Here’s an elementary equation: More students plus fewer experienced teachers equals a crisis in California education.

Currently, California loses 8 percent of its teachers every year to attrition and retirement. In 2001, the state will issue about 20,000 new credentials—but will need to hire 36,000 teachers per year to meet the enrollment demand. The California Commission on Teacher Credentialing predicts that the state will need almost 300,000 new teachers by 2010.

Combine the state’s increasing student population (an estimated 6.3 million by 2005, 1 million more than in 1995) with the aging teacher workforce (average age just under 45), and it’s easy to see that California is heading for a crisis that could leave many classrooms without qualified teachers. But CSU, Chico has 114 years’ experience in educating teachers for California’s schools. And in recent years, Chico’s teacher preparation programs have developed several innovative, award-winning programs to address the state’s need for more well-qualified teachers.

“We’ve tried to match our teacher education services to the needs of the region, while maintaining the caring, user-friendly style of education we’re known for, and I think it’s clear we’ve succeeded,” asserts Stephen King, dean of CSU, Chico’s College of Communication and Education.

Picking up the pace

For students wanting an accelerated teacher-training program, there is Integrated Teacher CORE. The program identifies those students who know as freshmen that they want careers in teaching. “Within two weeks of beginning their freshman year, CORE students are actually in the field—in classrooms assisting elementary school teachers,” explains Michael Kotar, Department of Education chair. Designed by a partnership of K–12 school districts, Butte Community College, and CSU, Chico, the four-year program blends education classes and liberal arts classes.

“From the beginning of my freshman year to the end of my senior year, I was in the classroom every semester… I averaged a minimum of 30 hours a semester in the classroom,” says 2001 CORE graduate Mary Roethler. “In essence, CORE allows you to complete the equivalent of five years of work in four years.”

Begun in 1996 with 50 freshmen, today CORE boasts more than 200 students. Faculty members from 19 departments work together to coordinate courses that relate to teaching in the classroom.

“I never felt fear because they work you into being in front of kids,” says Roethler, who taught at both Rosedale and Emma Wilson Elementary Schools in Chico. “I started out being a reading tutor or an aide in the classroom, and I worked my way up to teaching small groups. Then, finally, my senior year I was a student teacher. I taught all day and took night classes my senior year. It’s wonderful to feel so prepared.”

Ahead of their time

An off-shoot of CORE is the University Connection Program, a collaborative effort between CSU, Chico, local high schools, and district teachers to develop a university course for high school students in a teaching academy-type program.

What began in 1991 as the Paradise High School program grew in 1998 into the University Connection Program. Seniors complete their high school requirements while attending CSU, Chico, where they focus on teaching as a profession for the full academic year, earning university credit. In addition, students get experience working in district schools. The program has 34 enrollees for 2001–2002.

“The program integrates field experience with our actual classes,” says 2001 Paradise High School graduate David Johnson. “For example, the math course I took within the Liberal Studies requirement taught me how to teach kids math. A fourth-grade class came to the CSU, Chico campus, and we taught them a new type of math.”

Keeping the day job

An option for students unable to attend a full-time credential program is FLEX. Launched in 1996 with 22 students, the program now includes about 70 percent of the almost 700 credential students in CSU, Chico’s Department of Education. By offering evening, weekend, and summer classes, FLEX has appealed to emergency permit teachers, intern teachers, and many working adults considering a teaching career.

Jennifer Flory, a 2001 FLEX graduate, chose the program after her first semester at CSU, Chico so that she could work as a long-term substitute for a Bidwell Junior High School teacher going on maternity leave. Switching to FLEX enabled her to take classes Friday evenings and on weekends while working weekdays as a substitute.

“My semester as a long-term sub allowed me to grow as a teacher and as a professional,” recallsFlory. “I got out there and did it all—parent meetings, open house—the works.”

FLEX enrollees have come from as far as Alturas, near the Oregon border, and South Lake Tahoe. In many cases, groups of students have enrolled and commuted together, renting a place in Chico to stay for the weekends or during the summer.

The magic of mentoring

Students wanting a more intensive teaching apprenticeship program can apply for the Tri-Placement Program, part of the Department of Professional Studies in Education. Started in 1979, the fifth-year credential program requires students to work in at least three different classrooms three to four-and-a-half days a week for one school year. It averages 30 students per year.

Some 80 cooperating teachers support Tri-Placement in two local school districts, Chico Unified and Durham Unified. Hooker Oak Elementary School teacher Linda Holm, a CSU, Chico graduate of Tri-Placement precursor Hooker Oak Center, wholeheartedly supports the program. “I know it works,” she says. “If it were up to me, Tri-Placement would be a requirement, not an option.”

Student teachers get daily feedback from cooperating teachers and weekly feedback from university faculty who observe them in the classroom. “The real plus for me has been working with master teachers like Linda and learning by doing,” says student teacher Jennifer Cornaggia, who worked in Holm’s class in spring 2001. “It’s a very comprehensive program. By the end of the year, you know you can teach.”

Holm appreciates the extra help with her students. “It adds one more adult to the classroom, which allows us to do more, accomplish more,” she notes. “The Tri-Placement Program enables adult interaction. You can share experiences with one another. You can vent. You can celebrate.”

“Sometimes,” adds Cornaggia, “it’s just a smile across the room.”

Creating more choices

In addition to these programs, the university offers other “entry points” for prospective teachers, leading to a wide range of credentials—single subject, multiple subjects, administrative, school psychologist and counselor, agricultural specialist, reading specialist, and special education. Starting fall 2001, the Liberal Studies Online program will open a new avenue for working and distance-challenged pre-credential students seeking the B.A. degree.

Filling all the vacant teaching spots in California in the next decade is bound to be an uphill battle, and while some drastic steps may be needed to deal with the crisis, CSU, Chico is stepping up to the challenge of providing more quality teachers to meet the state’s needs.

For more information about CORE, University Connection, and FLEX, call the Department of Education at 530-898-6421 or e-mail edu@csuchico.edu. For information about Tri-Placement, call the Department of Professional Studies in Education at 530-898-5398 or e-mail psed@csuchico.edu.

About the author

JoAnn Morgan is a freelance writer who lives in Chico.