Barry University

Montessori Life, Winter 2004 by Tulloss, Ijya C

Barry University is located in the Village of Miami Shores in Miami-Dade County, FL. It is an international co-educational, Catholic university founded and sponsored by the sisters of the Adrian Dominican order in 1940. It has built a reputation as an institution where education graduates are well prepared to teach.

When Dade County Public Schools decided to adopt the Montessori method as one of its magnet programs to effect desegregation, the district realized that it would need Montessori-trained teachers who are also state certified (which most available Montessori-trained teachers are not). The logical course of action was to provide Montessori training for state- certified teachers who were already in the system.

Montessori Teacher Education Programs at Barry University

Barry University was approached by Dade County Public Schools' magnet program to offer a graduate program where teachers would have the opportunity to earn a master's degree in connection with receiving Montessori certification. After earning a master's degree, teachers receive a $2,000 salary increase. This would serve as an incentive for teachers to enter and complete the program.

The idea was well received by Barry University. The Adrian Dominican sisters already developed and administer two Montessori schools, one in Adrian, MI, and another in West Palm Beach, FL. A job description for a Montessori faculty member with an advanced degree was printed in job bulletins, including one with the AMS annual employment opportunity listings.

Having just finished a doctorate in Early and Middle Childhood Education, I answered the ad. I was hired in 1991. Before I could teach, I had to seek program approval within the university, obtain its accreditation from the Montessori Accreditation Council for Teacher Education (MACTE), and get the program off and running with faculty, didactic materials, and students. Doors opened for our first group of students for Montessori Elementary I-II program in 1992. MACTE accreditation was finalized in 1993. Sr. Leonor Esnard, a Montessori-educated teacher with 20 years of experience and a religious from the Adrian Dominican order, joined the faculty in 1993. A year later, through Sr. Leonor's initiative, the early childhood program was established and was accredited by MACTE in 1995.

Graduates of the 2-year, 39-40 credit hour program earn a master's degree in Education with Specialization in Montessori Elementary or Early Childhood Education. In addition, graduates who complete a successful year-long practicum at an approved Montessori site are recommended for AMS teaching certification for the appropriate level. We also applied for state certification but the Florida Department of Education approved only our courses for recertification credits, not for initial certification.

Responding to the state mandate in 1995 to provide a program that will equip teachers better to teach children from 3 years of age to third grade (PreK-3), the School of Education faculty collectively prepared a portfolio to offer the PreK-3 preparation as an undergraduate program. Essentially the Montessori early childhood program, other courses were added to meet state requirements. It was approved by the Florida Department of Education a year later. Graduates of the program earn a Barry University bachelor's degree, a State of Florida PreK-3 teaching certificate, and an AMS Early Childhood teaching certificate.

A state teaching certificate is required to teach in a public school, which pays teachers more than what most private schools can afford. In most states, private school teachers are not required to be state certified. Public school teachers sent by school districts to our program were already state certified. However, students who had a bachelor's degree in other areas and were not state certified could not obtain certification through our graduate programs. Due to shortage of trained Montessori teachers, some of our graduates were hired by school districts to teach in Montessori classrooms with the provision that they take necessary courses and pass required exams to qualify for state certification within 2 years.

Ironically, the challenge we originally had in not being able to obtain state certification for our graduate programs is virtually a thing of the past. With severe teacher shortages, an alternative certification program was established by the state in the year 2000. Under this program, state certification may be obtained by an individual who fulfills three requirements:

* holds a bachelor's degree in any field,

* is hired as a teacher in a private or public school,

* passes the Florida Teacher Certification Exam (FTCE) for the teaching level.

At last, our students can add state certification to their credentials if they so desire. A course-by-course comparison between state-approved programs and our Montessori programs demonstrates that Montessori courses cover the same content areas and prepare students to hurdle state exams easily. This new avenue for state certification is still a well kept secret, but at least one Barry student has taken the FTCE and another is enrolled in the program fully aware of this option.