If you're like me, maybe you want to become a teacher someday! To navigate the process, a lot of steps are required, and each requires you to deal with a separate institution (a K-12 school, a credentialing program, the ETS, the CTC, etc). It sure can seem like a lot. The process may change at any time, so keep an eye on the Commission on Teacher Credentialing (CTC) website.

So let me share some resources and what I learn along the way. Remember -- there are many different ways to become a teacher.

* Very helpful website that explains the process of becoming a teacher from many routes, and is kept up to date: http://www.teachcalifornia.org/require/index.html

A list of education terms/acronyms/jargon that I ran into and had to look up or ask someone about in the past:
-A-G (A through G): high school courses that provide eligibility to apply and attend a University of California (UC) or California State University (CSU) school as a freshman; http://www.ucop.edu/a-gGuide/ag/welcome.html
-AP Courses (Advance Placement Courses): subject-specific courses that students might take which prepare them to take AP Exams; passing an AP Exam may give college credit for the subject-specific material; http://www.collegeboard.com/student/testing/ap/subjects.html
-BCLAD (Bilingual, Cross-cultural, Language and Academic Development): out-dated certification process; people with older credentials may have this
-CBEST (California Basic Educational Skills Test): required test to pass before proceeding into a credentialing program; http://www.cbest.nesinc.com/
-CCTC/CTC (California Commission on Teacher Credentialing/Commission on Teacher Credentialing): the CA government section that regulates teacher credentialing; http://www.ctc.ca.gov/
-CLAD (Cross-cultural Language and Academic Development): “CLAD certified” means authorized to teach English Language Learners; http://www.ctc.ca.gov/help/english-learners/CLAD.html
-Clear Credential: the certification to teach as an experienced teacher; valid up to 5 years (must renew)
-Credential/Teaching Credential: the certification to teach
-CSET (California Subject Examination for Teachers): exams which can authorize you to teach in subject-specific areas; passing the tests in a subject category authorize you to teach classes in that subject as "highly qualified"; http://www.cset.nesinc.com/
-CTEL (California Teacher of English Learners): this might be out-dated (there’s a CTEL examination; http://www.ctel.nesinc.com/)
-ECO (Early Completion Option): an option in some intern credential programs to speed up the process by exam; http://www.ctc.ca.gov/credentials/leaflets/cl840.pdf
-EdJoin (california’s premiere online education job search site): a place to upload your resume/cv, cover letter, test scores, recommendation letters, etc. in order to apply to many education/teaching jobs in CA (not all schools/districts post here, but most do); http://www.edjoin.org
-ELL/EL (English Language Learner/English Learner): a label given to students who are learning English (and usually not considered proficient)
-ELP/EP (English Language Proficient/English Proficient): a label given to students who have achieved English proficiency and are no longer English Language Learners
-Highly Qualified: part of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2011 required teachers to demonstrate mastery of the subject area in which they teach; passing CSET tests in the subject area or (sometimes) obtaining a degree in the subject area demonstrate this mastery
-IEP (Individualized Education Program/Individual Education Plan): a plan for a single student to meet his/her unique educational needs based on one more more disabilities, regulated federally
-Intern Credential: the certification to teach as an intern teacher (no prior teaching experience); valid up to 2 years (and then must obtain a Preliminary Credential)
-Intern Teaching Track: a fast-paced teaching track to obtain a teaching credential; the future-teacher begins immediately teaching as the main teacher of record in a classroom (without previously shadowing a teacher in a Student Teacher program); the intern teacher must simultaneously take credentialing coursework; the intern teacher gets paid as any other teacher gets paid; the intern teacher must get hired by a school, competing with other applicants who may be fully credentialed already
-K12/K-12 (Kindergarten through Twelfth grades): acronym commonly used to describe the combined elementary and secondary public school system; not to be confused by the "K12" company that sells computer-based learning curriculum
-LCD (Linguistically and Culturally Diverse)
-LOTE (Languages Other Than English)
-MAE (Master of Arts in Education)
-Multiple Subject Credential: the certification to teach students everything in the elementary level (elementary school and middle school core)
-NCLB (No Child Left Behind): an act passed in 2001 (W. Bush) which regulates current teacher requirements and K-12 standardized assessments/testing in the US
-OTF (Oakland Teaching Fellows): a fellowship which places accepted candidates as intern teachers in Oakland Unified School District; http://www.oaklandteachingfellows.org/
-Preliminary Credential: the certification to teach as a novice teacher (with experience from student teaching or intern teaching); valid up to 5 years (and then must obtain a Clear Credential)
-Single Subject Credential: the certification to teach subject-specific material in the secondary level (high school and middle school)
-Student Teaching Track: the “traditional” teaching track to obtain a credential; requires the future-teacher to assist/shadow in a classroom (without pay) with a master/mentor teacher in order to gain experience; must simultaneously take credentialing coursework
-Teacher Residency program: a program which prepares/assists future-teachers in job placement within their system after completion of requirements (such as student teaching in the school); must simultaneously obtain a credential; some SF Bay Area programs: teachforamerica.org, oaklandteachingfellows.org, aspirepublicschools.org/?q=atr, sfedfund.org/programs/leadership_overview.php
-TFA (Teach For America): a fellowship which places accepted candidates as intern teachers somewhere in the US (not necessarily in CA); http://www.teachforamerica.org/
-TFE (Teaching Foundations Exam): an exam that intern credential candidates need to take if they follow the ECO track; waives ~12 units of coursework; http://www.ctc.ca.gov/educator-prep/TFE-FAQ.html; http://www.ets.org/praxis/ca/requirements/

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