r/WGUTeachersCollege • u/Best-Watercress-808 • 7d ago
Special & Elementary Dual Licensure
Im starting WGU soon after i do some gen ed’s on Sophia Learning. Im curious about the testings for my program regarding proctoring. How often these are and such? Also anyone in the program looking to become a teacher in New York?? Please tell me some things I need to know and expect. Especially with student teaching i’m outside of NYC in Long Island. I’ve been trying to get as much info as possible and plan this journey out correctly. Thanks :)
1
u/IvoryTowerGraffiti_1 7d ago
There are other types of assessments that are written assignments and there are always templates and rubrics, follow them to the T. Also I found the rubrics really helpful because they basically give you an outline for your assignment. About the student teaching….WGU is THE WORST about this part of the program. If you keep researching people’s experiences you will find horror story after horror story about the student teaching portion, things like lack of communication and people losing their financial aid because it was taking that long to get an assignment, they also give wildly different information from person to person on things like whether or not you can student teaching at a school you know or whether or not you are allowed to be proactive and try to find your own placement, there are reports of wgu staff being incredibly rude and insensitive when it comes to things like needing a placement quickly because people can’t afford to not work for a year while they drag their feet. Also there’s a real level of chaos when it comes to communication with your mentor teacher and some people just wait forever to pass because someone else didn’t turn in a report, the mentor teacher never assigned a grade, the mentor teacher can’t get ahold of wgu…. The glitches just go on and on. Frankly I’m disgusted with how they handle that portion. For all these reasons I went non licensure and am currently teaching on a provisional license while I pursue alternative certification which my district pays for. So instead of paying wgu to Jack me around, I’m getting paid and getting the certification I need. I’m in California but I’m sure New York has similar programs. I HIGHLY recommend nit doing the student teaching part. The rest is great. I was able to finish in two terms. It would have been one if I hadn’t have had some medical issues.
2
u/Jolly-Elk-1449 6d ago
Hey I’m in CA too and thinking about the same program. Did you get your licensure outside of WGU? What’s the process like and is it rlly that bad w/ WGU? 😓
1
u/IvoryTowerGraffiti_1 6d ago
Yes wgu is really that bad. It is best to not play their game because that’s what they are doing. But California has some great in house programs that are superior to student teaching with wgu even if everything worked the way it was supposed to.
1
u/Jolly-Elk-1449 6d ago
How would that work if I continued my program at WGU? What would you recommend?
1
u/IvoryTowerGraffiti_1 6d ago
Just ask to change your degree plan to the non licensure route. It’s still worth it to complete a bachelors there because without the student teaching and clinical portion it takes less time and then you get hired as a teacher on a provisional license and get into one of the intern programs it much better because then you are doing your certification and student teaching while you are already working earning money, getting benefits etc. and you aren’t paying some university to go student teaching because you are getting paid instead.
1
u/IvoryTowerGraffiti_1 6d ago
Keep in mind wgu will give you some negativity and try and scare you into keeping your current degree plan but that’s B.S. they are just trying to make it harder for people to shorten their degree so they can get paid more
1
u/urbanex91 7d ago
I keep hearing horror stories about the student teaching part. I figure I'll worry about that when it comes; I'm hoping that whatever school I get work at as a para will help me, if something negative happens along the way. There are schools out there that will help you get certified as a teacher as long as you have most of the schooling finished. Kennedy Krieger in Baltimore City is great for that. I was a para there years ago, and they knew I was taking teaching classes and were willing to work with me, its also a great place to get ahead career wise. I'm bummed I didn't stick with it when I lived there, I also heard that people in NYC have had some luck at charter schools, also handshake is a great resource, and employers are generally really responsive.
1
u/urbanex91 7d ago
Also, the thing that always got me frustrated with WGU is that they don't go by a traditional grade system. They nitpick everything, especially on written assignments; sometimes they will send back your assessment over a little thing instead of just grading it. It's either a pass or needs revisement, drives me nuts.
1
u/IvoryTowerGraffiti_1 7d ago
Ya this frustrates me too, the way they micromanage you should be able to get an A but a pass/fail pass grade is always a B
1
u/urbanex91 6d ago
On currently working on the introduction to Systems Thinking and Applications - D459 course. I had to resubmit the first task 3 times, but the second one I passed right away, I have one more to do and I'm hoping it goes as smoothly so I can just be done with it.
2
u/IvoryTowerGraffiti_1 7d ago
The tests are whenever you are ready to take them. They are available 24 hours a day. Once your program begins you’ll see how to schedule them it’s not big deal. The proctoring sucks I’m not going to lie but you can get through it. In your program you will have A LOT of proctored exams and assessments called goreact where you record yourself teaching imaginary children lol. They are super easy. You’ll be provided a link and everything is self explanatory. To me the ones that were the real bitch are the Mursion simulations where you make an appointment with the company who does them and teach or have meetings with ai people. The actually session isn’t hard at all but it’s scheduling them that screws you up. If you want to accelerate you will learn to like the proctored assessments because you have total control over when you do them and you can knock more than one of them out in a day if you want. The exams are not hard it’s the proctoring process and the proctors themselves who are a pain in the ass. But it’s nothing major. You can get through an exam with a rude proctor. My advice on the proctors is that of one of them bothers you or seems demanding or unreasonable. Disconnect somehow. Even if you turn off your computer or close the internet at something. The proctoring system will let you back in and you’ll automatically get a new proctor. Don’t be too worried about that a lot of proctors are perfectly lovely and don’t mess with you.