CSU deals with teacher shortages
By Johnna Walker
Daily Forty-Niner
Changing commitment, recruitment and curriculum
is how the California State University system will solve the problem of
teacher shortages in the next millennium, according to the CSU Teacher
Education Annual Report 1998-1999, prepared by Chancellor's Office.
"California alone will need as many as
300,000 additional teachers over the next 10 years," said Ken Swisher,
media relations manager for the California State University Chancellorís
Office.
The report, released Sept. 29, detailed
current improvements and changes made by the CSU system in the area of
education.
The CSU system made some headway by increasing
teacher credentials by 25 percent, expanding alternative teacher preparation
programs and standardizing teacher assessments, according to the report.
Changes were made to teacher preparation
programs because much of the responsibility to educate these teachers falls
on the CSU, Swisher said. The CSU response to the demand for more teachers
is the Teacher-In-Residence program, he said.
Cal State Long Beach is one of five CSU
campuses participating in the Teacher-In-Residence program.
Erin Gruwell and Huong Tran Nguyen are
two Long Beach Unified School District teachers who work in the College
of Education as part of the program, said Catherine Ducharme, chairwoman
of the department of teacher education at CSULB.
Gruwell teaches classes in education and
liberal arts, Ducharme said. Nguyen supervises college graduates who currently
teach on an emergency permit, but are working toward a teaching credential.
"It is a benefit to have distinguished
teachers, who are able to inform us about curriculum changes [in the public
school system]," Ducharme said.
CalState TEACH, a multisubject credential
program with an emphasis in multicultural environments, was implemented
at CSULB this semester, said Dr. Jean Casey, professor of teacher education.
Like the Teacher-In-Residence program,
participating students are college graduates who teach in elementary schools
on an emergency permit but are working on becoming a credentialed teacher.
A faculty member and an on-site school
faculty mentor provide support for each of these teachers, Casey said.
The CalState TEACH program is part of the
chancellor's strategy for "enhancing teacher knowledge of both subject
matter and methods for effectively teaching content," according to the
report.
Changes outlined in the education report
also included offering classes online. Educational Psychology 350, a class
in teaching students with physical or learning disabilities and those who
are gifted or talented, is now offered online.
The course helps with the overflow of students
who would not have been able to enroll otherwise, said Gary Greene, a CSULB
associate professor who teaches the course. |