I know this is not an imm. quest but...
 

To any British teachers living and working in the USA who have been through this (or if you know one could you ask them?).

I have just started climbing the huge mountain of form filling to apply for certification as a teacher in Washington State.

Part of this proceedure has been to pay huge amounts of money to have my academic qualificaions assessed for US equivalency. This has now been done but the establishment which undertook the task have said that my P.G.C.E. doesn't count for anything and hasn't been recognised as any graduate level study.

Is this really the case and it doesn't count for anything? Not even one tiny credit or two?? To be honest the angency didn't inspire me with much confidence and they even got my name wrong on the cover letter they sent back (used my maiden name!)

Any info on this matter would be gratefully received.

Many thanks for looking at this.

Missiemoo

Re: I know this is not an imm. quest but...
 

Missiemoo wrote:
    > To any British teachers living and working in the USA who have been
    > through this (or if you know one could you ask them?).
    > I have just started climbing the huge mountain of form filling to apply
    > for certification as a teacher in Washington State.
    > Part of this proceedure has been to pay huge amounts of money to have my
    > academic qualificaions assessed for US equivalency. This has now been
    > done but the establishment which undertook the task have said that my
    > P.G.C.E. doesn't count for anything and hasn't been recognised as any
    > graduate level study.

What is a PGCE ?? I suspect they are probably thinking it to be some
variant on a GCE like O or A levels!

Stuart

Re: I know this is not an imm. quest but...
 

Missiemoo wrote:
> To be honest the angency didn't inspire me with
> much confidence and they even got my name wrong on the cover letter they
> sent back (used my maiden name!)

Well, I can't tell you anything about teacher certification, but a few
years ago, one company "certified" my (German computer science) degree
as barely being equivalent to a U.S. bachelor's degree and another
company certified the same degree as being superior to a U.S. master's
degree.

Bottom line: There seem to be wide variations when it comes to these
companies.

Good luck,
Thorsten

Re: I know this is not an imm. quest but...
 

A P.G.C.E is a 'Postgraduate Certificate in Education' which is usually a one year postgraduate course, undertaken at a University or similar educational establishment.

The course requires attendance to lectures & tutorials at the University, completion of a period of teaching practice (in local schools) and coursework. There is, however, no exam.

Successfully undertaking a P.G.C.E. course after completion of your degree is one of the routes you can take to become qualified as a teacher in the UK.

Regards
Missiemoo

Re: I know this is not an imm. quest but...
 

Missiemoo wrote:
    > A P.G.C.E is a 'Postgraduate Certificate in Education' which is usually
    > a one year postgraduate course, undertaken at a University or similar
    > educational establishment.
    > The course requires attendance to lectures & tutorials at the
    > University, completion of a period of teaching practice (in local
    > schools) and coursework. There is, however, no exam.
    > Successfully undertaking a P.G.C.E. course after completion of your
    > degree is one of the routes you can take to become qualified as a
    > teacher in the UK.
    > Regards
    > Missiemoo

That's what I thought you were referring to ... I do suspect the
evaluator didn't realize that's what it was and thought it was a GCE of
some kind which considering they couldn't even get your name right isn't
surprising!

I'd demand your money back and go to someone else who will hopefully do
it right!

Re: I know this is not an imm. quest but...
 

"Missiemoo" wrote in message
news:437248.1034101790@britishexpats-
.com...

    > To any British teachers living and working in the USA who have been
    > through this (or if you know one could you ask them?).
    > I have just started climbing the huge mountain of form filling to apply
    > for certification as a teacher in Washington State.
    > Part of this proceedure has been to pay huge amounts of money to have my
    > academic qualificaions assessed for US equivalency.

This makes me wonder. I would not regard the $50 to $75 charged by most
credential evaluation agencies as "huge amounts of money." Did you use one
of these
http://www.naces.org/members.htm?

This has now been
    > done but the establishment which undertook the task have said that my
    > P.G.C.E. doesn't count for anything and hasn't been recognised as any
    > graduate level study.
    > Is this really the case and it doesn't count for anything? Not even one
    > tiny credit or two?? To be honest the angency didn't inspire me with
    > much confidence and they even got my name wrong on the cover letter they
    > sent back (used my maiden name!)

I tend to agree with Stuart that you should try to get your money back.

Re: I know this is not an imm. quest but...
 

Well, I also paid 70$ and $ 65 for two agencies two evaluate my credentials. If you are an intern, like me, and don't earn much money, 135$ are a HUGH amount. I think, it depends on everybodys situation... Not everybody has much money, least of all for agencies which don't do their jobs correctly.

Re: I know this is not an imm. quest but...
 

Now I feel completely ripped off as it was $220!!!!!!!!! Had to go with one of the Credentials Evaluation services on the list provided by the Dept of Public Instruction of Washingtom State. Have already got another quote by another service and they 'only' charge $150 and say my postgraduate cert. would be worth something. What a racket!!!!:mad: but do I trust them and part with my next huge amount of money????:confused:

Re: I know this is not an imm. quest but...
 

Ivonne wrote:
    > Well, I also paid 70$ and $ 65 for two agencies two evaluate my
    > credentials. If you are an intern, like me, and don't earn much money,
    > 135$ are a HUGH amount. I think, it depends on everybodys situation...
    > Not everybody has much money, least of all for agencies which don't do
    > their jobs correctly.
    > --
    > Posted via http://britishexpats.com

If $135 is going to make too big a hole in your budget, you REALLY
should have second thoughts about coming to the US at all! You will be
parting with a lot of money quickly for apartment rents, car etc. The
first disaster like a car crash or medical emergency could bankrupt you!

Not wanting to throw a wet blanket on the flame, but experience has
shown that to come to the US you really should have some money to back
yourself up.

Stuart

Re: I know this is not an imm. quest but...
 

Dear Stuart,

so you say, only those, who have money should come to the united states? I don't think so.

Besides, I am already here. I live with my fiance, who has an L1, and he pays for everything (rent, food...) except my personal expenses. I don't want him to pay for that too. So I have to live from my small wage from my internship. I am insured (as well car as health insurance), so I am completely secured here. Nevertheless, to some people, 135$ can be very much.

I know, that life is expensive. I just wanted to say, that it sounded (to me) a little bit arrogant to say 80$ isn't a hugh amount. As if everybody is born in a rich family!

Have a nice day.

Ivonne

Re: I know this is not an imm. quest but...
 

"Ivonne" wrote in message
news:439248.1034255538@britishexpats-
.com...

    > so you say, only those, who have money should come to the united states?
    > I don't think so.
    > Besides, I am already here. I live with my fiance, who has an L1, and
    > he pays for everything (rent, food...) except my personal expenses. I
    > don't want him to pay for that too. So I have to live from my small
    > wage from my internship. I am insured (as well car as health
    > insurance), so I am completely secured here. Nevertheless, to some
    > people, 135$ can be very much.
    > I know, that life is expensive. I just wanted to say, that it sounded
    > (to me) a little bit arrogant to say 80$ isn't a hugh amount. As if
    > everybody is born in a rich family!

Hey, Ivonne, watch out who you are calling arrogant! ;-) I just had a
feeling about the way Missiemoo referred to "huge amounts of money," and --
guess what -- I turned out to be right! Missiemoo had paid 3 times the
going rate.

For what the credential evaluation agency is actually doing, $70 is a
reasonable amount of compensation. The laborer is worthy of his hire.

Re: I know this is not an imm. quest but...
 

Silvia,

I didn't call you arrogant (since I don't know you, I'd never dare to built an opinion like this about you or somebody else in this Forum) but I said that your writing sounded (to me) arrogant! That's a big difference.

Re: I know this is not an imm. quest but...
 

Ivonne wrote:
    > Silvia,
    > I didn't call you arrogant (since I don't know you, I'd never dare to
    > built an opinion like this about you or somebody else in this Forum) but
    > I said that your writing sounded (to me) arrogant! That's a big
    > difference.

A "straight ahead" posting sytle like Sylvia's is often mistaken for
arrogance on usenet.