CalStateTEACH to battle teacher shortage

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President Welty announces the new CalStateTEACH program at a press conference April 28 at Cedarwood Elementary School in Clovis with principal Colin Hindergardt, emergency credential teacher Donna Geil, and Fresno County Office of Education's Elizabeth Sullivan.

by Tom Uribes

The university, along with four other CSU sites, is now preparing for the first class of CalStateTEACH students next fall. Hailed as a bold, innovative and comprehensive strategy to battle the growing teacher shortage crisis in the state's public schools, the program will help thousands of teachers who currently hold emergency credentials obtain full certification while remaining on the job.

CalStateTEACH was formally unveiled April 28 in simultaneous press conferences in Sacramento by Governor Gray Davis and Chancellor Charles Reed, and in Fresno by President John Welty with local school officials. Welty is the statewide co-chair of the project.

In addition to the Fresno State/CSU Monterey Bay site offered through Fresno's campus, the program will be offered through the Fullerton, Hayward, Los Angeles, and Pomona campuses.

Dr. Walter Ullrich was named Fresno's regional center academic director and Dr. Steve Price will coordinate recruitment for Fresno State/Monterey Bay. Both are based in the School of Education and Human Development on campus.

Ullrich said the school is now recruiting for the 125 students it can enroll for the fall 1999 semester. Approximately five professors will be hired by August to advise, coach, and evaluate.

"This will be a rigorous program that gives emergency credential holders opportunities to learn and receive guidance on the job while enabling districts to keep them in the classrooms," Ullrich said. "The standards for this program are very high."

Currently, 15,000 California elementary classrooms are staffed with teachers who are not fully credentialed, but hold either a waiver or an emergency permit, according to the Governor's Office. As a result of the class-size reduction program, California will need an additional 250,000 to 300,000 teachers by 2008.

CalStateTEACH, modeled on the successful British Open University program, allows teachers currently holding emergency credentials to earn a multiple subject elementary credential in four stages over an 18 month period while continuing to work in the classroom.

CSU faculty experts designed an integrated curriculum to prepare working teachers to meet California's teacher preparation standards for the classroom with completion of 38 college credits for the full credential.

Applicants must meet the standard requirements for an elementary teacher preparation program, including a bachelor's degree, passage of the CBEST test, and letters of recommendation. They must also secure a teaching position on their emergency credential with a public school that agrees to supervise their teaching. Applications are available toll-free by calling 1 (877) 225-7828. For more details, contact Ullrich at ext. 8-0234 or 8-0210.