s the Associate of Arts in Teaching (AAT) degree is garnering the attention of the public, state education boards, and colleges and universities, the amount of information published on the topic multiplies. A number of research and policy organizations are developing and have published reports about the AAT. These electronic resources are key information sources for those wishing to understand policy developments surrounding the AAT. This list is neither complete nor exhaustive as organizations are continually adding new information, additional research publications are issued, and policies are developed and studied. However, the following resources may be of help to Illinois educators seeking to become better informed about this issue:

1. Illinois Community College Board (ICCB) http://www.iccb.state.il.us/html/what/aat.html

The state of Illinois has undertaken the development of an Associate of Arts in Teaching (AAT) as an important component of its P-16 initiative. Draft reports have been published along with degree models in math and science, and model curricula for Technology in Education, Educational Psychology, Introduction to Education, Calculus, and Algebra. ICCB staff, until October 1, 2003, sought public feedback on the degree models and model curricula prior to presenting the request for approval to the ISBE, IBHE, and ICCB. These documents are available on-line.

2. New Directions for Community Colleges
http://www.wileyeurope.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle/productCd-0787968684,descCd-tableOfContents.html

New Directions for Community Colleges, The Role of the Community College in Teacher Education, No. 121 was published by Jossey-Bass in April of 2003. This issue was edited by highly regarded researchers Barbara Townsend and Jan Ignash and is available for order on-line. New Directions is a quarterly publication emphasizing issues of interest to the community college. This publication offers an introduction to the issues related to policies and practices in teacher education at the community college and a description of initiatives in the states of California, Maryland, Arizona, Florida, and Texas.

3. ERIC Clearinghouse for Community Colleges http://www.gseis.ucla.edu/ERIC/digests/digest0306.htm

The ERIC Clearinghouse for Community Colleges, housed at UCLA, provides a database of research briefs on hot topics in community colleges. Nathan R. Durdella prepared a digest of the New Directions for Community Colleges, The Role of the Community College in Teacher Education No 121, edited by Barbara Townsend and Jan Ignash. This digest discusses state level coordination, funding, design, and accreditation of alternative teacher education.

4. National Teacher Recruitment Clearinghouse
http://www.rnt.org

Recruiting New Teachers, Inc, a national organization, released this 2002 report entitled Tapping Potential: Community College Students and America's Teacher Recruitment Challenge. The report calls attention to the largely untapped pool of community college students as possible candidates for America's corps of teachers. Community colleges are looked to as a rich source of students of different backgrounds to enhance the diversity of the current teaching population. Teacher education programs at six community colleges are profiled and recommendations are offered for successful implementation of teacher education.

5. The Center For Community College Policy
http://www.communitycollegepolicy.org/

An affiliate of the Education Commission of the States (ECS), the Center for Community College Policy has adopted as one of its key policy issues the "Community College's Role in Teacher Preparation." This organization points to three benefits of community colleges' involvement in teacher education: 1) the large number of students that community colleges enroll annually, 2) the possibly of increasing the diversity of those entering the field of teaching, and 3) the ability to provide teacher training and professional development in the areas of math, science, computer technology, and foreign languages.

6. American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education (AACTE)
http://aacte.org/Membership_Governance/communitycolleges.pdf

This report, published in 2002, makes the case for traditional 4-year teacher education colleges and community colleges to work together in creating a quality alternative approach to teacher education, to be offered at the community college. Highlighted are several "tension points" frequently confronted in articulation agreements, transfer policies, and course equivalencies, which need to be addressed through a full collaboration. Acknowledged is the potential for resentment from colleges of education because community colleges, as an alternative route to teacher education, may not be held to standards that are as stringent as those for colleges of education. Several suggestions are recommended for successful collaboration.

7. The National Science Foundation (NSF)
http://www.nsf.gov/pubsys/ods/getpub.cfm?nsf9949

For three days during March of 1998, a group of stakeholders assembled to discuss the community college's role in preparing teachers of science, math, engineering and technology. During the conference over 100 sessions were presented by faculty and administrators from two- and four-year colleges and universities, and highlights of exemplary math and science teacher education programs at the community college level were presented. This report describes the findings of the conference and offers recommendations related to: 1) recruitment of prospective teachers; 2) strengthening undergraduate science, math, engineering, and technology courses; 3) pre-teaching experiences; 4) in-service activities; 5) collaboration between two-year and four-year institutions; and 5) connections with business and industry, professional societies, and other organizations.

8. South East Region, Vision for Education (SERVE)
http://www.serve.org/commcollabstract.html

This SERVE Policy Brief describes ways that teacher education offered in community colleges can be strengthened through state and institutional policies. Publications of the Education Commission of the States and National Science Foundation are reviewed as well as the current involvement of Mississippi community colleges in teacher education. Results from a Mississippi study on teacher preparation are presented and suggestions are made for successful program implementation.

9. The League for Innovation in the Community College
http://www.league.org/publication/abstracts/leadership/labs0299.htm

Sadie Bragg, the chair of the NSF report mentioned above, and George Boggs, President of the American Association of Community Colleges, wrote this 1999 article on the community college's role in teacher education. Recommendations for successful implementation at the community college are offered. These recommendations are not substantially different from what is already published in the NSF report, but reveal the role of the League for Innovation as an interested party in teacher education.