Pursuing your teaching license in the State of North Carolina will allow you to obtain credentials to remain in your classroom after your Corps Commitment. It will also allow you to pursue other leadership opportunities both inside and outside of the classroom. We see obtaining your teaching license as a critical step in your professional development - one that will provide you with key pedagogical knowledge to ensure your students are successful in the classroom.
Certification
In Eastern North Carolina, corps members obtain their teaching license through coursework with our partner university, East Carolina University. You will take two courses during your first year of teaching and two courses during your second year of teaching and then will have your full license by the summer of your second year (you will teach on a residency license as a corps member). In-state tuition for East Carolina University is approximately $1,400. Corps members are responsible for tuition fees, which are paid in payments to East Carolina University. Classes for your first year will total $400, and the remainder of tuition will be paid in their second year. Corps members may use their Americorps funding to cover their second year fees.
Graduate School
At this time, it is not possible to complete a master’s degree at the end of the two years. East Carolina University offers master’s degree options for corps members, but they begin the summer after your second year of teaching.
Pre-Service Training
Pre-service starts with Institute and continues through the first 90 days of teaching in the classroom. Corps members will continue to get support in their development as a teacher in a more responsive way throughout two years in the classroom. Here’s a look at the pre-service experience:
Institute
As a corps member you will go through a virtual centralized training that will serve as the foundation of how to become a teacher leader. You will begin to establish your pedagogical foundation, develop a deeper understanding of our theory of change in Teach for America and begin to grapple with the reflections from your experiences both during and pre-institute on what it will take for you to become a teacher leader. The virtual experience will happen with you and other 2021 corps members across the country which is very exciting! It will be the start and not the end of your training as a teacher in Teach for America.
Transition to Region
Once you have completed Institute, you will begin working more closely with your region where you can start to apply the lessons that you’ve learned at Institute within the context of your community. You will also continue to build relationships with the staff and corps members within your region. This still won’t be the end of your training to become a great teacher at Teach for America!
First 90 Days of Intensive Support
As you gear up to enter your classroom at the start of Fall 2021, you will receive intensive support and development during the first 90 days in your classroom to help continue to onboard you into the profession of teaching.