Interested in education but not in entering — or staying in — the classroom?
With K-12 improvements a national priority and educational processes at all levels being transformed by new learning insights and technological advances, the field can now be accessed by many doors.
A grad degree in education can take you into foundations, state agencies, corporations, media outlets, startups and even health care. Here are seven possible avenues to explore .
[Get five answers for teachers about federal grants for grad school.]
1. Technology and new media: Technology and mobile devices have teachers flipping their classrooms, colleges rolling out online degrees, and workers in all sorts of fields earning digital badges by mastering new skills.
Grads are taking their master’s and doctoral degrees in instructional technology and media into jobs with community organizations, museums, after-school programs, design companies and industry.
Carla Fisher, director of production innovation for kids and families at Netflix, earned her Ed.D. in 2012 and now oversees a team that “makes sure our members 12 and under are getting the best viewing experience.”
One cutting-edge path into educational tech is New York University‘s pioneering M.S. program in games for learning. The 36-credit program combines cognitive science and education theory with the technical aspects of game design and doesn’t require any prior programming experience.
2. Speech-language pathology: Ask Tim Asfazadour what his toughest hiring challenge is and the chief human resources officer for the San Diego Unified School District immediately says, “No. 1: speech-language pathologists!”
To attract these professionals, the district has boosted first-year pay to that of a teacher with 10 years’ experience.
The demand for speech pathologists — who work in both education and health care aiding children or adults with speaking problems such as stuttering and struggles resulting from stroke, brain injury or Alzheimer’s, for instance — will rise by 21 percent through 2024, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, nearly twice the growth rate for all jobs.
3. Education leadership: Top-notch management is particularly needed now in education to navigate the changing terrain.
As part of a Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching-supported initiative, the Carnegie Project on the Education Doctorate, 80-plus ed schools are redesigning all aspects of the professional practice Ed.D. degree to better prepare the next generation of K-12 and college leaders.
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4. School psychology: Traditionally, school psychologists assessed and diagnosed struggling students. Today, their role is much expanded, as school districts are asked to support all students’ behavioral, social and emotional health as well as their academics.
“There are shortages of school psychologists all over the country,” says Angela Whalen, a clinical associate professor in the field at the University of Oregon.
Beyond K-12 schools, opportunities can be found at universities, in independent practice, and at state agencies.
5. Adult learning: To ensure that their employees’ skills are up to par, corporations spent about the same amount on corporate training in 2014 — more than $70 billion — as the U.S. government spends annually on postsecondary education.
That’s where programs like Michigan State University‘s Master of Arts in higher, adult and lifelong education come in. Unlike younger learners, a class of adults has “a reservoir of experiences they are drawing on,” notes William Arnold, an MSU assistant professor in educational administration. “And they tend to be much more focused in terms of their needs.”
The MSU program and others like it prepare students to teach adult learners in a variety of settings.
6. Health education: The need for health educators is booming. The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects that the job market for these pros will expand by 13 percent between 2014 and 2024.
Working as a nurse in Montgomery, Alabama, at Medical Outreach Ministries, Chris Anderson realized that she wanted “to know everything there was to know” about helping her uninsured, low-income patients avoid the ravages of diabetes.
So she chose to pursue a highly specialized online master of science in diabetes education and management from Columbia University Teachers College and finished last May. The degree was just what she has needed, she says, to build an education program right for her population.
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7. Policy and research: Too often, researchers and the people in the trenches operate in different worlds, says Chad Nash, director of college success initiatives at the Denver Scholarship Foundation, which provides access to higher education for minority, first-generation and low-income students. “Being able to speak both languages is key in leadership positions.”
Nash landed his position after earning his doctorate in the University of Colorado–Boulder‘s Educational Foundations, Policy and Practice program.
The coursework, which covers policy analysis, curriculum theory, and the study of education historically and culturally, is designed to lead to careers in academia and at think tanks and research centers.
This story is excerpted from the U.S. News “Best Graduate Schools 2017” guidebook, which features in-depth articles, rankings and data.
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Pursue an Education Career But Stay Out of the Classroom originally appeared on usnews.com
