Support for Integrated Teacher Preparation Programs in the California State University

AS-2611-03/AA/TEKR - May 8-9, 2003

RESOLVED: That the Academic Senate of the California State University (CSU) request the CSU Board of Trustees to formulate and adopt policy that would incorporate the following provisions into Title 5 of the California Code of Regulations to take effect for students entering during the Academic Year 2005-2006:

• Implementation of integrated teacher preparation programs, that is, teacher preparation programs that enable candidates for teaching credentials to engage in subject matter, general education, and professional preparation concurrently thereby completing all requirements for both a preliminary teaching credential and a baccalaureate degree simultaneously;
• Integrated teacher preparation programs offered by CSU campuses may not be comprised of less than 120 semester (180 quarter) units; and
• Integrated teacher preparation programs requiring more than 135 semester (203 quarter) units must justify units beyond the 135 semester (203 quarter) units; and be it further

RESOLVED: That the Academic Senate CSU and the Chancellor create a task force to recommend a general framework, by the September 2003 plenary meeting, for integrated teacher preparation curricula, which will provide guidelines for the identification and integration of lower-division and upper-division subject matter, general education, and professional preparation components within an overall program leading to both a baccalaureate degree and a preliminary teaching credential. The task force will collaborate with campus faculty and academic administrative leaders from education and from arts and science areas with approved subject matter preparation programs; and be it further

RESOLVED: That the Academic Senate CSU recommend that the CSU work with the California Community Colleges to ensure that students transferring from a community college into a CSU integrated teacher preparation program are able to identify the articulated coursework which, if completed, would guarantee the student had preparation equivalent to that of a native student. In cases where articulated course work in an integrated teacher preparation program is not available at the community college, students should be allowed to transfer to a CSU campus early according to the provisions of section 40805 of Title 5; and be it further

RESOLVED: That the Academic Senate CSU recommend that each campus of the CSU enter into articulation agreements for the lower-division components of its integrated teacher preparation programs with those community colleges from which the campus receives a significant number of transfer students in relevant majors; and be it further

RESOLVED: That the Academic Senate CSU recommend that in cases where community colleges supply significant numbers of transfer students to more than one CSU, the CSU campuses involved in articulation agreements should work on a common agreement with the community colleges; and be it further

RESOLVED: That the Academic Senate CSU request the Chancellor to seek an extension of the authority for campuses to admit students to currently approved integrated teacher preparation programs to January 2005 in order to comply with SB 2042 standards; and be it further

RESOLVED: That the Chancellor and the Academic Senate CSU work with both the legislature and the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing (CCTC) to ensure greater flexibility on the part of the CCTC in interpreting SB 2042 requirements and related accreditation standards thereby enabling the CSU to realize the 120-135 semester (180-203 quarter) unit goal.

RATIONALE: California is one of the states with the greatest shortages of appropriately credentialed teachers. It is also one of only 13 states that do not offer an undergraduate degree in education. The "blended program," as described by California Commission on Teacher Credentialing (CCTC) and encouraged under SB 2042 in 1998, was designed to provide concurrent undergraduate subject matter and pedagogical teacher preparation. A 2003 report of the CSU Subject Matter Studies indicates that the blended programs offered by 20 CSU campuses currently range from 124-167 semester units. Those with the higher unit requirements are not viewed by the legislature or by the public as meeting the intent of promoting undergraduate teacher preparation.

Highly qualified teachers have solid content knowledge, pedagogical skills and pedagogical content knowledge. National standards have long recognized that effective teachers are strong in both subject matter knowledge and pedagogical skills. Recent research and practice reveal that pedagogical content knowledge is equally critical. National standards now call for programs to ensure that candidates learn to present the content to students in challenging, clear, and compelling ways. Curriculum is needed that facilitates candidates' ability to connect the pedagogy and subject matter knowledge in order to produce teachers with content, pedagogy and pedagogical content knowledge.

CSU faculty have developed many effective integrated teacher preparation programs, and faculty on several campuses have revised programs to meet new standards for blended programs of undergraduate teacher preparation adopted in September 2001. Many of the newly revised multiple-subject programs can be completed within 135 or fewer semester units. The Academic Senate of the California State University has repeatedly recognized that curriculum development is properly the responsibility of faculty and of the academic senates on campus. The noteworthy reduction in size of major degree programs over the past few years has been accomplished by faculty members in degree programs and through campus-level program review processes. The CSU is committed to working on articulation and transfer issues with the California Community Colleges (CCC), and the Academic Senate CSU has repeatedly demonstrated that commitment by its support for the intersegmental general education transfer curriculum, lower-division core projects for a number of majors, systemwide standards for admission into programs of teacher education, and in other ways. However, the Senate has also recognized that the expediting of student transfers from CCC to CSU involves complex and multi-layered issues, and many of those issues link directly to faculty responsibilities for curriculum, academic advising, and assessment of student performance in both systems. Therefore faculty leadership and cooperation will be required for the success of any effort to facilitate transfer and articulation.

The need for collaboration and articulation between the CSU and community colleges within the context of teacher recruitment and preparation is clear, urgent, and compelling. There is widespread national recognition of the need to encourage promising students to pursue careers in teaching during their secondary school and community college experiences. The development of critical partnerships between community colleges and the CSU, the two institutions that prepare more than 60 percent of California's teachers, are essential in any effort to increase the availability of highly qualified teachers in our state. The vast majority of community college students who are interested in teaching will complete their program of study in the CSU.

SB 2042 was omnibus legislation that called for a complete overhaul of the credentialing system. To implement these changes the CCTC facilitated the development of Standards for Program Quality and Effectiveness that were adopted in 2001-2002. Teacher preparation programs were afforded approximately two years to transition to new standards. A significant majority of the CSU programs that would be affected by the proposed frameworks and articulation guidelines have not yet been reviewed and most are still under development. It is critical that the Chancellor and Senate seek an extension of deadlines for submission of new program proposals to January 2005. Such an extension will permit campuses to develop programs that comply both with SB 2042 and the guidelines to be developed rather than expecting them to comply first with one and then immediately to make changes to comply with the other.

APPROVED - May 8-9, 2003