Check School Accreditation Before Signing up for Online Courses

Accreditation

With so many Online Degree e-mails entering your in-box you need to ensure that the online degree program you choose is reputable. But which one is right for you? If you want to earn a degree from home you need to know what you’re getting into before you lose time and money. It comes down to accreditation.

Accreditation is a status granted to an educational institution or program that meets or exceeds predetermined criteria of educational quality. Basically, it’s an academic stamp of approval. Of course it’s not as simple as just finding an online degree program that is simply accredited.

Accreditation can be broken down into two major areas: Institutional and Specialized accreditation.

Institutional Accreditation

Institutional accreditation looks at the college as a whole, to make sure the college meets certain standards. Institutional accreditation can also be broken down into two areas: National and Regional accreditation.

National Accreditation

National accreditation, recognized by the U.S. Department of Education (USDE), is required for institutions that seek eligibility for federal student financial aid. For employment purposes and credit transferability, you will want to ensure that the school where you plan to earn your online degree also has regional and/or specialized accreditation status.

Regional Accreditation

Also recognized by the USDE, however, accreditation by a regional body ensures your online degree will be recognized throughout the U.S. You will want to investigate to confirm if your school is accredited by one of the following six regional accrediting associations:

If you earn a degree from an online school that is accredited by one of these associations, you can be assured that it will be as valid as a degree from any campus-based school.

Specialized Accreditation

Specialized accreditation looks at a specific program and makes sure it meets certain industry standards. Most employers do not posses the time, money or manpower to look into the policies, ethics, and courses of every college. They rely on accreditation institutions to verify the overall academic quality of a college and whether or not the college holds up to that industry’s standards. If you are planning to use your online degree into furthering your education, or acquiring employment into a specific industry (education, medicine, or engineering for example), you will need to certify that the online degree is approved by that industry.

There is no set of universal standards for accrediting a college; therefore, it is important to make sure the college you choose is properly accredited. Who accredits the college is also very important.

“Schools will advertise that they’re accredited, which is what everyone’s looking for,” says Steven Shapiro, VP of Marketing and Communications at Jones International University (JIU, Englewood, Colorado).

But some colleges may claim to be accredited; yet they haven’t been properly reviewed. They may have just paid a yearly membership fee to receive accreditation status, or such as the ‘degree mills’, are accredited by organizations they create themselves. These are the colleges you want to avoid.

Verifying accreditation takes time, but in the long run it is worth every minute you put into it.

What do Biologists Do?

There are several career paths you can follow as a biologist, including these:

Research: Research biologists study the natural world, using the latest scientific tools and techniques in both laboratory settings and the outdoors, to understand how living systems work. Many work in exotic locations around the world, and what they discover increases our understanding of biology and may be put to practical use to find solutions to specific problems.

Health care: Biologists may develop public health campaigns to defeat illnesses such as tuberculosis, AIDS, cancer, and heart disease. Others work to prevent the spread of rare, deadly diseases, such as the now infamous Ebola virus. Veterinarians tend to sick and injured animals, and doctors, dentists, nurses, and other health care professionals maintain the general health and well being of their patients.

Environmental management and conservation: Biologists in management and conservation careers are interested in solving environmental problems and preserving the natural world for future generations. Park rangers protect state and national parks, help preserve their natural resources, and educate the general public. Zoo biologists carry out endangered species recovery programs. In addition, management and conservation biologists often work with members of a community such as landowners and special interest groups to develop and implement management plans.

Education: Life science educators enjoy working with people and encouraging them to learn new things, whether in a classroom, a research lab, the field, or a museum.

Colleges and universities: Professors and lecturers teach introductory and advanced biology courses. They may also mentor students with projects and direct research programs.
Primary and secondary schools: Teaching younger students requires a general knowledge of science and skill at working with different kinds of learners. High school teachers often specialize in biology and teach other courses of personal interest.
Science museums, zoos, aquariums, parks, and nature centers: Educators in these settings may design exhibits and educational programs, in addition to teaching special classes or leading tours and nature hikes.

From the American Institute of Biological Sciences

Become a Teacher – Overview

The majority of teachers are primary and secondary school teachers. They generally choose a specific grade level or area of specialty in which to teach. Teachers are responsible for planning and then evaluating student performance. They are then responsible for promoting growth through providing additional assistance and meeting with parents and school staff to discuss student development and ways to improve current teaching methods to better suit students.

It is a teacher’s daunting task to add life to their student’s school day by generating interest in all subject areas, even those that can be tedious for most students. They work to create lesson plans tailored to their students’ level of cognitive ability and interests. Nowadays, teachers are working to move away from traditional methods of teaching and using more creative and abstract ways of presenting topics to their classes.

It is important that they have a good sense of humor and the ability to think like their students. They must also be comfortable dealing with a wide variety of personality types and ability levels, while still treating all their students equally.

All 50 states and the District of Columbia require public school teachers to be licensed, whereas licensure is not required for private school teachers. Teaching licenses are given by the State board of education or an advisory committee. Requirements vary depending on the state, but all states require candidates to have a bachelor’s degree and to have completed an approved training program. It normally takes about 5 years to receive your bachelor’s degree in elementary or secondary education. Approximately one third of all states require that teachers complete training in technology as part of their certification process. In addition, some states have strict minimum grade point averages for teaching licensure, and others even require teachers to have a master’s degree in education, which takes at least one year longer to obtain than the bachelor’s degree. The majority of states require candidates be tested for basic skills such as reading, writing, teaching, and subject matter of choice.

States have requirements for teachers concerning continuing education and renewal of licensure. In addition, many states offer alternative teacher licensure programs for people who have bachelor’s degrees in the subject they wish to teach, but do not have the coursework required for a teaching license. The programs are meant to attract recent grads and career changing individuals into the profession of teaching.

According to TeacherLinkUSA, New Jersey currently pays its public schoolteachers the highest average salary in the nation, $53,280, with South Dakota coming in last at $30,260.

Low-income pupils still lag on tests

Despite a consistent rise in test scores, the achievement gap between poor Californians and their middle-class fellow students might be growing, a University of California-Berkeley report shows.

Poor students have always lagged behind their more well-off counterparts on standardized tests.

However, over the past three years the chasm has grown, particularly in English and in middle school, according to a report by Policy Analysis for California Education (PACE), a research group based at UC-Berkeley, UC-Davis and Stanford University.

The numbers belie the excitement over the rapid academic gains that immediately followed California’s major foray into school accountability in 1999, said Bruce Fuller, co-director of PACE and a UC-Berkeley professor.

“We saw this encouraging buoyancy in test scores,” Fuller said. “But seven years into this accountability initiative, achievement gaps have remained largely unchanged. These disparities in achievement have even widened.”

The study also shows that though students fare better than before, those with less money find it harder to catch up.

In 2003, nearly half of middle-class eighth-graders scored at grade level on state English tests, compared with 16 percent of poor eighth-graders.

The divide stood at 28 percentage points. Three years later, that figure has grown to 33 percentage points, according to the report.

In algebra, 47 percent of middle-class eighth-graders passed the test in 2003, compared with fewer than a quarter of poor students. This year, 53 percent of middle-class students passed in math, alongside 26 percent of the poor, meaning the gap grew from 25 percentage points to 27 over three years.

Younger students showed a smaller gap. In second, third and fourth grades, the difference between poor and middle-class student performance in math narrowed from 2003 to this year.

“We’ve had our best results in the early grades,” said Rick Miller of the Department of Education.

Miller said state Superintendent of Schools Jack O’Connell recognizes the severity of the achievement gap.

But he noted that researchers should not overlook the gains made in previous years.

“Consistently, all kids in California have improved,” Miller said, “and that’s meaningful.”

By Shirley Dang
MediaNews

Success – Right Place, Right Time

People who enjoy spectacular success often explain their secret of success by saying, “I just happened to be in the right place at the right time.”.
Here’s how you can copy them.
In my previous career I was involved in real estate. This brought me into contact with rich and poor alike, in a wide range of circumstances and in different types of housing. This proved to be a valuable masterclass in success creation.
In the areas with low income housing — both owner-occupier and rental — I was viewed with great suspicion, as I strolled around, looking for suitable real estate. Quite possibly I was thought to be a repro man, as I was rarely even looked in the eye by the locals, let alone smiled at, or spoken to.
Contrast that with my experiences in a different area, just a few miles away, which mainly consisted of high-end real estate: stunning mansions set in beautifully manicured grounds, tended by an army of gardeners. Bearing in mind my earlier experience, I expected to be viewed with even deeper suspicion, in case I was planning a spot of larceny to relieve the owners of these magnificent mansions of their valuables.
But no! When I chanced to pass a resident of this area, they invariably looked at me and smiled. Quite often they greeted me in a friendly manner.
This creates quite an interesting “chicken and egg” conundrum: are the residents of these magnificent houses more cheerful than their poorer counterparts, because they have “made it” — or is there something more fundamental at work here?
Having researched this in greater depth for my recent book, I am firmly convinced people who are more open, more receptive to new ideas and probably more sociable, place themselves in a far better position to be presented with more opportunities for success.
Of course, it’s then down to the individual to take advantage of these opportunities, but it means they are “in the right place at the right time”.
So, if you want more success, resolve to be more friendly to strangers, more open to new ideas and more sociable. There’s a great river of opportunity passing by your door and the more open you are, the wider the river becomes. So make it as wide as the Mississippi and then dip your net in and pull out success!

Paul Hooper-Kelly owns www.HowToMakeYourOwnLuck.com and uses his sixty years of business and life success to help ordinary people create extraordinary lives.
Get your copy of his popular course “Seventeen Secrets To Success” right now, whilst it’s still free Seventeen_Secrets_Of_Success

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Paul_Hooper_-_Kelly

Plumbing Trade School

If you have a hankering to be wanted, then maybe plumbing is for you. It’s one of those professions that most people can’t imagine being without. And even if you think that plumbing isn’t that important, one thing’s for sure – when someone needs a plumber, they REALLY need a plumber! For most people, until the plumber arrives, they’re left with what’s likely to be a rather unpleasant problem to deal with. So if you want to feel appreciated for what you do, plumbing is a good choice.

One of the good things about plumbing as a career is the fact that it’s not a job that’s going to disappear overnight because of some new advance in technology. It’s always going to be in demand. Most plumbers are entitled to belong to a labor union of some sort, which means that minimum wages and benefits are guaranteed, and you can be reasonably confident about what you can earn. With plumbers in short supply, it’s quite possible that you can do much better than the minimums, and have reasonable job security as well.

So what do you need to do if you want to become a plumber? Well, the first step is to go to plumbing school. This usually takes 2 years, and you can attend either a community or a technical college. The usual qualification is an associate’s degree in plumbing, and you may find that you have to gain this qualification in order to join the union.

At plumbing school you will be shown many different types of problems, and given instruction on how to deal with them. These include both residential and commercial property plumbing problems. Your course will start with classroom studies, together with other plumbing students, but over time you will generally end up spending time with a professional plumber as an apprentice, so that you can get some hands on experience. Often it’s this real life training that will teach you the most.

If you want to train as a plumber, get in touch with your local college to see what courses they offer, or else spend some time online looking for plumbing trade schools. As a successful plumber you will always know you’re wanted and appreciated!

If you want to find out more about plumbing trade schools, click over to Gordon’s site at http://www.tradeschoolinfozone.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Gordon_Phillips

Genuine Schools Which Offer Online Or Distance Education

Though the internet is replete with lots of fake universities, if you exercise a little caution you’ll come across genuine schools which offer online or distance education. Caution is what many people have thrown into the wind and what they’re reaping is fake certificate from fake and unscrupulous school which offer online or distance education. You must be different.

Contrary to popular opinion, you can still get genuine online university distance education. Many people are running away from online education because of the many negative report they’ve come across in the dailies or on the web. The following is a non-exhaustive list of institutions where you can get quality online education.

The American InterContinental University

The American InterContinental University Online’s programs allow people like you to earn their degrees while continuing to work full-time. This means you don’t have to leave your work before earning a degree from this unique university.

The University of Phoenix

The University of Phoenix is another world-renowned education online distance university where you can get online university distance education. As an accredited private university, the institution offers tremendous advantages of online education via the Internet.

The Art Institute Online

Another reputable institution is The Art Institute Online, a division of The Art Institute of Pittsburgh. The school offers professional certificate, associate and bachelor degree programs in graphic design, digital design, and interactive media design.

DeVry University Online

If you’re looking for an institution that is reputable for information technology, the DeVry University Online is your sure bet. It offers bachelor degrees in Information Technology, Technical Management, and Business Administration. The school has enough facility to take care of your needs.

Penn Foster Career School

If you want to earn an associate degree or diploma, online or by mail, the Penn Foster Career School should be your choice.

These schools are fully accredited by the relevant authorities. By being accredited, it means they conform to strict rules and regulation of the relevant bodies governing online education. The standards set by these organizations are not easy to attain. Employers believe that anybody having certificates from any of these schools has passed through high standard of education. Hence, accreditation must be your watch word when searching for schools which offer online or distance education. That must be the question any school offering online or distance education must answer.

Not all the schools which offer online or distance education are genuine. You must be careful. Many of them claim to give you free certificates for work not done, classes not attended, assignments not done and so on. This is not acceptable and will negatively affect your career in the long run. Hence, you must look before you leap.

You can conduct more research for reputable online institutions on the web. Make sure you use goggle, the world renowned search engine. It will give you a lot of result that will help you in your search for good and reliable online university distance education.

Ras Reed provides more detailed and free information on distance education on his website. Check it out at Online Distance Education Guide

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Ras_Reed

Online Nursing Degree – Get Ahead With Your Nursing Career Without Losing Your Paycheck!

Do you know what you want to be when you grow up? This is a concern that rides the minds of many high school and college graduates alike. It can be difficult deciding on a future career. After all, we figure we’re going to have this position for years to come. This is why it’s very important to choose the right one that makes us happy and pays the bills.

One of the more famous and desirable fields to pursue these days is nursing. Have you considered a career in the medical field? While nursing degrees have always been well known for their dependability and benefits, more recently they’ve become even simpler to reach. Yes indeed, now days you can acquire an online nursing degree from the comfort of your own home.

Ever since I can remember, my mother has been a registered nurse. I recall her telling me about the time she earned her nursing degree. Of course it wasn’t an online nursing degree back then, but who had Internet access in the 60s? She enjoys the working in the medical field and helping those in need of regular care. There is always a certain enjoyment involved when you strive to make others feel better and live longer.

By the time I reached high school, it was clear to me that my mother made a decent income as a registered nurse. She was taking care of three boys on her own, but we always lived well. Not to mention the insurance benefits were perfect. That is something to consider if you’re looking into a medical degree. When you work for the state, there are many perks. After twenty years at the same hospital, my mother was able to retire with great benefits.

Are you looking into an online nursing degree? You have to admit, it’s great to have access to so much from home. Never before could we achieve so much learning and education from our homes. With a nursing career, you will soon learn that there are many benefits and transfer available.

I watched my mother only work on weekends the entire time I was growing up. How can you beat that schedule? If you are interested in acquiring an online nursing degree, get online today and sort through your options. This very well may be the career choice for you. Cyberspace can give you the rundown on everything the online nursing degree has to offer.

Luke T. Axton provides readers with up-to-date commentaries, articles, and reviews for online education, career guidance, and other related issues.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Luke_T_Axton

Part-time Nursing Students Working Full-time Jobs

Usually, part-time nursing students are those who are interested in a nursing career but have other responsibilities that interfere with their abilities to attend regular classes. Of late, there has been a good rise in the number of part-time nursing students for a variety of reasons. Looking at the overall scenario, it appears that the looming specter of nursing shortage is the common driving force behind large number of students opting for part-time courses.

As per February 2004 projections by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, registered nurses (RNs) will top the list of 10 occupations that have the potential of the largest job growth in the years 2002-2012. It bears recalling that RNs have listed among the top 10 growth occupations in the past, but for the first time in recent history, RNs occupy the top rank.

BLS’ 10-year projections are widely used in career guidance and come in handy for concerned institutes in planning education and training programs and also in studying long-range employment trends. Thus, the BLS’ report that more than 2.9 million RNs will be employed in the year 2012, up 623,000 from the nearly 2.3 million RNs employed in 2002 has meant that many aspirants have now decided to study and pursue a career in nursing.

Unfortunately, there has not been commensurate increase in nurse educators as a result of which nursing institutes are unable to increase seats in regular courses. Seen in this backdrop, let us examine some common indicators behind the increase in part-time nursing students. 1. Second Career It’s true that the momentous events of 9/11 disaster have triggered a rush for second career in nursing, because people want a job in which they can make a difference in others’ lives. But while this trend has more or less ebbed over time, the popular choice of nursing as second career continues to rise on account of projected shortage of nurses in the coming decade.

Helen Taggart, a professor of nursing at Armstrong Atlantic State University, says, “A critical shortage of nurses is creating a crisis in healthcare that impacts both the preparation of nurses and the ability to provide quality care in the region.” In keeping with this daunting prospect, her association, the Coastal Georgia Nursing Consortium (CGNC) plans a news conference shortly to announce a special program on Nursing as a Second Career.

In most cases where aspirants have decided to opt for nursing as their second career, it is seen that they are already engaged in full-time jobs either in healthcare industry or in a completely alien field. Such career choosers are often reluctant to let go their employment and therefore likely to opt as part-time nursing students.

2. Admission Problem As noted above, the rising trend of requirement of qualified nurses has not translated into matching availability of seats in nursing institutes. This has meant that aspirants who would have otherwise gone for full-time courses, have to settle for part-time education in nursing. Since scholarships and grants are usually less available for part-time students, they need to find jobs – often full-time jobs – to run their personal and education-related expenses.

3. Higher Degree When a sector undergoes a period of high demand, lots of churning takes place, many of which act contrary to one another. The same thing is happening in the nursing sector. On one hand, there is a shortage of sufficient nurse educators because of which nursing seats are not expanding. On the other, qualified nurses who are already working full-time albeit in lower ranks, are pushing to up their qualification to take advantage of empty positions in high-ranked jobs.

In a way, this is inevitable because people have it in them to pursue higher goals, especially in situations that are now prevalent in nursing sector. On account of this, full-time nurses in various categories and disciplines are actively seeking to improve their nursing degrees by enrolling in part-time courses. Many nursing institutes have come up with innovative courses to cater to the long list of part-time nursing students who already have full-time jobs. Some examples are weekend courses, evening classes and even distant coaching. It is expected that such facilities will continue to maintain an upward trend in the foreseeable future.

Linda Raye is an accomplished writer and editor of NursingChoice.com website. Her main interest lies in the healthcare field with one of her passions being nursing. Contact her at: LRaye@cinci.rr.com Visit the website: http://www.NursingChoice.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Linda_Raye

Learning Comprehension In Speed Reading!

On a bad day do you know that i can read a 500 page book of interest to me in a little less than two days? What about a book with a topic i’m not very familiar with? Well, i guess that will take me longer time to conclude. Now if you want to challenge yourself with a complex reading material, take up a lexicon and read it cover to cover in three days.

I have learned reading in school, yet i find it difficult to comprehend every material that i come across. Is anything wrong with me?

Is that question directed to me? Well maybe, but the answers lies within you. You have all it takes to discover yourself in speed reading. You can actually comprehend whatever you read if you put forth the efforts needed to do this. You are the only one who can accomplish that, i can only show you the ways, strategies, and plans to accomplish this, but i can not possibly help you do those recommendations. Do you get my drift now?

Before you speed read there are a lot of questions you will need to give answers to:

How do you give definitions to the materials you read?
What are your goals?
What are your plans?
What are the contents of your goals and plans?
What is your purpose of speed reading?
Do you know how to read effectively?
Do you understand what you read?

These are pertinent questions you alone can give answers first before taking your next step in speed reading. The truth of the matter is that we all read differently and give different interpretations to a material. Who then is right or wrong? The fact is without good definition of what we read, we are slowed down in reading. Whether you believe me or not the fact is our ability to comprehend any given material gives us the ability to read fast.

Look at the statement below:

Are you aware of the fact that half of the information you read in science and medicine are based on statistical guesses? that means half of what you read are based on unproven facts that may be lies?

What do you understand from the sentence above?

Information in Science and medicine are not always based on pure scientific researches, but on statistical guesses which may not be entirely true. Since there is no real facts to back up the claims. In fact half of this information are a mistake.

What matters is your own ability to comprehend any reading activity before you can confidently say you can speed read. To make it easier for you, pick up a topic of interest, try reading for comprehension and understanding, then check your rate. Practice, and practice and practice even more, you will see that with each practice comes an improvement in both reading and comprehension rate.

Joe Okoro writes about Speed Reading in his free reports. You can sign up for his courses and get additional information by visiting: http://speedreadingguideonline.com Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Joe_Okoro