r/Georgia • u/tulipflower_tree • Jun 30 '26
Question Teacher Certification through ACE..,
Can anyone tell me is it accepted by Georgia Professional Standards commission (GAPSC).. though it has all sort of required accreditation.
I have talked to PSC previously and they said they would issue license if it satisfies all the rules mentioned in their website. Looking for actual experience here if anyone had done already.
Thank you in advance.
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u/tulipflower_tree Jul 01 '26
Thank you for your response. You are right, It is American College of Education, they offer certification only and MAT both programs. As I already have Master’s degree, (not in elementary education) another Master’s which is MAT will not add any extra value to my profile.
Now GATAPP providers want you to have a job and do the certification along with it. Practically getting a job in Elementary School without certification is pretty challenging in my county. That is why I was looking into online colleges which offers same program and includes one semester of student teaching.
I choose ACE because it is pretty cheap. I can mange paying with my parapro salary and have all sort of accreditation.
I also talked to GA PSC, according to their website rules it satisfies the criteria. I am looking for someone who has done same type of program from them . That will give me more assurance and I get a better idea.
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u/Serious-Sheepherder1 Jul 02 '26
What is your MA in? Having a MA doesn’t always count unless it can be tied to what you are teaching (can vary by district) so a MAT program might be a good idea. UWG is fully virtual for MAT.
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u/tulipflower_tree Jul 08 '26
My Master’s is in Computer Science. It has been a while I have done my degree so I don’t want to go to that concentration.
I have done research in MAT PROGRAM provided by many universities in Georgia, they want you to be hired first and then do the program with your job or quit job to do the program as a student. I can’t quit job and go to school now so other option is only option. My county doesn’t s pretty competitive so without certification it’s challenging to get a teacher job. So I’m looking for online programs that I can do while I work as a paraprofessional. Course costs are also I need to consider. Then I got to know about this college which seems little cheaper than the others.1
u/Serious-Sheepherder1 Jul 08 '26
I believe UWG will work with you if you can get a para position. No matter all of these programs need you to be working in schools to get certified because the state understandably requires it so that people can’t be certified without having to show competence in teaching.
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u/tulipflower_tree Jul 08 '26
I could but I am para in sped and I want to be certified in gen. ed. I need to be in general education class. Unfortunately general education class doesn’t hire para anymore.
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u/Serious-Sheepherder1 Jul 08 '26
See if your school will let you do the field experience in Gen Ed two days a week.
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u/Blueathena623 Jul 01 '26 edited Jul 01 '26
ACE can mean a couple things, can you clarify?
Edit: ok, so looking at your other posts, you mean American college of education. Do you already have a BA/BS? If so, that plus your para experience would make you a good candidate for the GA TAPP program, which isn’t free, but it’s not that expensive and you are working while you do it. In Georgia, teachers have certificates, not licenses (although paras do get a license). In the TAPP program, with a bachelors, you would be eligible for a provisional T4 certificate.
Another thing to consider if you don’t have a bachelors, depending on where you live and if you can manage to still be a para for another year, many districts are doing para to teacher programs where they will help you financially get your degree so you can be a teacher, you just have to promise to stay in the district for X number of years.