DENTON, Texas — In an effort to fill more than 3,500 teaching vacancies, the Virginia Department of Education has chosen iteach as the identified partner for alternative teachers certification in 24 divisions of the Commonwealth. Now, Virginians with bachelor’s degrees can use iteach’s innovative hybrid model to navigate the process of becoming certified K-12 educators.
“The program will help us build a larger applicant pool to include current teacher assistants and substitute teachers who possess a bachelor’s degree,” said Paige Tucker, director, talent acquisition and management-licensed staffing in the Department of Human Resources at Arlington Public Schools. “iteach can be utilized with our current provisional teachers as a more affordable and efficient alternative to obtaining their license. iteach will also help us recruit in our most high-need areas, which include special education and elementary.”
For aspiring teachers who have completed a bachelor’s degree, the iteach program offers a 1-year path to teacher certification, making it both faster and less expensive than certification through a university. Teachers complete iteach coursework online on a flexible schedule, and earn full pay while they complete their in-classroom teaching requirements. While they’re enrolled, they have free access to the Teaching Channel professional development platform and test prep from Passage Preparation. Once they’re hired, the district will assign each new teacher a Classroom Supervisor to help them navigate the challenges of their first year in the classroom.
“We’re excited to help districts across Virginia educate and certify the highly qualified K-12 teachers they need, while at the same time helping students, recent college graduates, or career-changers find their calling in the classroom,” said Andrew Rozell, the president of iteach. “This partnership will serve Virginia’s schools and families, and will help students learn the skills they need to thrive in today’s world.”
iteach currently works with more than 1,500 districts and Local Education Agencies (LEA) in 11 states and is the only non-university alternative teacher certification program that has earned accreditation from the Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation. According to their most recent survey, 96% of school administrators and HR professionals would recommend iteach to their peers.
For more information on how to become a teacher in Virginia and other states in which iteach is available, visit iteach.net.
About iteach
iteach is a competency-based educator preparation program that combines the convenience of online learning with a full year of face-to-face mentorship from Classroom Supervisors during a teaching residency. The organization was founded in 2003 to help talented people become teachers while avoiding the high costs and time commitments of some traditional educator-preparation programs. To date, iteach has helped more than 20,000 teachers become certified. The iteach model, which includes free access to professional development resources from Teaching Channel and test prep from Passage Preparation, has been so successful at preparing great educators on a large scale that the program now offers state-approved certification programs in 11 states and counting. Learn more at iteach.net.
