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| By G. Michael Dobbs Managing Editor SPRINGFIELD American International College (AIC) is giving Springfield schoolteachers a unique education opportunity earning a Master's degree in less than a year for nearly a third of the price. Gregory Schmutte, dean of the AIC School of Psychology and Education, explained to Reminder Publications that the course offered to city teachers who do not have a graduate degree is "a community service." Twenty-six teachers are enrolled in the course called Master's Opportunity for Springfield Teachers (MOST). The degree is aimed at improving the teaching of reading skills and the first class is "Education in a Multicultural Society" and is being taught by Michael Henry, the principal of the Homer Street School. "We are committed to working with the city, and by offering this program at a reduced rate to Springfield teachers, it's good for the college, the teachers, the city and most importantly the students of Springfield," he said. He said the impetus for the program came from Springfield school officials hoping AIC could develop a degree program specific to the needs of the teachers. He explained that today's requirements for the Massachusetts Professional License include having a graduate degree and some teachers were "grandfathered" in before this requirement. Because teachers attend on-going professional training sessions, they have earned graduate credits. AIC is accepting up to nine of these credits. Participating teachers must then take 24 credits worth of classes through the program to reach the required 33 credits for completion. Depending on their number of transfer credits, the teachers could finish the program in August. Schmutte described the format for the program as "intensive" and said that each three-credit class meets six weeks on Saturday. Saturdays were chosen over after school times, he said, after the colleges polled the teachers informally. Schmutte anticipated that MOST could continue for several years but, as all of the teachers in the system receive graduate degrees, it would disappear. The next class will run in September 2006. |