Report Lauds Partnership with LBCC and LBUSD for Reforming Teacher Preparation
A recent report on the future of teacher preparation in California recognizes the collaboration between California State University, Long Beach(CSULB), Long Beach City College (LBCC), and Long Beach Unified School District (LBUSD) as a model of innovation. The collaborative effort forged between the three partners over the past 20 years creates a seamless P-20 educational pipeline for Long Beach students. The report, focused on reforming teacher preparation in California, lauds the partnership as a comprehensive, forward-thinking approach due to:
- Continual dialogue on teachers’ needs, resulting in curricular adjustments in teacher education as necessary;
- Team teaching involving both College of Education (CED) and district faculty, often at LBUSD sites;
- Ongoing collaboration between the three partners regarding professional development and curricular innovations; and
- Highly-structured student teaching experiences in diverse LBUSD classrooms.
The report points out that CED graduates fill 70 percent of teacher vacancies in LBUSD on an annual basis, and remain in the field longer than the national average. Due to the partnership, these graduates often have grown up in Long Beach and have ties to the communities in which they teach.
