As a result, the need for elementary school and secondary teachers is projected to grow 1.1% annually until 2008, while standards for their preparation are also rising. Specifically, 2.05 million new elementary school teachers and 1.19 million new secondary teachers will be needed in this time frame (Gerald & Hussar, 1998).

Illinois and many other states have realized that the teacher education programs currently in place will not meet this demand, and have started to seek new models and/or educational settings for preparing new teachers as well as to assist those needing to upgrade their skills. The National Teacher Recruitment Clearinghouse, developed by the U.S. Department of Education, provides information on alternative routes to certification for 47 states. (See here).

The Community College Role

When reviewing the current literature on teacher preparation, it is evident that a number of community colleges are seeing teacher preparation as a part of their mission, connected with academic transfer preparation, vocational-technical education for the community, continuing education for adults, and community service (Cohen & Brawer, 1996). A number of education leaders suggest that it makes sense to start teacher preparation at the community college level since community colleges have an employment standard based on teaching and have been recognized as the nation's premier teaching institutions, (Wood, 2001; McCann, 2001). In fact, McCann (2001) believes that it would be appropriate to place teacher preparation directly in the mission statement of many community colleges.
Community colleges are developing a wide variety of programs related to teacher education, including:

• transfer programs from community colleges to four-year universities,
  
  
• partnerships and jointly-administered programs to develop educators, and
  
  
• professional education workshops and classes for teachers.

Community colleges are also offering specific courses oriented to future teachers. According to a 1998 National Science Foundation report, "Many future elementary and middle school teachers are taking more, if not all, of their college-level science and mathematics courses at two-year colleges."

Importantly, community colleges are especially well positioned to recruit qualified minority teacher candidates. Hudson (2000) reported that, in a study of community college teacher preparation programs, almost 40% of the participants in the programs were non-white, which even exceeds the national mean of community college students. This fact is especially significant in light of the dearth of non-white teaching professionals: only 13.5% of current teachers are people of color.

Transfer and Articulation: Community Colleges to Four-Year Universities

In a study of community colleges, Hudson (2000) reported that 79% of the respondents have articulation programs in place and 12% are in the process of establishing agreements. He also noted that students in teacher preparation programs achieved a 50% transfer rate to four-year colleges, double the national average of 22%.

In California, the Orange County Community Colleges, Glendale Community College, and Cerritos College have developed a joint program that recruits teachers' aides to become elementary teachers. The participants in the program take courses at local community colleges and then complete their fieldwork in the Orange County public schools. Credits earned are transferred to California State University (Evelyn, 2002).

Community colleges in Maryland were recently authorized to offer an associate degree in teaching by the Maryland Commission on Higher Education. University-level courses are offered by the community colleges and fieldwork is done at local schools. The completion of this degree ensures that students receive full credit when continuing to a public or private four-year institution in the state (Evelyn, 2002; Levison, 2001).

In Texas, two school districts have agreements with Richland College and local universities in which the district pays the tuition for those students who agree to teach in their district for at least two years. The students complete the first two years at Richland College and then transfer to a local university to complete the degree (Evelyn, 2002).

Partnerships and Joint Admission

Baker and Walter (1996) describe a 2+2 partnership involving Pennsylvania College of Technology and The Pennsylvania State University. The goal is to train teachers for career and technical education, facilitating their development of leadership and guidance skills as well as technical competence. After completing an Associate Degree at Pennsylvania College of Technology, the students transfer to Penn State to complete the bachelor's degree and become certified teachers.

In 1999, the Virginia General Assembly approved a House Joint Resolution to request that the State Council on Higher Education encourage articulation between two- and four-year institutions' teacher education programs. These kinds of relationships are exemplified by a partnership among Reynolds Community College, Virginia Commonwealth University, two other two-year colleges, and six other four-year institutions to produce high quality math and science teachers for both the elementary and middle school level. The collaboration of faculty from each institution is a key to its success (Wood, 2001).

Professional Teacher Development and Service to the Community

Community colleges have traditionally offered many human resource development programs to local business and industry. Now, they are developing programs that help teachers to upgrade their skills as well. For example, Delaware Technical and Community College offers an Educational Technologies certificate. The program targets K-12 teachers and college faculty and awards both introductory and advanced certificates (Delaware Technical and Community College, 2002).

Another model program is funded by the National Science Foundation and offers professional teacher development through the University of Illinois at Chicago and six community colleges. The community colleges offer courses for prospective teachers through this program, as well as professional development for both on-campus faculty and teachers in the community (Evelyn, 2002). (For more information, see here.)

Innovative Programs in Community Colleges

In other settings, teacher preparation has evolved to the point where community colleges, such as Florida's St. Petersburg College and Great Basin College in Nevada, are awarding bachelor's degrees in elementary education (Levinson, 2001). In Arizona, Rio Salado College of the Maricopa Community College System is offering a program in which people with a bachelor's degree can complete teacher-certification requirements online in one to two years (Rio Salado College, 2002). The program is accredited by the Norwest Association of Schools and Colleges, the accrediting body for the region (Levinson, 2001).

Implications for the Future

Community colleges are serving their local communities by preparing, or serving as a partner to prepare, qualified teachers for the classroom. With the projected shortage of teachers, community colleges can play an important role in recruiting future teachers, including those from diverse populations. Particularly in areas such as math, science, and technology, where there are critical shortages of teachers, partnerships among state policy-makers, universities, and colleges can be formed to capitalize on opportunities to place greater numbers of highly qualified teachers in the classroom.

References

1999 VA H. J. R. 728. Retrieved March 2002 from database (Legislative Information System) available at .

Baker, G., & Richard, W. (1996). The new teacher. Vocational Education Journal, 3(1), 41-42.

Bradley, A. (1999). States' uneven teacher supply complicates staffing of schools. Education Week, 18.

Darling-Hammond, L., Berry, B. T., Haselkorn, D., & Fideler, E. (1999). Teacher recruitment, selection, and induction: Policy Influences on the supply and quality of teachers. In L. Darling-Hammond, and G. Sykes (Eds.), Teaching as the learning profession. Handbook of policy and practice. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Delaware Community and Technical College. (2002). Educational technology certificates.

Fideler, E., & Haselkorn, D. (1999). Learning the ropes: Urban teacher induction programs and practices in the United States. Belmont, Massachusetts: Recruiting New Teachers, Inc.

Fraser, J. (January, 2001). Time to cut the link between teacher preparation and certification? Education Week, 20.

Gerald, D. E., & Hussar, W. J. (1998). Projections of education statistics to 2008. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Education, Office of Education Research and Improvement.

Hudson, M. (2000). Final report (revised) for the national study of community college career corridors for k-13 teacher recruitment. Office of Education Research and Improvement.

Levinson, A. (2001). Community colleges training teachers. Associated press online, 7/31/2001. AN CX20011212 U9716. Database Newspaper Source.

McCann, J. (2001). Teacher preparation is part of the community college mission. Community College Week, 13(12), 4-6.

National Teacher Recruitment Clearinghouse (2002). State departments of education.

Rio Salado College (2002). Online teacher preparation program, post baccalaureate program.