MAPQT Program Looking for Future Teachers
With teacher shortage numbers reaching near 1,500 in the state, the Mississippi Community College Foundation provides an outlet to put professionals from other careers into the classroom.
Since 2002 the foundation has offered the Mississippi Alternate Route to Quality Teaching program to more than nearly 2,000 adults, most of whom have found a productive career in education. The program was developed at the request of the State Department of Education because of the tremendous shortage of certified teachers.
Dr. Howell Garner, Executive Director of the Mississippi Community College Foundation, said this is one of three programs offered in the state to help with the teacher shortage problem.
“The state has a big shortage of certified teachers, and there will continue to be a shortage, especially as the ‘baby boomers’ begin to retire within the next few years,” Garner said. “The most recent numbers I have seen are in the neighborhood of 1,400 – 1,500.” Of those participants who have completed the MAPQT program since inception, Garner said about 85 percent of those have been successful in securing teaching positions.
“The success rate of job placement into the teaching profession has varied somewhat from year to year,” Garner said. “Participants learn about teaching pedagogy and the program provides hands on practical experiences on how to teach and does not teach subject matter as a primary goal.”
Of the three programs offered in the state, Garner said the benefit of the alternate route program is that people who have finished a bachelor’s degree in areas other than teacher education and that do not lead directly into a professional job can become a certified teacher in only a year. “They become a tax-paying citizen of the state in an honorable profession that needs them,” Garner said.
In a report released in July 2008 that rated the three alternate route teacher programs, Dr. Emily Feistritzer from the National Center for Alternative Certification indicated a high level of competence for teachers who completed the alternate route.
“I think our participants compare quite favorably with regular teacher education majors who graduate from a university program,” Garner said.
This year the MAPQT program will accept 250 people into one of its seven sites around the state. The program consists of a three-week, 90-hour course during the summer along with one class meeting each month throughout the first year of teaching. Participants must possess a bachelor’s degree or higher and must have successfully completed Praxis I and Praxis II in the field in which certification is sought.
Maurice Singleton originally majored in Journalism and minored in English and has worked in sales, public relations and diversity relations for many years. He also spent some time teaching English as a second language.
For many years he thought about changing careers to be a teacher, but first thought it would take too much time and would be difficult. He started the MAPQT program at the Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College site in Gautier in June 2009.
“I often regretted not getting a teaching degree,” Singleton said. “I believed that I could impact young people; so when I learned of this program, I researched and was excited that I could get certified and licensed in a reasonable amount of time while I was actually working.”
Singleton has completed half of his first year as a licensed teacher. He currently teaches seventh grade reading in the Pass Christian School District. He said going through the MAPQT program attracted him due to its length of time and requirements for certification.
“Along with a background in teaching English as a second language and a broad base of professional work experience, MAPQT was quite an attractive alternative,” Singleton said. “MAPQT provides a facilitator who has valuable experience and insight. She understands what we are going through, and she encourages us. She focuses on the rewards---how we make a difference and how important it is for us to bring our varied experiences into the classroom.”
Singleton also enjoys networking with the 17 other professionals who have made this career change.
“Sharing the classroom with 17 other professionals with varied experience who are at the same place is great,” Singleton said. “Our exchanges in the classroom are invaluable for our success as teachers.”
After starting college with plans to finish a degree in biological medical science and then go straight into pre-medical school, Jessica Wilkes changed her mind and her career path.
“I did not decide until almost a year after I graduated from college to pursue a career in education,” Wilkes said. “While in school, I planned on getting a pre-med degree and going to medical school.”
With a good grasp on the sacrifices involved in going to medical school along with the amount of time the schooling would take, Wilkes said she changed her mind during her senior year.
“Education was never a back-up, but more of an “ah-ha!” moment,” Wilkes said. “Despite being around educators my entire life, it never entered my mind to be a teacher. One day, someone suggested education, and it was only then that I stopped long enough to think of it as a possibility—and the rest is history!”
Or maybe it is a matter of science, because Wilkes now spends her time in a science classroom with middle school students. She has enjoyed the change in career decisions and knows she made the right choice.
“Prior to starting the MAPQT program, I attended Mississippi College and graduated in May 2008. After that, I worked in retail until I was hired by Gulfport School District in July 2009,” she said. “I chose education because I wanted to make a difference in the community. I chose middle school because I remember it being a tough age, and the right teacher can make the transition from elementary school to high school all the better.”
Wilkes said the MAPQT program has been a tremendous help during her novice year of teaching. She said the Saturday class sessions provide her and her cohorts time to talk and share experiences.
“This includes any problems, concerns, and successes the class is having, and talking about those experiences has been some of the most valuable information I’ve encountered this school year,” Wilkes said. “This class has truly been an asset during this learning process.”
Applications are being accepted now through April 30, 2010 for the upcoming MAPQT sessions. For more information, please contact the Mississippi Community College Foundation office at or (601)321-3902.
Maurice Singleton, a seventh grade language arts teacher at Pass Christian Middle School, made the career change into education. He is having a successful first year in the classroom.
