States Turn to Community Colleges to Prepare New Teachers

Faced with a shortage of new teachers, a number of states including Florida,
Illinois, Maryland, and New Mexico are turning to community colleges to
train entering elementary and secondary school teachers. One step states
are taking is to allow community colleges to offer teacher education courses
and certifications that can be transferred to four-year institutions.

Contact: Dane Linn
Education Policy Studies
Contact: Christopher Mazzeo
Education Policy Studies

Just last
year, Maryland created an associate’s or arts degree in teaching, and six of
the state’s community colleges have been approved to offer the new degree. In
the summer of 2001, Maryland had over 10,000 openings for elementary and
secondary school teachers.

Since two-year colleges tend to have higher minority enrollment than four-year
institutions, states are also turning to community colleges to increase
minority enrollment in teacher education programs. Currently, four out of ten
teachers complete a portion of their undergraduate math and science classes
at two-year institutions.

To address teacher shortages and teacher preparation, NGA is collaborating
with the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) on Colleges and
Classrooms: State Strategies for Redesigning Teacher Preparation Policies.
Through a grant from the Carnegie Corporation of New York, NGA and NCSL
are providing customized assistance to five states (California, Georgia,
Idaho, Ohio, and Vermont) as they take policy action to improve teacher
preparation.

Teacher Quality Information (NGA Center web site) http://www.nga.org/center/topics/1,1188,D_401,00.html

http://www.nga.org/center/frontAndCenter/1,1188,C_FRONT_CENTER^D_3626,00.html