June, 2015: Breeze Issue #92

A Free Monthly E-Newsletter for Friends of Japan & Teachers of Japanese

Japanese Language Education Update 19:
New Language Teacher Certification Website!!

by Amanda Rollins, Japanese Language Program Coordinator

Teacher credentialing and licensing is a massively complex and ongoing process of training, tests, evaluations, applications, fees, and let’s face it — headaches. Getting certified to teach a foreign language depends on your background, your subject, and your state’s requirements. State department of education websites are packed with complicated terminology, explanations and exceptions, and any teacher who has gone through the process wants to scream, “Just give me a simple set of steps to follow!”

Now you can visit LangCred.org to find those steps. Last year, non-profit educational organization CLASSRoad (Center for the Languages, Arts and Societies of the Silk Road; CLASSRoad.com) was awarded STARTALK federal funding to design and create an easy-to-use, searchable database of routes to teacher certification.

On LangCred.org, you can:

• Search by state (and language!) for routes to certification
• Explore easy-to-read lists of requirements and fees
• Create a profile and compare the routes which suit you best, side by side
• Join the community forum to discuss credentialing issues
• Find a list of approved transcript evaluation agencies (if you need a foreign degree evaluated by a third party)

What does this mean for Japanese language teachers? Now there’s a resource where you can find the names of teaching licenses which allow you to teach Japanese in your state. It will be easier for you to find the license route which best suits your situation, your qualifications, and your future plans. Potential teachers can be more confident in their ability to become licensed Japanese language teachers!