Virginia Department of Education's Career Switcher Program
An Alternative Route to Teacher Licensure

After two years of successful pilot programs, the Virginia Department of Education's Career Switcher Alternative Route to Licensure Program is now available at seven locations in the commonwealth. Program providers include George Mason University, Shenandoah University, Spotsylvania County Public Schools, Old Dominion University, Sylvan Teachers Institute, the Richmond Center of the University of Virginia School of Continuing and Professional Studies, and the Western Virginia Public Education Consortium. The career switcher program offers qualified men and women currently in other professions an opportunity to begin new careers as classroom teachers, without having to enroll in a traditional teacher preparation program at a college or university.

To qualify for the career switcher program in Virginia, applicants must have a bachelor's degree, have five years of work experience, meet the requirements for their desired teaching area, and and may be required to pass VA licensure exam(s) – Praxis II, VCLA, and/or VRA for beginning teachers. Career switchers participate in a preparation program that includes a minimum of 180 hours of classroom instruction and field experience.

Priority is given to applicants who are interested in teaching in the specific shortage areas - mathematics, science, foreign language, technology education, Work and Family Studies, agricultural education, and English as a Second Language. Males interested in teaching in the elementary and middle grades and minorities in all grades and disciplines are also priority candidates for the program.

Upon successful completion of the preparation phase of the program, participants are awarded a one-year eligibility license to teach in Virginia's public schools. Candidates subsequently employed by school divisions are paired with trained mentor teachers for one year. After a year of teaching with a mentor, candidates, upon the recommendation of their employers, become eligible to receive the regular five-year, renewable license.

Applications and other information about the career switcher program, including a listing of contacts for program providers, are available on the Division of Teacher Education and Licensure page of the Virginia Department of Education's Web site at www.pen.k12.va.us/VDOE/newvdoe/teached.html.

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