Current educators who want to earn an advanced teaching degree and learn skills that benefit students in urban areas may consider enrolling in schools that are expanding educational opportunities in this field.
The Evergreen State College has announced it will add a masters degree program to its Tacoma campus offerings that will train teachers to work at schools located in at-risk neighborhoods, according to the News Tribune. Enrollment in the two-year program will begin in 2012, and a total of 50 students will be accepted each year.
In order to be eligible to pursue this degree, students must have earned a bachelors degree, passed state-required exams and met other requirements, the news source reports.
"The significance of [becoming a teacher in urban areas] is that you have a relationship, you have something you share - the same values, the same community," said Artee Young, director of the Tacoma campus. He added that program organizers hope that students in urban schools "who belong to ethnic minority groups [will] be able to 'see themselves' at the head of the classroom."
Employment of kindergarten, elementary, middle and secondary school teachers is expected to grow by 13 percent between 2008 and 2018, creating an estimated 468,600 new jobs, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
