Feeling incredibly defeated and discouraged. Help?

[rebel100]

Thinking this through, the "easy" button for you is likely DSST (assuming that they do accept it as indicated above). They are $80 plus any fee and very very similar to CLEP. DSST Difficulty List - Free-Clep-Prep.com

Judging from the CLEP's you have taken I suspect soem of the DSST would be really straightforward for you.

DSST:
Fundamentals of Counselling
Intro to World Religions
Lifespan Developmental Psych
Here's to Your Health
Any of the History/Social Sciences

Plenty there for you to choose from....

[cathgrl]

This is a guess: If this is for a "lane change," then the school district likely wants the teacher to take college courses outside of the teacher's current certification area(s). It seems to me that the 30+ would be so that the teacher could potentially pass an additional certification exam in order to be able to teach that subject. Otherwise, why would a school district give a teacher a raise for taking 30 random college credits?

There is a bright side: You did waste some time, but you also gained 15 credit hours toward your goal in one summer, which is still quite good. I'm not sure any of the other teachers in the your district accomplished so much. Relax, breathe, and get clarification on what subject area courses they will accept from you (If I'm right, I suspect they won't accept ACE courses or her sisters) and ask about DSST. Please, let us know which CLEPs your district is accepting if you want us to advise further.

[Hunter91]

Hey guys. I already have my bachelors and masters...I spent all summer studying myself crazy for these CLEPs

I invested soooo much time and money into taking these, I was so proud when I passed them all...My strength is humanities but they won't accept any English or History credits...My strength is that I'm a good test taker but math and science are foreign to me.

Don't sell yourself short on what topics/classes you can take. You clearly have a good work ethic as evidenced by your willingness to invest your time in learning. You also clearly have a strong academic track record (bachelor's/master's degrees). It may not be obvious to you, but it is objectively obvious to me that you can pass whatever test you put your mind to as long as you are willing to put in the time.

[cookderosa]

so where did rrr go?

[rrr]

I've been trying so hard to respond but keep getting a message that a moderator needs to approve my posts. Going to try this again, let's see if it works?

[rrr]

Yaas! Okay. Really have no idea why my previous posts needed moderator approval but let me see what I can clarify. Yes, I'm a teacher, and we have certain salary steps based on education. So the levels are Bachelors, Masters, and MA+30. That's the one I'm trying to reach. My employer is the one who chooses to accept or reject the credits, like literally whoever is in charge of the "office of salary differentials," and it seems like they do it on a case by case basis because on the phone they told me they "debated" about a couple of the CLEPs I submitted. As for why I didn't check in advance, of course I called, but they told me that it simply can't be a "duplicate of a course I already took." All the website says is "Note: A CLEP exam used to obtain a salary differential cannot be a duplication of earlier coursework for which you have been granted course credit (undergraduate or graduate)." I suppose the misunderstanding is that we have different definitions of "duplicate." I have never taken courses that correspond exactly with the CLEPs I've taken, but they are counting it as a duplicate because the subject is what I majored in.

So I guess the best way to rephrase what I'm asking is what other tests are relatively easy to pass. I really appreciate all the input so far, please let me know what else I can clarify.

[davewill]

That being the case, I'd take it up with the union (you are unionized, right?) The rules should NOT be arbitrarily applied like that.

[ajazzie]

I am in the same boat sort of. I need 30 credits above the masters. I also have an English degree, so I hope that my job will accept them. Do you work for NYC?

As for me, I opted to get rid of some of the humanity credits because they changed the value of some of the 6 credit exams and with so much extra information to study it made sense to go with easier exams. I read some of the feedback on the paid discussion board and learned the exams that seemed to give people the least amount of trouble. What I found that is helpful is taking exams with related topics. For example, ethics in america and business ethics. there was some overlap.

Like you I am a humanities person. I realized that since I wanted to do the credits quickly that math and science exams would not work. So, I went with some of the easier exams or chose things that I have some knowledge.

If they don't care about which exams (as long as they are not English or US History) perhaps you can just go for the easiest exams.
DSST - INtro to computers (the name just changed Im not sure of the new name). If you are sort of computer savvy, studying for the exam won't be too hard. clep has a similar exam as well.
DSST - Personal Finance - Most of this stuff you might already know.
Human growth and development - might have some overlap with ed. psych.

In sum, what topics might you have SOME prior knowledge of? On the discussion boards which exams do people say are fairly easy?

[rrr]

I did call the union, they said that the office does have the right to decide what they feel is too similar but I can make a case by sending them course descriptions along with the CLEP descriptions. The problem is they're telling me it's not a specific course I've taken, just the general degree I received.

I do work for NYC. Unfortunately Human Development is a no go, I took that in college. Same with Intro Psych. Intro Counseling looks fairly easy, and I'll look into Personal Finance and some of the business ones - does anyone have any suggestions, between DSST and CLEP, of the easiest business related ones? I'm also debating World Religions, but I took a class in college called "The Bible and Its Interpretations" so I'll have to check in advance if that's okay.

Thanks again everyone, really appreciate the advice.

[ajazzie]

I teach English in NYC too and called the office. They told me that I just could not duplicate courses. So now the new rule is that you can't take a course that is the same concentration of your degree? I got 18 credits over the summer and took Analyzing lit, college comp and college writing. none of those count anymore if you majored in English? that's 12 credits down the drain!

I am sorry for what you are going through. It all seems so arbitrary and subjective. No where did they define what "duplicate" means and like yourself I called before sitting for exams.