Dr. Chaunda McDavis’ Shift from Higher Ed to High School

Traditionally, people go to high school before they go to college, but Dr. Chaunda McDavis found herself teaching in higher education for 17 years before moving to high school classrooms to empower younger students.

While working with students in their late teens and early 20s was rewarding, McDavis knew she was ready for a change.

“At some point, I felt a need to transition to kind of reconfigure my career, but I still wanted to bridge the gap for students because I still had that passion for teaching,” McDavis said.

Around 2017, she started piecing together what exactly she wanted from the next stage of her career, researching how her expertise in language arts could be applied to public education to help prepare students for their own leap to college. Since professors and instructors at levels of academia don’t need to meet the same requirements as K-12 classroom leaders, McDavis quickly realized that earning her teacher certification was a very important piece of the puzzle.

Making the Transition from College to K-12

Determined to pivot into K-12 teaching, McDavis’ research wrapped up when a representative from Atlanta Public Schools mentioned Moreland’s TEACH-NOW program to her.

“I immediately went to the website to research and as I was reading through information regarding signing up for the teacher certification program, it was very succinct, very streamlined, and it made sense particularly for working professionals,” she remembered.

Just like the timing of her discussion with the APS representative, scheduling was on McDavis’ side again and she was able to meet 1-on-1 with a member of Moreland’s admissions team that same day to learn more about the TEACH-NOW and the enrollment process.

About one week later, she was signed up for classes.

Two weeks later, she was logging onto Zoom for the first course in her teacher preparation program.

Moreland’s 100% online format was key to McDavis’ quick turnaround time.

“Our programs [in Georgia] were strictly brick-and-mortar until the pandemic,” McDavis said, “and so it was very difficult to manage full-time employment and having to drive across town after your full workday to [an in-person] session.”

Encouraged by the quick, personalized registration process, McDavis was confident about her fit in the program — a feeling that grew even more as she realized how perfectly the time commitment fit with her existing schedule.

McDavis would spend one hour every week meeting with her cohort to get due dates, assignments, and all the necessary information needed to complete them while still being able to achieve a manageable work-life-study balance as she continued teaching full-time at the collegiate level.

Knowing that she was moving through the 9-month certification program with the same peer group enhanced the process, too.

“For me, it really made the process enjoyable,” McDavis said. “Not only was my cohort supportive but all of my instructors…were very helpful.”

Navigating the Teacher Certification Process

McDavis understood the financial and logistical considerations that come with earning a teaching certification, including paying for tuition. She chose to split the cost into manageable chunks using the monthly payment program for TEACH-NOW and looked at the decision as an investment in her future, both short-term and long-term.

“[It] was extremely doable,” McDavis said. “I just kept it within the mind frame of, ‘This is just one academic year — August to May,’ and I encourage people to think of it that way…so when you’re finishing up the school year with your students, if you’re teaching full-time, you’re finishing with [payments]. For example, I completed the program in May 2022 and by the end of May, all of my certifications had been approved and updated.”

The Challenges and Rewards of Career Change

While having previous teaching experience helped make her transition easier, shifting from higher education to high school was not 100% seamless. McDavis understood that high schoolers generally required different instructional strategies, classroom management techniques, and a more structured approach to learning than college students.

Of course, she was up for the challenge. McDavis prioritized meeting her new students on their level.

“Helping students to learn not to be intimidated by the curriculum [and] that they’re there to learn, and you want your students to always be an active contributor and active participant…was one of the things that I learned to coach as a college professor, making sure my students felt part of that felt like they were part of that learning community,” McDavis noted, “so as I transitioned into [K-12] public school, I saw the same thing and I realized students are just students no matter what level of study.”

As an advanced placement language and composition teacher, one of the most fulfilling aspects of McDavis’ transition has been witnessing her students’ growth as they prepare for their next chapters.

“It’s been exciting to talk to my students about college!” McDavis exclaimed. “They ask questions…and many of those students are actually taking college courses [already], so I feel that this transition has worked perfectly for me because I can still bring all that I am to my students and feel that I play a pivotal role in their development.”

“My Profession is Personal”

Thriving in her new role, McDavis appreciates the fulfillment she’s found teaching high school students and helping equip them with the skills they need to succeed in college and beyond.

“I truly believe my professional rewards are my personal rewards — [that] my profession is personal — meaning that if I have in some way impacted my students for the better, meaning if I have students who were maybe standoffish or didn’t interact or who were afraid of the learning process and they start to bloom and thrive and start becoming a student in their own style or fashion, that’s very rewarding to me.”

McDavis understands the power of education in a young person’s life, noting the first-generation college students who came through her classroom at APS without having considered higher education as an option before as well as the number of students she’s seen pursue trades after graduating.

“Those were things that they never saw for themselves and they can see where what we’ve learned in the classroom…is relevant to who they are as a person or their life experiences or where they’re trying to go in life,” McDavis said, “so I always say that my profession is personal, meaning that those personal rewards are seeing my [students] graduate from high school and thrive.”

But just because they graduate doesn’t mean those students leave McDavis’ heart, or her life.

“They can come back and talk to their friends that were younger than them in the building, and they often come back and visit,” McDavis said with a smile, “so that’s my reward.”

Moreland Can Support Your Teaching Certification Journey

For those considering a career change into teaching, McDavis’s advice is simple: “Just start, and I think that you will be so pleased, and you will be so engrossed in the program and what you’re learning.”

And even that is easy, according to McDavis.

“You don’t have to leave your home to go find research materials or what have you,” she said. “Moreland provides all of that.”

To hear more of McDavis’ story, watch the complimentary on-demand webinar, How Career Changers Can Transition into Teaching — and if you’re thinking about changing careers to become a teacher or taking your teaching career to the next level, Moreland’s fully online TEACH-NOW Teacher Certificate Preparation Program and master’s degree programs are designed to help you reach your goals.

With no application fee, there’s nothing standing between you and the next step in your journey. Apply today and turn your passion for education into a rewarding career.