[ Golden Gater Online - December 4, 1997 ]
Gerhard Stochl
Staff writer
At a conference held at SF State two weeks ago, a panel composed of California educators presented a list of recommendations aimed at overhauling the state's teaching credential requirements.
Convening for nearly two years, the panel explored altering the way college students become teachers. And in a separate report released about a week before the conference, a California State University committee urged campuses to encourage more students to become teachers.
The CSU and panel recommendations came around the same time a nationwide study ranked the quality of California's public school teachers well below most states. Especially in math and science, California has some of the highest numbers of uncertified or under-trained teachers in the nation, according to the recent report by the National Commission on Teaching and America's Future.
CSU's Committee on Educational Policy said the problem is linked to the state's push for smaller class sizes. With classes sometimes being cut in half, schools must employ emergency-permit holders, who are often not well-prepared, to satisfy the demand for new teachers.
According to the committee, CSU is the primary source of teachers for the state's public schools. Last year, CSU campuses trained more than half the new teachers in California.
Allen Black, co-chair of the panel and assistant dean of teacher education at UC Berkeley, said the SB 1422 Advisory Panel for the Comprehensive Review of Teaching Credential Requirements examined how to raise the standards of the teaching credential program while improving its accessibility and diversity.
"The overriding goal is to prepare as many certified teachers as possible and reflect the diversity of California's population," said Vera Lane, associate dean of academic affairs in the SF State College of Education and a leading member of the panel.
According to Black, the panel recommended extending the amount of time it takes students to receive their credential from one to three years. And while students would spend more time in the program, they would already be working and earning money in the field, Black said.
But some panel members are worried that extending the program may not be financially feasible because California universities are already underfunded by the state.
The panel's report has been presented to the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing, which aims to convince Sen. Dede Alpert (D-San Diego) to sponsor a bill supporting it, according to CCTC
consultant Terry Janicki, adding that legislation to implement the changes could be passed as early as next fall.
While the panel seeks to change the credential program itself, the CSU committee hopes to increase cooperation among departments, providing more support for students interested in teaching and rewarding faculty who support teacher preparation with promotions, raises and tenure.
Its recommendations carry some weight because they come from the highest level of administration, but according to CSU spokesman Ken Swisher, "they are not a mandate."
Jacob Perea, dean of SF State's College of Education, said that while some campuses have a lack of cooperation among departments, he believes SF State's college deans have already been very helpful in sending students who have received their bachelor's degrees and are interested in becoming teachers to his college.
He added that the administration has also been supportive by awarding promotions and tenure to faculty members who have done field work in education.
Lane said that to attract more students, the college hopes to offer more internship programs and is working on proposing a minor in teaching at the undergraduate level.
[ Golden Gater - December 4, 1997 ]