alaskateacher.org

Discover

LearningTeaching

Living

UNIVERSITY of ALASKA

ATPAlaska Teacher Placement

A Message from theCommissioner

Cover P

hotos (from top): “

Alpen G

low” by S

teve Deger/flickrcc; “

On the L

ake” by Tomoyoshi/flickrcc; K

12

Outreach; “

Kayak 2

” by crayons12

1/flickrcc

Dear Educator,

Thank you for your interest in teaching in Alaska. As the largest state in the nation, Alaska provides a truly exhilarating experience that cannot be found elsewhere in the country. The rich diversity within the state allows newcomers the opportunity to engage their frontier spirit and discover true adventure within their own lives.

Alaska presents uncommon challenges and unforeseen rewards. Whether teaching in a traditional Alaska Native village, a coastal fishing town, or Anchorage, our largest city, you will become part of a vibrant community. With over 50 separate districts and myriad landscapes to choose from, Alaska offers its educators the opportunity to take part in a constructive and fruitful learning experience—their own!

In order to locate the position that is right for you, Alaska Teacher Placement will help you form networks and gain access to current employment options. Alaska also offers early career teachers the opportunity to work with experienced mentor educators as part of the Alaska Statewide Mentor Project, which provides one-on-one professional support and encouragement.

Alaska needs teachers who have a passion for teaching and will immerse themselves in their schools and communities. I truly hope you consider becoming an educator in our great state.

Sincerely, Larry LeDouxCommissioner, EED

MissionStatement

Pho

to: “

Mou

ntai

ns a

nd fl

ower

s” b

y M

aris

sa C

./fli

ckrc

c

The mission of Alaska Teacher Placement (ATP) is to provide leadership in identifying, attracting, and placing highly qualified educators for our

state. We collaborate with Alaska school districts, university leaders, and other educational entities to promote the teaching profession.

Services

• Online referral services• Job fairs and Educator Expo• Recruiting sessions• Online recruiting sessions• Professionalconsultations• Resumé posting• Educator support and resources•Technical troubleshooting

All of our services are free to educators seeking employment in Alaska’s schools. Registration with our online database and attendance at our career fairs are open to all educators. Contact us with questions or concerns.

Contact Alaska Teacher Placement

UrL alaskateacher.orgemail atp@email.alaska.edu

MailingAddress

PO Box 755400fairbanks, Alaska 99775-5400

Physical Address

2175 University Ave, Suite 100fairbanks, Alaska 99709

Phone 907.450.8400 fax 907.450.8401

Toll free 877.287.6644 fax 877.422.1124

Hours 8:30am – 5:00pm Monday – friday (Closed Holidays)

Visit alaskateacher.org for every-thing you need to know about

applying for a job in Alaska’s schools. The website features an interactive job bank that allows you to search for job openings, post your resumé, contact hiring officials, and research the many opportunities that await you in Alaska.

Online Services

alaskateacher.org/jobs

i-Community

In an effort to increase the online net-working between applicants and school districts, we have developed the ATP i-Community. Candidates also have the opportunity to post their questions about learning, teaching, and living in Alaska.

register as an educator candidate at

Live Chats

Throughout the school year ATP hosts Live Chat sessions. Topics for live chats vary from living in Alaska to becoming certified as an educator. Each Live Chat has a scheduled guest to guide the discussion and answer questions that arise.

Typically scheduled once or twice a month, chats are held on Friday afternoons from 3–5 pm Alaska Time.

Registered candidates will be notified by ATP via email the day before all Live Chats.

Virtual (Online) Job fairs

For educators who are unable to attend one of the four ATP-hosted job fairs in 2009, there is also the option of networking with hiring officials online.

Virtual job fairs begin in May and are hosted monthly until the start of the school year in September.

The virtual job fair allows district administrators to select candidates from a smaller pool, and educators can highlight their education and teaching experience more efficiently.

Check the Job Fair page on the ATP website for the 2009 summer virtual job fair schedule.

Photo: M

organ Dufseth

Alaska educator expoApril 17–18, 2009 Hotel Captain CookAnchorage, Alaska

The Educator Expo is Alaska’s premier recruitment event for employment in education. Throughout this two-day event, educators will interview with representatives from Alaska’s urban and rural school districts. Come prepared with resumés and references.

Educators who are serious about securing a job in Alaska should attend the Educator Expo. Register for free, online or at the Captain Cook Hotel the day of the event.

Lower 48 Job fairs

The ATP Lower 48 Job Fairs provide educators who are not able to attend the Educator Expo in Alaska with a chance to interview for job openings. Because contracts will be offered, make sure to bring a list of references that can be reached on evenings and weekends.

Washington Minnesota Michigan

April 3–4, 2009

Seattle

April 5, 2009

Minneapolis

April 19, 2009

Grand rapids

To register for Alaska Teacher Placement’s job fairs, visit

then click on the Job fair tab at the top of the page.

alaskateacher.org

recruitmentevents & Job fairs

Pho

to: “

my

ride

out

” by

Mca

v0y/

flick

rcc

Alaska’s DiversePublic School System

Public schools in Alaska serve more than 130,000 students and employ close to 9,000 teachers, including part-time and long-term

substitutes. However, these students and teachers are not distributed evenly across the state. Most of the population is centered in the metropolitan areas of Anchorage, Matanuska-Susitna, Fairbanks, and Juneau. The Anchorage School District, for example, is one of the 100 largest school districts in the nation, with 3,000 teachers and 50,000 students. While most students are in urban areas, the majority of Alaska’s 54 school districts are located in the “bush,” places isolated from the rest of the state and off the road system, accessible only by air, boat, or all-terrain vehicle. Of Alaska’s 503 schools, 135 schools have fewer than 50 students and 82 schools enroll 25 or fewer students.

Alaska’s schools are very diverse culturally, mixing lifelong Alaskans with newcomers from the Lower 48. In rural areas, over 80% of students are indigenous Alaskans. The term “Alaska Native” is used to describe many Native groups with different languages and traditions, including Yup’ik, Inupiaq, Aleut, Athabascan, Tlingit, Haida, Tsimshian, and others.

Pho

tos:

K1

2 O

utre

ach

In some rural communities, Alaska Native students grow up speaking their native language, and learn English as a second language. Subsistence activities such as hunting, fishing, and gathering traditional foods are important to village communities.

For people who are new to Alaska, the exposure to Alaska Native languages, cultures, values, and subsistence lifestyles makes teaching in rural Alaska an exciting and enriching experience!

for more information about Alaska Native peoples, visit

Alaska Native Knowledge Network

Alaska federation of Natives

Alaskool

ankn.uaf.edu nativefederation.org Alaskool.org

Opportunities in Special education

Photos (from

left): “P

owerH

ockey” by Percita/flickrcc; “

DS

C_0

18

6” by L

obberich/flickrcc

If you are a special education teacher and have the desire to help students with special needs, incredible opportunities await you in Alaska:

•Itinerantpositionsthatallowyoutoexplorethestate•Pursuemaster’sworkinspecialeducation•Smallschoolsandclasssizes•Full-timeorpart-timework

The Special Educators for Alaska Project is focused on supporting, recruiting, and retaining special education teachers. The project, sponsored by a grant from the U.S. Department of Education, is a collaboration between ATP, the Alaska Department of Education & Early Development Special Education Division, and the Alaska Statewide Mentor Project. One project goal is to recruit a yearly cohort of special education teachers and provide them with two years of mentoring. Another goal is to provide professional development training to instructors in the field of special education.

For those interested in pursuing special education as a focus area, including paraeducators, Alaska has many convenient options. The University of Alaska Southeast, in Juneau, offers a distance-delivered special education endorsement and a master’s degree program; and the University of Alaska Anchorage offers distance-delivered master’s programs in general special education, early childhood special education, as well as speech, language, and auditory pathology.

eed.state.ak.us/tls/sped

Alaska Statewide Mentor Project

Pho

tos:

Ada

m D

emie

ntie

ff

The Alaska Statewide Mentor Project (ASMP) is designed to support

early career teachers in their first and second year of teaching. Working in partnership with a mentor, new teachers learn strategies that influence the way they teach so that each will become the teacher whose classroom practices are ready to meet the needs of tomorrow’s children, as well as those of today.

How do mentors help?

ASMP’s mentors do more than help new teachers survive—they help them understand that excellent teachers build their practice one day at a time, from the first day they step into a classroom. Mentors encourage early career teachers to set high expectations for themselves and their students, convey a belief in the power of the classroom teacher to affect student learning, and hold themselves personally accountable for the academic success of their students.

Who gets an Alaska Statewide Mentor?

Many first- and second-year teachers hired in participating districts have the opportunity to work with an Alaska Statewide Mentor. Unlike the induction models of many professions, the mentoring relationship is not evaluative: your Alaska Statewide Mentor is a sounding board, problem solver, advocate, and even an extra set of hands.

alaskamentorproject.org

To teach in Alaska, you will need a current Alaskan teaching certificate. If you do not yet have one, it is recommended that you begin the process as

soon as possible. In Alaska, educators are certified by the Teacher Education and Certification office within the Department of Education & Early Development.

Contact eeD with your certification questions

UrL eed.state.ak.us/TeacherCertification

email tcwebmail@alaska.gov

Mail

Department of education & early DevelopmentATTN: Teacher Certification801 West 10th St. Suite 200PO Box 110500Juneau, AK 99811-0500

Phone 907.465.2831 fax 907.465.2441

Bachelor’s degree or higher, and completion of a teacher preparation program.

ORCurrent enrollment in a teacher preparation program. (Program must be completed within two (2) years of the issuance of the Initial certificate.)

NOTE: Individuals enrolled in special education programs must complete their program prior to applying for the Initial certificate.Passing scores on the Praxis I, CBEST, or WEST-B exam.Fingerprint cards submitted with application for background check.Complete application submitted with processing fees.

A one-year teaching certificate may be issued for applicants who have not yet met the testing requirement, but hold a current, valid teaching certificate in another state.

Initial Certificate requirements

reciprocity with other states

1.

2.

3.

4.

Certification in Alaska

Photo: A

dam D

emientieff

Alaska Gateway Borough 907.883.5151 tok.schoolaccess.net

Aleutian region Borough 907.277.2648 aleutregion.org

Aleutians east Borough907.383.5222 aebsd.org

Anchorage Schools 907.742.4312 asdk12.org

Annette Island Schools 907.886.6332 aisd.k12.ak.us

Bering Strait Schools907.624.3611 bssd.org

Bristol Bay Borough 907.246.4225 bbbsd.net

Chatham Schools 907.788.3302 chathamsd.org

Chugach Schools 907.522.7400 chugachschools.com

Copper river Schools 907.822.3234 x223 crsd.k12.ak.us

Cordova City Schools 907.424.3265 cordovasd.org

Craig City Schools 907.826.3274 craigschools.com

Delta/Greely Schools907.895.4658 dgsd.k12.ak.us

Denali Borough 907.683.2278 dbsd.org

Dillingham City Schools 907.842.5223 dlgsd.org

fairbanks North Star Borough 907.452.2000 northstar.k12.ak.us

Galena City Schools907.656.1205 galenaalaska.org

Haines Borough Schools 907.766.2644 glacierbears.hbsd.net

Hoonah City Schools 907.945.3611 hoonahschools.org

Hydaburg City Schools 907.285.3491 hydaburg.k12.ak.us

Iditarod Area Schools 907.524.3033 x221 iditarodsd.org

Juneau Borough 907.523.1700 jsd.k12.ak.us

Kake City Schools 907.785.3741 kakeschools.com

Kashunamiut Schools 907.858.7713 chevak.schoolaccess.net

Kenai Peninsula Borough 907.714.8888 kpbsd.k12.ak.us

Ketchikan Gateway Borough907.247.2142 kgbsd.org

Klawock City Schools 907.755.2917 klawockschool.com

Kodiak Island Borough907.481.6200 kodiakschools.org

Kuspuk School District 907.675.4250 kuspuk.org

Lake and Peninsula Borough907.246.4280 lpsd.com

Lower Kuskokwim Schools907.543.4810 lksd.org

Lower Yukon Schools 907.591.2411 loweryukon.org

Mat-Su Borough 907.746.9255 matsuk12.us

Mt. edgecumbe High School907.966.3200 mehs.us

Nenana City Schools 907.832.5464 nenanasd.org

Nome City Schools 907.443.2231 nomeschools.com

North Slope Borough907.852.5311 nsbsd.org/

Northwest Arctic Borough 907.442.3472 x233 nwarctic.org

Pelican City Schools 907.735.2236 no website

Petersburg City Schools 907.772.4271 psgsd.k12.ak.us

Pribilof Schools 907.546.3337 psd-k12.org

Saint Mary’s Schools 907.438.2411 smcsd.us

Sitka Borough 907.747.8622 ssd.k12.ak.us

Skagway City Schools 907.983.2960 no website

Southeast Island Schools907.828.8254 sisd.org

Southwest region Schools907.842.5287 swrsd.org

Tanana Schools 907.366.7203 wolfpride.tanana.net

Unalaska City Schools 907.581.3151 ucsd.net

Valdez City Schools 907.835.4357 valdezcityschools.org

Wrangell Public Schools 907.874.2347 wrangellschools.org

Yakutat Schools 907.784.3317 x226 yakutatschools.org

Yukon flats Schools 907.662.2515 yukonflats.net

Yukon/Koyukuk Schools 907.374.9417 yksd.com

Yupiit Schools 907.825.3600 yupiit.org

School District Contact Information

Pho

to: “

Nor

ther

n L

ight

s” b

y N

ick

rus

sill

/flic

krcc

B

roch

ure

Des

ign:

Mor

gan

Duf

seth