With its mountains, seacoast and spectacular scenery, many recent graduates look for educational opportunities in Maine. In compliance with the No Child left Behind Act, Maine is committed to hiring highly qualified teachers. Therefore, if you are looking for a teaching job in this state, you need to hold a Bachelor's degree or Master’s degree from an accredited university as well as graduation from a teacher preparation program. The major concentration of your course work in your degree program should include no less than eight courses in a subject area taught in the regular school system. You must pass the Praxis 11 exam in that content area if you only hold a Bachelor's degree. This will make you eligible to apply for Maine teacher certification, which you must have before you apply for a job.
For the education opportunities in Maine, you will have to meet the requirements set out in the document, ''The Maine Model of Hiring Highly Qualified Teachers''. It is important for new teachers to consult this document in order to know exactly what qualifications they need for the various teaching positions that are advertised. If you are a secondary teacher qualified to teach in one content area for your teacher certification, you can qualify for other content areas through the HOUSSE program, but this must be done within three years of receiving your certificate.
There are four types of teaching certificates issued in this state, which provides education opportunities in Maine for teachers to advance in their careers. Once you receive an initial teaching certificate, you must engage in continuing education, such as courses that will qualify you with extra teaching credentials, or professional activities approved by the school district. These courses will enable you to move on to the professional level of certification. In addition, as you obtain further post-graduate degrees, you can take the Praxis exams qualifying you to apply for positions of assistant principal, principal and superintendent.
When you see education opportunities in Maine that you would like to apply for but are not sure if you have the right qualifications, check out the specific positions to see if you may be exempt from writing the Praxis exams. This includes Health teachers, Physical Education teachers, teachers of industrial and vocational education courses, and other specialists, such as speech pathologists and librarians. However, this applies only if you are providing support to other teachers, the students and their parents. If you are involved in teaching classes on students on your own, you will need to meet the requirements for certification.
There are education opportunities in Maine for all kinds of personnel in the field of Education. This includes paraprofessionals, such as Reading Specialists who work with students encountering reading difficulties and teacher assistants who work in the classroom along with certified teachers providing support and assistance to students. National Board Teacher certification is accepted in Maine and the state has incentives in place to help teachers with the cost of enrolling in this program.
