher pay (Texas is a notable exception, but even their districts often tend to underpay compared to the associated COL.) A typical salary range for Idaho teachers is $45K - $67K per year. I don't know how that compares to the cost of living there, but it's low by any standard. Compare that to all Maryland districts that will start new teachers off at a minimum $60K next fall. My new contract takes us up to $110K, with even higher pay for department heads and lead teachers. If I take 12 ISU credits, that will bump me up over $100K. Honestly, I've waited for my entire career to be paid decently. This is the first really good contract that I've gotten. I only started to earn good money after year 25. That's a long time for someone with a Master's +40 and two certifications to wait.

I think it's a good thing that Idaho teachers can take courses for not much money. They definitely need the help. It might be that ISU designed these courses with the rural Idaho teachers in mind. But teachers across the country are taking them as well.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/24/2024 11:55AM by summer.