Teacher & Administrator Preparation
Options for Pursuing a Career
A number of traditional and non-traditional options are available for persons interested in pursuing a career in education.
Traditional Route
- Colleges & Universities With Approved Educator Preparation Programs
Information on the more than three dozen public and private colleges and universities throughout Virginia that provide programs of study for aspiring educators and continuing education opportunities for veteran teachers.
Alternative Routes
An individual may be eligible for an educator license even if an approved traditional educator preparation program was not completed. An alternate route to licensure is any route to licensure that is not an approved teacher preparation program or via reciprocity. There are multiple alternate routes to licensure in Virginia. An individual may have allowable deficiencies and must be employed in a public school division or accredited nonpublic school to be issued a provisional license through an alternate route.
- Career Switcher, Alternative Route to Licensure
This program is designed to assist individuals from various occupational and life experiences become classroom teachers. Persons interested in this option must apply for admission to one of colleges and institutions around the state offering a certified program. - iteach, Alternate Route to Licensure - This program is a competency-based preparation program for educators that combines the convenience of online learning with the support of face-to-face mentorship. Persons interested in this option must seek employment with an approved partnering school division and meet identified requirements prior to applying with iteach.
- Troops to Teachers (TTT) Virginia Center - TTT Virginia Center is Virginia's program for the Troops to Teachers National Office and is administered by William & Mary for the Virginia Department of Education.
Resources
- Regulations Governing the Review and Approval of Education Programs in Virginia
- Virginia Teaching Scholarship Loan Program (VTSLP)
Information on applying for tuition support for students preparing to teach in one of Virginia's critical shortage teaching areas. - Title II State Reports – Virginia
Each state receiving Title II funding is required to report annually on the quality of teacher preparation in the state, including the pass rates by teacher preparation programs. The 2008 reauthorization of the Higher Education Act made sweeping changes to the data collection required under Title II. The 2010 state reports are the first reports submitted by states under the reauthorized law.
Regional Accreditation Organizations
- Higher Learning Commission (HLC)
- Middle States Commission on Higher Education
- New England Association of Schools and Colleges
- Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities
- Southern Association of Colleges and Schools
- WASC Senior College and University Commission