A good education relies mostly on one thing: a caring and knowledgeable teacher. Teacher shortages are the norm these days throughout the nation and specifically in California, the most populated state in the union. Certain subjects -- math, science and special education -- are in dire need of quality teachers. State colleges and universities are coming around to alternative teacher credentialing programs, to be sure, but there are also other credentialing options. One of these options, the Project Pipeline Teacher Credential Program, has helped fill the gap in California's classrooms.
Teachers-to-be come to Project Pipeline not to become qualified in their subject of choice but to hone the art of teaching. Most incoming teacher interns, as they're called at the Pipeline, already have real-world experience and need to get credentialed. "Teacher interns are career changers and hold advanced degrees," says Rex Fortune, executive director and founder of Project Pipeline.
The Pipeline Program allows teacher interns to become credentialed while they fill gaps in schools that need them. Interns are teaching in the classroom during the week and complete their credential requirements after school and on the weekends. "Like all alternative certification programs these candidates must meet state requirements," says Fortune. "We are not grabbing people off the street."
The program is a nonprofit and is accredited and supported by the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing. The Pipeline focuses on preparing teachers to be high school single-subject teachers as well as special education teachers. As of the 2007 academic year, special education teacher interns make up 110 of the 312 total interns at the Pipeline. "Attracting prepared and experienced teachers is particularly difficult in special education, even for districts that do not have staffing problems in other subject areas," according to California's teaching force 2006: Key issues and Trends, from the Center for the Future of Teaching and Learning.
Interns who complete Pipeline requirements receive a teaching credential from the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing, which is recognized in all California public schools and more than 30 states that have interstate agreements to accept California teaching credentials.
Project Pipeline interns have a full-time teaching assignment, earning a full-time salary. Most participating school districts have a payment plan where monthly payroll deductions can be made to pay Pipeline tuition costs. The Pipeline Web site touts, "After 20 (30 for special education) equal monthly payments, tuition is paid in full without having to qualify for a loan or incur any interest. Books and materials are included in the cost of tuition."
The easy, timely shift of teacher interns into classrooms is what sets the Pipeline apart from other credentialing programs. Project Pipeline works with local school districts to -- in some cases -- connect qualified interns to a school. Each year the Pipeline holds a teacher recruitment fair where consortium districts come together and interview teachers prescreened by the Pipeline. However, Project Pipeline is not a job placement program; admission into the program is usually simultaneous with a successful job interview.
Project Pipeline addresses a very specific need: boosting the sparse pool of qualified teachers for local schools. But do the teacher interns stay in the teaching field? "The people in alternative certification programs tend to stay in teaching at a higher rate than traditional methods," says Fortune. "The candidates are competent in their field. They come to us to learn how to be a teacher."
Fast Fact:
Nearly half, 47 percent, of those entering teaching through alternate routes say they would not have become a teacher if an alternate route to certification had not been available, according to a survey of 2,647 respondents who entered teaching through alternative routes.
-Source: National Center for Education Information and the National Center for Alternative Certification
RELATED STORY: Teacher Prep Program Works at Stanford University [http://www.convergemag.com/story.php?catid=422&storyid=106743]
Published in the Special Issue 2007 of Converge [http://www.convergemag.com/story.php?catid=422&storyid=106742]
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