Writing skills are also a focus of teaching in Alabama classrooms. While in past years elementary students might only have been able to write a paragraph in grade five, the present day students can write a multiple paragraph paper with a proper topic sentence and conclusion paragraph. They are required to use the proper grammar and sentence structure.
Alabama schools are offering a rich curriculum, with expanded choices for secondary students and mandated subjects for elementary and middle school students. This has created more specialized teaching positions and made job openings favorable to the job hunter. Competition for instructors, has pushed up teacher salaries and made the teaching profession more attractive for career minded college students. The demand for public school teachers has also been a boom for universities offering teacher training.
The state of Alabama is moving forward to train the best public instructional staff in the south.
Alabama Teacher Requirements
The future of teaching in Alabama is bright, and anyone considering a career as a teacher there can rest assured that Governor Bob Riley and the Alabama state legislature is in their corner. Governor Riley put together a commission to study way to attract new teachers, and to make teaching a more lucrative career for those already in the profession as well. In January of 2009 the governor released the results of the study, along with recommendations by the commission, and both current and prospective Alabama teachers can be encouraged by those recommendations.
Although the average entry level salary for a secondary school teacher is around $29,000, the primary deterrent to teacher retention is the fact that all too often teachers find it hard to advance in their careers without leaving the classroom and moving into administration. The commission recommends several steps to change this detrimental atmosphere and encourage the best to stay in the classroom.
For now, those who are considering teaching in Alabama will find they can benefit from one change recommended by a governor''s commission in 2007. The Alabama Teacher Mentoring Program pairs a veteran teacher with all first year teachers in order to make the sometimes difficult first year easier, and reduce the chances of a new teacher giving up before he or she has really had a chance to feel at home in the classroom.