FOREIGN CREDENTIAL EVALUATION

[dispozo]

My fiancee wants to continue as a art teacher here in the States. My State has a list of companies to use to evaluate her university transcript and diploma....

If anybody has used any of these companies below. I would like your thoughts on them.

If anybody has done a teacher certification before. What other documents were useful in this process. We will get letter of recommendations from her boss and a coworker. Her lesson plans and a book the boss uses to keep track of her. Certificates and awards from school and school projects. A portfolio of her work (art work) from the past ten years of teaching.

Any info will be great.

I like to be ahead of the game. It is much easier getting it now then later.

Thanks!


WORLD EDUCATION SERVICES, INC.
Old Chelsea Station, P.  O.  Box 745
New  York,  NY  10113-0745
Tel. 212-966-6311
 
CENTER FOR APPLIED RESEARCH, EVALUATION, AND EDUCATION, INC.
P. O. Box 20348
Long Beach, CA   90801
Tel. 310-430-1105
 
CENTER FOR EDUCATIONAL  DOCUMENTATION
P.  O.  Box 199
Boston, MA   02117-0199
Tel. 617-338-7171
www.cedevaluations.com
 
INTERNATIONAL CONSULTANTS, INC.
    OF DELAWARE
109 Barksdale Professional Center
Newark, DE   19711
Tel. 302-737-8715
 
EDUCATED CHOICES LLC
127 Inwood Avenue
Upper Montclair, NJ   07043
 
J.B.S. NORTH CENTRAL LTD.
P. O. Box 11578
Minneapolis, MN   55411

GLOBAL EDUCATION GROUP, INC.
1650 Alton Road
Miami Beach, FL   33139
Tel. 305-534-8745

FOUNDATION FOR INTERNATIONAL SERVICES, INC.
14926 35th Ave. West, STE 210
Lynnwood, WA   98087
Tel. 425-248-2255 ext. 114
www.fis-web.com

AACRAO INTERNATIONAL EDUCATION SERVICES
One Dupont Cir., NW, Ste. 520
Washington, DC 20036-1135
Tel. 202-296-3359
oies@aacrao.org
 
 
 

[Vaughn]

dispozo,

  I am 100% sure that Jet's lovely wife went through this process successfully.

 Hopefully, he & others who've been there will show up.

[SANDRO43]

My fiancee wants to continue as a art teacher here in the States. My State has a list of companies to use to evaluate her university transcript and diploma....

FWIW, here's a few more: http://www.russianwomendiscussion.com/mwiki/index.php?title=Education/Credentials_Review.

[dispozo]

FWIW, here's a few more: http://www.russianwomendiscussion.com/mwiki/index.php?title=Education/Credentials_Review.

Thanks for the links!! SANDRO43

I always forget about RWDpedia. 

[GalinaF]

My fiancee wants to continue as a art teacher here in the States. My State has a list of companies to use to evaluate her university transcript and diploma....

If anybody has used any of these companies below. I would like your thoughts on them.

If anybody has done a teacher certification before. What other documents were useful in this process.

WORLD EDUCATION SERVICES, INC.
Old Chelsea Station, P.  O.  Box 745
New  York,  NY  10113-0745
Tel. 212-966-6311

Hi, you should read your Board of Education website very carefully and obtain all the necessary papers they mention in “How to become a teacher in ….…” section. What state do you live in? There are a few teachers on Russian forums, so your fiancée can get first-hand advice from a person who has done it herself. Rules differ greatly from state to state. E.g., some states require taking Praxis exams.

I used the WES agency about 4.5 years ago. I heard that it’s more difficult to evaluate through them now, so you should study their requirements as well. In my case, I wished I had translated my transcript myself because a clerk at CT Board of Education wanted to see a certain number of credit hours of Calculus on my transcript while my transcript read Higher Mathematics instead. The more “American” courses on your transcript look, the better.

It’s fine that your fiancée will bring over letters of recommendation from her Russian colleagues, but she may try to work as a sub at  local schools while her papers will be processed  and get local references that could be easily checked by her future employers. In my case, while I was preparing to take Praxis exams (total six exams), I worked as a sub and then a part-time teacher. I think that the recommendations I received from local principles/ department heads helped me to get the first full-time job I applied to.

Good luck!

[dispozo]

Hi, you should read your Board of Education website very carefully and obtain all the necessary papers they mention in “How to become a teacher in ….…” section. What state do you live in? There are a few teachers on Russian forums, so your fiancée can get first-hand advice from a person who has done it herself. Rules differ greatly from state to state. E.g., some states require taking Praxis exams.

I used the WES agency about 4.5 years ago. I heard that it’s more difficult to evaluate through them now, so you should study their requirements as well. In my case, I wished I had translated my transcript myself because a clerk at CT Board of Education wanted to see a certain number of credit hours of Calculus on my transcript while my transcript read Higher Mathematics instead. The more “American” courses on your transcript look, the better.

It’s fine that your fiancée will bring over letters of recommendation from her Russian colleagues, but she may try to work as a sub at  local schools while her papers will be processed  and get local references that could be easily checked by her future employees. In my case, while I was preparing to take Praxis exams (total six exams), I worked as a sub and then a part-time teacher. I think that the recommendations I received from local principles/ department heads helped me to get the first full-time job I applied to.

Good luck!

Hi, GalinaF

I am in N.H.

I have contacted the NH Board of Education. They want a course by course evaluation.

Being foreign educated and with 10 years of teaching experience. She falls under Alternative 2.
They also want an original letter of verification from the school system, where she worked and her major teaching assignments.

NH has Praxis exams, but with a Master's degree or higher or with seven years or more experience, your exempt. But being foreign
educated she may have to take them.... I will have to learn about this, thanks.

Thanks for help!!!!

[ScottinCrimea]

I think the idea of subbing is a great one.  Just as important as knowing the material is knowing the system and this would be a great way to learn how education works in the US.  It may be a major shock for her and better she learns how things are here before she goes to all the effort for credentials and such.

[Jet]

  I am 100% sure that Jet's lovely wife went through this process successfully.

Liliya currently works as a Algebra 2/Trigonometry/Calculus Teacher here in Florida. We did not use any of the companies on your list, but I can say, pick any company EXCEPT W.E.S. She recently tried to submit her docs for re-evaluation and W.E.S.'s procedure is a friggin' mess, and it's outrageously expensive (just under $1000.00 now). Originally we used a company here in FL for her evaluation (they are only valid for 2 years).

What we needed for the evaluation:
original and copy of diploma and transcripts
copy of state issued identification (int'l. passport is OK for this)
fee (then $175.00)
They did the translation of all documents
*note* some of these services require high school transcripts and diploma also - CHECK

What we needed for employment
SS#
EAD
FBI background check
copies of original diploma & transcipts
Certified original evaluation documents mailed directly to the school board from the evaluation company
FL ID

They did give us a form to have her former employer fill out and return within 60 days - it was optional, but because she was able to get it done by her former administrator she was given full credit for her previous 7 years teaching experience, which was a substantial boost to her salary.

She was issued a 3 year temporary teaching certificate based on her teaching degree which allowed her to start working (for a fee of course)
Over the next three years she was required to pass 3 tests:
General Knowledge
Subject area (she passed both math and physics at separate sittings)
Professional Educator (Psychology, Procedure, and classroom management)
These tests were 4 hours each, and the Professional Educator test required an enormous amount of prep time. They were also not cheap ($125.00 ea. if I recall correctly) Upon completion of all three tests with a score over 75% she was issued her Florida professional educators certificate, good for 5 years. This year she will also add AP certification to her credentials (luckily the school board is picking up the tab for that).

Hi, you should read your Board of Education website very carefully and obtain all the necessary papers they mention in “How to become a teacher in ….…” section. Rules differ greatly from state to state. E.g., some states require taking Praxis exams.

Be sure you follow Galina's advice, as what I've written ONLY applies in the state of Florida!

Also, it's going to be your job to psyche her up mentally for rejection - and lots of it.   Liliya put out @ 275 resume's and went on dozens of interviews over a period of 5 months before finding someone willing to take a chance on her. Again, Galina's advice about starting as a sub may be a better way to go, though Lil wouldn't hear of it  :noidea:

[Jet]

I think the idea of subbing is a great one.  Just as important as knowing the material is knowing the system and this would be a great way to learn how education works in the US.  It may be a major shock for her and better she learns how things are here before she goes to all the effort for credentials and such.

Lil had no problems at all getting "dialed in" to the way things work here. 4 hour exams in English were another story 

[dispozo]

Thanks, Scott and Jet

I think subbing is a great idea. It will give her a little taste of America eduction, kids and teenagers. She thinks her classes 10 and 11 are crazy in Ukraine.

Thanks!!

[dispozo]

 There are a few teachers on Russian forums, so your fiancée can get first-hand advice from a person who has done it herself.

GalinaF my fiancee would like to know which forums, thanks.

You can post them here or PM me, thanks!

[GalinaF]

Hi, I read two Russian forums:

http://www.russian-fiancee.com

http://privet.com/

On the Russian-fiancee forum, there is a long thread where Marina from TX shares her experiences as an ESL teacher in an inner-city school. If your fiancée reads that topic, she may change her mind about her future employment.

Unfortunately, I don’t know a teacher from NH who could give your fiancée advice on getting certified in that state. On the other hand, private schools do not ask for certification. I’ve been to The Philips Exerter Academy – what a wonderful school! Of course, your fiancée should look for jobs with day schools because teachers should usually live in dorms in boarding schools.

[dispozo]

Hi, I read two Russian forums:

http://www.russian-fiancee.com

http://privet.com/

On the Russian-fiancee forum, there is a long thread where Marina from TX shares her experiences as an ESL teacher in an inner-city school. If your fiancée reads that topic, she may change her mind about her future employment.

Unfortunately, I don’t know a teacher from NH who could give your fiancée advice on getting certified in that state. On the other hand, private schools do not ask for certification. I’ve been to The Philips Exerter Academy – what a wonderful school! Of course, your fiancée should look for jobs with day schools because teachers should usually live in dorms in boarding schools.

Thanks, GalinaF

[philb]

As others have mentioned the process veries greatly from state to state.  Here in Wyoming Praxis exams are only required when seekling certification in elementary ed. or social studies. 

The local school district was extremely helpful in my wife's getting certified.  I do not know if this is typical or not.

[dispozo]

As others have mentioned the process veries greatly from state to state.  Here in Wyoming Praxis exams are only required when seekling certification in elementary ed. or social studies. 

The local school district was extremely helpful in my wife's getting certified.  I do not know if this is typical or not.

Thanks, philb!

I will also get in touch with the local school district as well.

Thanks

[CaptB]

My wife had her educational credentials evaluted a few years ago. She cross-referenced all 50 states and the evaluation services "they" accepted at the time. She found that three (3) of the services were all listed by all 50 states (this was Spring of 2006). Sorry for not providing more specifics (wife is sleeping).....I will see if my wife can dig-up some more info tomorrow. I do remember that one of the big three listed was based in Milwaukee, WI.......the one she ultimately chose. It was chosen because it was the only service (at the time) that would accept "her"..."in-hand"...certified copies of her transcripts which she brought with her to the US. Remember....in the US....you make a call (or place an order online)...pay by credit card and have copies in a week. In Russia (with "bigshot" Russian woman now residing in the US).....time...time....time......"this cannot be possible"......maybe a bribe.....and........more time.....and maybe your evaluation service finally receives copies....sealed and mailed....directly to the service (as many services require). My wife's service was aware of bureaucratic roadblocks....and thankfully accepted "her" copies of transcripts (they did make contact with her universities though). Most states wanted the course-by-course (as oposed to page-by-page) evaluations. As with all things in this RW/AW process....things change all of the time......so do your homework.


Capt B

[dispozo]

Thanks, CaptB.

[mendeleyev]

Hi, just noticed your fiance is an artist!  My wife is also and while she has done some teaching in Moscow, she was not interested in teaching here so I can't give you a lot of help on credentials.

However I can tell you a lot about art.  We at first thought that Americans would be fascinated by Russian scenes; copolas, churches, villages in winter, etc.  We could not have been more wrong.  Her work sat in some very nice European gallaries in the USA for eternity and very little of it sold.  Her still life fruits and florals drew a lot of attention but again, few sales.  Finally I sat down with the owner of one gallery, a Polish lady whose husband was Russian, and she explained that in their experience people seemed to have been turned off by the Russian sounding names of the painting which was labeled on the back in both English and Russia. 

Because many of her paintings had been shipped over from Moscow, we had attached the official customs papers for each painting (a painting is still the intellectual property of the "state" to this day) and so also the official documents from the Rus Federation Ministry of Culture to show that the paintings were authentic and also had been legally exported out of Russia. The gallery owner told me that as Americans don't have the same sophisticated taste for fine art, we should get rid of anything "Russian" and start naming the paintings to reflect something more French or Italian, for example.

So we removed anything even remotely Cyrillic or Russian sounding and made the suggested changes, for example; a still life picture of lillies near a pond might be changed from "stillness of the Volga river" to something more like "quiet spring in Paris." 

Presto!  Art started to sell.  In the literature and ad bios we dropped any references from being trained in Moscow to a more generic description like "trained in Europe, including the prestigious art school of xxx near Paris (true, but only for a very short time at that school) and it didn't take long before stores reported more interest in her work.

Today her primary business remains in Russia and Europe because Europeans will pay far more for art than most Americans.  However her work now does okay here--but only after we made the aforementioned changes.

I hope this helps.


Index below:
1) No interest in the USA, sold back in Russia.
2) Sold easily under a new name.
3) She has done well with portraits of Europeans who live here.

[SANDRO43]

So it's just a matter of labelling rather than artistic skill ? I think that speaks volumes for general US art appreciation . However, not a great surprise, after Andy Warhol. How sad .

[dispozo]

Thanks for the info mendeleyev.

She has said she would like to try and sell some of her work. She also works with beads and would like to try sell those too. I live in a small city and I was surprised how big art was in the city. Several galleries and a few clubs, I have been learning about it.

Thanks again

[mendeleyev]

You're welcome and I hope that she does well upon arrival, gets her docs as needed and can teach if that is one of her skills/gifts.  And may you enjoy having her at your side!

[ScottinCrimea]

So it's just a matter of labelling rather than artistic skill ? I think that speaks volumes for general US art appreciation . However, not a great surprise, after Andy Warhol. How sad .

I agree that this is a pretty sad statement about American art appreciation.  It would seem it is more about the connection of the painting to some perceived cultural icon than about the quality of the painting itself.  Historically. French and Italian paintings have had a certain assumption of quality about them and a certain romantic air which appears to overrride quality as a determination of their value.  I guess it is more impressive to have a poor painting by a French artist than it is to have a true work of art by a Russian painter.  I'm not an expert on art by any means, but this is the inmpression I am getting from these posts.

[SANDRO43]

Historically. French and Italian paintings have had a certain assumption of quality about them and a certain romantic air which appears to overrride quality as a determination of their value.

Even this series of masterpieces by Piero Manzoni ?

Artist's sh!it (Italian: "Merda d'artista") is a work of art by the Italian artist Piero Manzoni that was influenced by Marcel Duchamp's "Readymades".
In May 1961, Manzoni collected his own feces in 90 numbered cans, which contain 30 grams of feces each. He labelled them as "100% pure artist's sh!it" in Italian, English, French and German, and sold them for the price of their weight in gold. On May 23, 2007, an exemplar was sold for €124,000 at Sotheby's, and in October 2008, tin 083 was offered for sale at Sotheby's with an estimate of £50-70,000.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merda_d'artista

I guess it is more impressive to have a poor painting by a French artist than it is to have a true work of art by a Russian painter.  I'm not an expert on art by any means, but this is the impression I am getting from these posts.

Art appreciation is obviously subjective, and dependant on one's experience, culture and exposure. For instance, I like more Mendeleyev's wife's 'park bench in the snow' (his avatar, an Impressionistic type of open-air painting) and Saint Basil's (imaginative) than the other two, the 'portrait' and 'still life' (too conventional IMO). But she shows some skill and craftsmanship, which I consider essential for an artist.

You may like Picasso or not, but he was a hell of a skilled painter, witness his pre-Cubist pink and blue periods. And I still remember a parallel exhibition of prints on Tauromachia (bull fighting) where his and Goya's sketches were shown side by side. Pablo won hands down, a few lines of his capturing more vividly the ambience than Goya's detailed renderings .

[mendeleyev]

Thank you Sandro.  I also like the park bench as one of my favourites, as are:

"Arbatskaya"

and "Venice"

[SANDRO43]

Thank you Sandro. I also like the park bench as one of my favourites, as are:"Arbatskaya" and "Venice"

Personally, I prefer Venice to Arbatskaya not for nationalistic reasons , but because it's more original (say, 'dramatic' with its dark hues, like St. Basil's) than the other one, which could be mistaken for a Paris street from the 1880s at first glance.

IMO, the difference between an artist and an Artist is that the latter HAS to say something new, an increasingly difficult feat nowadays since the evolution of painting over the centuries has left very little room for further innovation. 

BTW, the park scene is located where?