The Board of Trustees for the California State University system will implement, this fall, a plan to help the CSU system improve teacher education and prepare a greater number of teachers.
The recommendations, approved July 15, came after a year and a half of research from a commission headed by Robert Maxson, president of Cal State Long Beach, and are a response to the need for more quality teachers in California.
The commission cited the growing amount of teachers retiring, reductions in class size and the large increase in public school enrollments as contributors to the teacher shortage.
"We need to streamline procedures to make it easier to register."
- President Robert Maxson
The 23 CSU campuses prepare nearly 60 percent of the state's teachers.
"There's a teacher shortage statewide," Maxson said. "We have pledged to increase the number of teachers by recruiting people and making it easier for the teachers with emergency permits to get a certificate."
Teachers holding emergency permits are still working toward getting their teaching credential. They have five years to become certified, Maxson said.
"We need to streamline procedures to make it easier to register," he added.
Involving students in teacher preparation early in the potential instructors college studies is another recommendation made by the committee.
"We need to be able to identify students that want to be teachers early in their college careers," Maxson said. "We can allow them to spend time in schools to see if [teaching] is really what they want to do. If they do continue teaching they will be better prepared when they graduate."
Other programs being implemented or already in place at campuses throughout the CSU system address new approaches to teacher preparation through distance education, alternative certification programs and integrated undergraduate programs.
The committee's recommendations have gained national attention, Maxson
said.