A Message from the President
Dr. Linda Gronberg-Quinn, President
Director – Teacher Education, Community College of Baltimore County
I would like the take the opportunity to welcome everyone to the new school year. For those who work year-round, Happy Fall! I am Linda Gronberg-Quinn. As Director of the Teacher Education Department at the Community College of Baltimore County, I am one of those year-round folks. This is my 19th year at the college and I can still honestly say I love my job. It is never boring! The students, faculty and staff are phenomenal. We are quite fortunate to have a very supportive administration. I completed my doctorate in 2018 after ten long years. It was well worth it. My five grandchildren attended the graduation wearing shirts saying, “Grandchild of the graduate.” At the time, they ranged in age from 1-5 years of age. I might have cried when I saw their shirts.
I am very excited to hold the position of President of the Executive Board, having been involved with NACCTEP for approximately 10+ years. It is an honor to work with such dedicated and gifted teacher educators. During this time, NACCTEP has evolved into a national force in the field. When we visit Washington DC and take a trip to Capitol Hill, legislators welcome us and typically are familiar with some of our initiatives. It is important that we continue having those conversations. As our fabulously energetic Executive Director, Kim Tobey, points out, it is imperative that we have a seat at the table when teacher preparation is being discussed.
Welcome to the new school year. Please join us when we meet in Atlanta in February!
Dr. Linda Gronberg-Quinn, President
Director – Teacher Education, Community College of Baltimore County
I would like the take the opportunity to welcome everyone to the new school year. For those who work year-round, Happy Fall! I am Linda Gronberg-Quinn. As Director of the Teacher Education Department at the Community College of Baltimore County, I am one of those year-round folks. This is my 19th year at the college and I can still honestly say I love my job. It is never boring! The students, faculty and staff are phenomenal. We are quite fortunate to have a very supportive administration. I completed my doctorate in 2018 after ten long years. It was well worth it. My five grandchildren attended the graduation wearing shirts saying, “Grandchild of the graduate.” At the time, they ranged in age from 1-5 years of age. I might have cried when I saw their shirts.
I am very excited to hold the position of President of the Executive Board, having been involved with NACCTEP for approximately 10+ years. It is an honor to work with such dedicated and gifted teacher educators. During this time, NACCTEP has evolved into a national force in the field. When we visit Washington DC and take a trip to Capitol Hill, legislators welcome us and typically are familiar with some of our initiatives. It is important that we continue having those conversations. As our fabulously energetic Executive Director, Kim Tobey, points out, it is imperative that we have a seat at the table when teacher preparation is being discussed.
Welcome to the new school year. Please join us when we meet in Atlanta in February!
A Message from the Executive Director
Kimberly Tobey, Director, Community Partnerships -Educator Preparation Field &
Student Teaching Experiences, Rio Salado College
An Eventful Summer and a Call to Action
As I write this article, I have been listening to updates regarding Hurricane Dorian and I’m reminded that while our NACCTEP work is certainly important, the everyday needs of caring for those around us is so much more necessary. Likewise, it doesn’t go unnoticed that as a nation we have experienced the tragic loss of numerous children and faculty members to school shootings…in truth there’s been too many shootings in general.
It is times like these that it doesn’t make sense to highlight the work of NACCTEP, but I also know that life must go on. To those impacted by these tragedies please know that our thoughts and prayers are with you.
I say it at the start of every academic year and this year is no different, the voice of our community college educator preparation programs across the country is at stake and we are quickly losing our ability to be heard. We must have your support and participation in order to ensure that our work is valued and that barriers are reduced for students who are seeking to complete degrees and/or licensure in your state.
To make sure that our two-year programs, including those that confer degrees and offer post-baccalaureate programs, are heard – here’s how NACCTEP stayed involved over the summer months.
For the first time ever the NACCTEP board has invited a four-year Institute of Higher Education Partner to sit with us and vote on matters that impact our system. You’ll get more information about our new board members in this newsletter, but just know that we desire to learn from our four-year partners and create a space of collaboration and learning so that we can reduce the barriers to completion. We cannot do this if we are not in the same room talking about shared values and strategies.
In July I was able to attend the Education Commission of the State Education Policy discussion. This three-day event hosted education commissioners from across the country to discuss all needs related to P-20 education. During my time at the conference I was able to meet with individual state teams to address the importance of ensuring the community college teacher education programs and especially their personnel, are included in conversations around data, diversifying the pipeline and providing cost-effective routes to the classroom. It is unfortunate, in this day and age, that the community colleges are often left out from these critical conversations. If you aren’t already participating, begin to work with your state department and ask what committees you can serve on and if your community college can be included in conversations around certification needs and policy changes. We must be active in developing our partnerships.
Here are a few of the initiatives that the NACCTEP board has chosen to focus on for AY20 to make sure that our two-year programs, including those that confer degrees and offer post-baccalaureate programs, are heard.
AY20 Initiatives – A Call to Action
Collegiate Educators Rising: Conversations have already begun with our partners at the national Educators Rising office to discuss opportunities to grow our own student-led organizations, compete at the national level for scholarships to the four-year universities, and ultimately create a continuum of Educators Rising programs that students recognize from high school all the way through completion of a teaching program. More information and webinars to follow.
Internationalizing Community Colleges: In October I participated in a convening of 15-20 experts in the field of global education to discuss strategies for developing professional development materials to assist our community college faculty in understanding best practices around ensuring that our teacher candidates are globally competent as they prepare to work with their PreK-12 students.
Increasing State Awareness around Community College: Most of us are keenly aware that education issues and agendas are typically completed at the local level. Several of you work with either nationally or state accredited educator preparation institutions, many of which our students articulate into upon completion of our programs. Unfortunately, these institutions are not often required to produce data on their effectiveness in recruiting and retaining our community college students into their programs. It is the belief of the NACCTEP board that we must investigate the approval process within each state and mandate that IHEs provide data on their partnerships with our community college partners, how many of our students completed their programs, and ultimately to identify our programs as being a part of creating a highly-effective, day-one-ready classroom teacher.
I’ve said it once and I will say it again…we cannot continue to do this work without your voice.
In the meantime, take care of those in the midst of tragedy, be empathetic and compassionate…that’s what we are great at as community colleges!
Kimberly Tobey, Director, Community Partnerships -Educator Preparation Field &
Student Teaching Experiences, Rio Salado College
An Eventful Summer and a Call to Action
As I write this article, I have been listening to updates regarding Hurricane Dorian and I’m reminded that while our NACCTEP work is certainly important, the everyday needs of caring for those around us is so much more necessary. Likewise, it doesn’t go unnoticed that as a nation we have experienced the tragic loss of numerous children and faculty members to school shootings…in truth there’s been too many shootings in general.
It is times like these that it doesn’t make sense to highlight the work of NACCTEP, but I also know that life must go on. To those impacted by these tragedies please know that our thoughts and prayers are with you.
I say it at the start of every academic year and this year is no different, the voice of our community college educator preparation programs across the country is at stake and we are quickly losing our ability to be heard. We must have your support and participation in order to ensure that our work is valued and that barriers are reduced for students who are seeking to complete degrees and/or licensure in your state.
To make sure that our two-year programs, including those that confer degrees and offer post-baccalaureate programs, are heard – here’s how NACCTEP stayed involved over the summer months.
For the first time ever the NACCTEP board has invited a four-year Institute of Higher Education Partner to sit with us and vote on matters that impact our system. You’ll get more information about our new board members in this newsletter, but just know that we desire to learn from our four-year partners and create a space of collaboration and learning so that we can reduce the barriers to completion. We cannot do this if we are not in the same room talking about shared values and strategies.
In July I was able to attend the Education Commission of the State Education Policy discussion. This three-day event hosted education commissioners from across the country to discuss all needs related to P-20 education. During my time at the conference I was able to meet with individual state teams to address the importance of ensuring the community college teacher education programs and especially their personnel, are included in conversations around data, diversifying the pipeline and providing cost-effective routes to the classroom. It is unfortunate, in this day and age, that the community colleges are often left out from these critical conversations. If you aren’t already participating, begin to work with your state department and ask what committees you can serve on and if your community college can be included in conversations around certification needs and policy changes. We must be active in developing our partnerships.
Here are a few of the initiatives that the NACCTEP board has chosen to focus on for AY20 to make sure that our two-year programs, including those that confer degrees and offer post-baccalaureate programs, are heard.
AY20 Initiatives – A Call to Action
Collegiate Educators Rising: Conversations have already begun with our partners at the national Educators Rising office to discuss opportunities to grow our own student-led organizations, compete at the national level for scholarships to the four-year universities, and ultimately create a continuum of Educators Rising programs that students recognize from high school all the way through completion of a teaching program. More information and webinars to follow.
Internationalizing Community Colleges: In October I participated in a convening of 15-20 experts in the field of global education to discuss strategies for developing professional development materials to assist our community college faculty in understanding best practices around ensuring that our teacher candidates are globally competent as they prepare to work with their PreK-12 students.
Increasing State Awareness around Community College: Most of us are keenly aware that education issues and agendas are typically completed at the local level. Several of you work with either nationally or state accredited educator preparation institutions, many of which our students articulate into upon completion of our programs. Unfortunately, these institutions are not often required to produce data on their effectiveness in recruiting and retaining our community college students into their programs. It is the belief of the NACCTEP board that we must investigate the approval process within each state and mandate that IHEs provide data on their partnerships with our community college partners, how many of our students completed their programs, and ultimately to identify our programs as being a part of creating a highly-effective, day-one-ready classroom teacher.
I’ve said it once and I will say it again…we cannot continue to do this work without your voice.
In the meantime, take care of those in the midst of tragedy, be empathetic and compassionate…that’s what we are great at as community colleges!
Ambassadors we need your voice and would love to hear about your school’s achievements,
innovations, and future plans for an Ambassador’s Corner column in future newsletters.
Please contact us at nacctep@riosalado.edu with your ideas TODAY!
If you know of or are a graduate of a community college teacher preparation program, we need
your voice and would love to hear about your achievements, career plans and future aspirations.
Visit our website and submit your information via our Alumni Connection TODAY!
innovations, and future plans for an Ambassador’s Corner column in future newsletters.
Please contact us at nacctep@riosalado.edu with your ideas TODAY!
If you know of or are a graduate of a community college teacher preparation program, we need
your voice and would love to hear about your achievements, career plans and future aspirations.
Visit our website and submit your information via our Alumni Connection TODAY!
|
New Board Members 2019 – 2021
4-Year University Representative Doug Hamman, Ph. D. In addition to being Director of Teacher Education at Texas Tech University, Doug Hamman is an avid proponent of teacher programs throughout Texas. He is actively involved in both Tech Teach Across Rural Texas and Tech Teach Across Texas which promote “grow your own” programs in multiple districts. Presidential Representative Jose Fierro, Ph. D. As President/Superintendent of Cerritos College, Jose Fierro was instrumental in launching their California College Promise Program, Cerritos Complete. This program was selected as one of only 10 finalists for the national 2018 Bellwether Award. Presidential Representative Karin Edwards, Ed. D. Working with deans and directors as well as promoting diversity among students, faculty, and staff are just some of the ways that Karin Edwards provides leadership as the Campus President for the Portland Community College Cascade Campus. Member-at-Large, Partnerships & Collaborations Phil Rogers, Ed. D. The National Association of State Directors of Teacher Education and Certification, NASDTEC, brought Phil Rogers on as Executive Director in 2012 after he served several years in the same capacity for the Kentucky Education Professional Standards Board. Founded in 1928, NASDTEC represents professional standards boards and state departments of education in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, the Department of Defense Education Activity, the U.S. Territories, Alberta, British Columbia, and Ontario that are responsible for the preparation, licensure, and discipline of educational personnel. |
Cerritos College Remains a Leader in Teacher Preparation
An interview with Dr. Jose’ Fierro, President of Cerritos College
Doug Hamman, Ph.D.
Founding Chair, Department of Teacher Education, Texas Tech University
Cerritos College ranks third in California and sixth in the nation among Hispanic-serving community colleges for the highest number of associates degrees granted to Hispanic students. Nearly 20 years ago, Cerritos College was among only a handful of pioneering community colleges that had developed a seamless transfer pathway in the teacher preparation program. Closely partnered with Cal State Long Beach, the two institutions have prepared nearly 200 teachers each year over the last two decades.
Back in 2000, community colleges were believed to hold great promise for helping increase the number and diversity of teacher talent in the United States. State and federal funding helped prioritize teacher preparation for community colleges in California and incentivized collaboration between 2- and 4-year institutions. As funding for these initiatives dried up, so did the priority that could be given to teacher preparation. The result is that in 2020, Cerritos College remains virtually alone on the frontier of teacher preparation while state and national teacher shortages persist.
This interview was with Dr. Jose Fierro, President of Cerritos College. It focused on understanding what Cerritos is doing right, what it takes to sustain it, and musings about why other institutions have not gotten on board.
Cerritos College has a 20+ year history successfully transitioning community college graduates to 4-year teacher preparations. Can you give me a high-level overview of the program?
The teacher track at Cerritos is intended to help close the gap for students wanting to enter the teaching profession but are not able to enter the university directly. In California, community colleges enroll the bulk of the 2.1 million college-eligible students because the universities simply cannot receive this enrollment.
We have articulation agreements with most of the University of California and California State institutions, but we have particularly close alignment with Cal State University - Long Beach. Approximately 200 students each year graduate from Cerritos College and receive preferential admission into the CSU Long Beach teacher preparation program. We have worked very closely with Long Beach to mirror their first two years, which allows the Cerritos teacher candidate to
transfer in their third year.
Cerritos and CSU faculty work collaboratively to align expectations across programs. Coursework and field experiences are jointly developed, and data is shared between institutions to evaluate the effectiveness of these efforts. Student success is tracked for those transferring from Cerritos to CSU Long Beach, and then once students graduate, that data is provided back to Cerritos allowing us to track graduation rates, and even employment in the teaching profession.
The teacher track at Cerritos has been in existence for over 20 years. Based on your extended
institutional memory, what was the impetus to begin this arrangement?
The motivation for the program came from two leaders at Cerritos College - Dr. Fred Gaskins, President of Cerritos at the time, and Ms. Sue Parsons, the Director of Teacher Preparation at Cerritos. Both were focused on building enrollment at the college, and in having the community college provide a real service to the communities we serve. Ms. Parsons, in particular, worked to develop the teacher preparation program in a way that would enable a seamless transfer and ensured close collaboration with the leaders at Long Beach at the time. It is a testament to the commitment of Cerritos that when funding for programs like this ended, the teacher track continued requiring both College and University to allocate resources to make sure it continued.
And here we are, 20 years later.
What resources are required of Cerritos to maintain this program?
Besides the vision Ms. Parsons had for the program, the resources are not too great. The program was initially supported through grant funding, but she was able to convince President Gaskins to make the program part of the general fund of the district. So, at this time, we don’t rely on any external funding for operation, though we do seek grants when they are available.
So, the program is institutionalized.
It is also interesting to note that the Teacher Track does not exist in any one academic unit but exists as a stand-alone unit reporting directly to the vice president. It consists of about 10 employees, and they share resources, faculty and advisors with other units. The interdisciplinary approach allows them to be much more flexible.
Are there other programs at Cerritos that are organized like the Teacher Track?
Our Business programs are the number 1 degree granting programs in the College. They have a close collaboration with private, non-profit universities in a 3+1 program or they can transfer to other California universities. We have great programs in lots of other areas, like Psychology and Sociology. None have organized in a manner similar to the Teacher Track though.
What concrete lessons about teacher preparation could other institutions from around the United
States learn from Cerritos?
That’s a hard question!
I would say, to have a successful teacher preparation program like Cerritos, it has to be a priority for both the 2- and 4-year institutions. Both have to deliberately create it, allocate personnel and resources, and be open to working shoulder to shoulder as partners. It has to be a true partnership between institutions. It has to be a joint venture.
An interview with Dr. Jose’ Fierro, President of Cerritos College
Doug Hamman, Ph.D.
Founding Chair, Department of Teacher Education, Texas Tech University
Cerritos College ranks third in California and sixth in the nation among Hispanic-serving community colleges for the highest number of associates degrees granted to Hispanic students. Nearly 20 years ago, Cerritos College was among only a handful of pioneering community colleges that had developed a seamless transfer pathway in the teacher preparation program. Closely partnered with Cal State Long Beach, the two institutions have prepared nearly 200 teachers each year over the last two decades.
Back in 2000, community colleges were believed to hold great promise for helping increase the number and diversity of teacher talent in the United States. State and federal funding helped prioritize teacher preparation for community colleges in California and incentivized collaboration between 2- and 4-year institutions. As funding for these initiatives dried up, so did the priority that could be given to teacher preparation. The result is that in 2020, Cerritos College remains virtually alone on the frontier of teacher preparation while state and national teacher shortages persist.
This interview was with Dr. Jose Fierro, President of Cerritos College. It focused on understanding what Cerritos is doing right, what it takes to sustain it, and musings about why other institutions have not gotten on board.
Cerritos College has a 20+ year history successfully transitioning community college graduates to 4-year teacher preparations. Can you give me a high-level overview of the program?
The teacher track at Cerritos is intended to help close the gap for students wanting to enter the teaching profession but are not able to enter the university directly. In California, community colleges enroll the bulk of the 2.1 million college-eligible students because the universities simply cannot receive this enrollment.
We have articulation agreements with most of the University of California and California State institutions, but we have particularly close alignment with Cal State University - Long Beach. Approximately 200 students each year graduate from Cerritos College and receive preferential admission into the CSU Long Beach teacher preparation program. We have worked very closely with Long Beach to mirror their first two years, which allows the Cerritos teacher candidate to
transfer in their third year.
Cerritos and CSU faculty work collaboratively to align expectations across programs. Coursework and field experiences are jointly developed, and data is shared between institutions to evaluate the effectiveness of these efforts. Student success is tracked for those transferring from Cerritos to CSU Long Beach, and then once students graduate, that data is provided back to Cerritos allowing us to track graduation rates, and even employment in the teaching profession.
The teacher track at Cerritos has been in existence for over 20 years. Based on your extended
institutional memory, what was the impetus to begin this arrangement?
The motivation for the program came from two leaders at Cerritos College - Dr. Fred Gaskins, President of Cerritos at the time, and Ms. Sue Parsons, the Director of Teacher Preparation at Cerritos. Both were focused on building enrollment at the college, and in having the community college provide a real service to the communities we serve. Ms. Parsons, in particular, worked to develop the teacher preparation program in a way that would enable a seamless transfer and ensured close collaboration with the leaders at Long Beach at the time. It is a testament to the commitment of Cerritos that when funding for programs like this ended, the teacher track continued requiring both College and University to allocate resources to make sure it continued.
And here we are, 20 years later.
What resources are required of Cerritos to maintain this program?
Besides the vision Ms. Parsons had for the program, the resources are not too great. The program was initially supported through grant funding, but she was able to convince President Gaskins to make the program part of the general fund of the district. So, at this time, we don’t rely on any external funding for operation, though we do seek grants when they are available.
So, the program is institutionalized.
It is also interesting to note that the Teacher Track does not exist in any one academic unit but exists as a stand-alone unit reporting directly to the vice president. It consists of about 10 employees, and they share resources, faculty and advisors with other units. The interdisciplinary approach allows them to be much more flexible.
Are there other programs at Cerritos that are organized like the Teacher Track?
Our Business programs are the number 1 degree granting programs in the College. They have a close collaboration with private, non-profit universities in a 3+1 program or they can transfer to other California universities. We have great programs in lots of other areas, like Psychology and Sociology. None have organized in a manner similar to the Teacher Track though.
What concrete lessons about teacher preparation could other institutions from around the United
States learn from Cerritos?
That’s a hard question!
I would say, to have a successful teacher preparation program like Cerritos, it has to be a priority for both the 2- and 4-year institutions. Both have to deliberately create it, allocate personnel and resources, and be open to working shoulder to shoulder as partners. It has to be a true partnership between institutions. It has to be a joint venture.
Ambassador’s Corner
A Caring Community
The 91st Annual National Association of State Directors of Teacher Education and Certification Conference
Tawn Hauptli, Ed.D.
Chair, Education Studies Department, Mesa Community College
People care. That is my major takeaway after attending the 91st annual National Association of State Directors of Teacher Education and Certification conference.
I am not sure what I was expecting. Visions of sessions related to fingerprinting, criminal background checks, cut off scores for assessments or ways to punish schools and districts who failed to make adequate yearly progress vaguely occupied my thoughts.
Indeed, there was a session dedicated to regulating the profession—it stands to reason that certification programs need to have a set of agreed upon standards in place. However, I was pleasantly surprised to find the session by Harry Cayton “A New Professionalism” emphasized professionalism through “right touch regulation.” After years of what has felt like an industrialized, scripted approach to the process of teaching and learning in the name of accountability, it was refreshing to see regulation presented as a way to support the professional identity of the education community. A crucial part of any professional are the principles which guide decision-making. The “NASDTEC Featured Strand—Using NASDTEC Model Code of Ethics for Educators” highlighted the MCEE resources developed by and available for use for by educator preparation program providers. This well-developed resource provides as a uniform source of guidance.
In her talk “A Look at a Changing Future,” Lynn M. Gangone, Ed.D., President and CEO of the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education talked to us about what we know to be true: our profession is in peril. We are in peril not as a consequence of the lack of regulation, but as a result of a shortage of individuals selecting our profession, of teachers lacking full certification, and of a diverse population choosing to become teachers. Dr. Gangone spoke about the good work being done by the Coalition for Teaching Quality: Prepared and Effective Educators for All, a consortium of stakeholders from across the spectrum of education. Working together, this group is advocating for policy solutions to meet the needs of the diverse students enrolled in schools across the nation.
I have long subscribed to the adage that students don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care. With the percentages of students who suffer from adverse childhood experiences and mental health issues on the rise, I was inspired by Glenn Lipson, Godwin Higa, and Becky Pitkin’s session on “Approaches in Addressing the Impact of Adverse Child Experiences (ACE’s) & Mental Health Issues in Schools.” This session described the importance of and ways to develop trauma informed schools that better identify and meet the needs of these students. As many of us are aware, the industrial model of education is obsolete. I particularly enjoyed the session on “Teaching 21st Century/Social and Emotional Learning Skills Through the Disciplines.” Katherine Bassett and Elizabeth Miner posited it is absolutely possible for students to master knowledge academic content through a focus on skills, character and meta-learning.
I left the 91st annual NASDTEC conference feeling incredibly proud to be an educator, knowing I am part of a community of dedicated individuals across the nation responsible for teacher certification.
Resources:
https://www.professionalstandards.org.uk/what-we-do/improving-regulation/right-touchregulation
https://www.nasdtec.net/page/MCEE_Rationale
http://www.coalitionforteachingquality.org/main/
https://www.safeschools.com/courses/student-mental-health/
https://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2017/12/13/we-need-to-modernize-education-the-clock.html
A Caring Community
The 91st Annual National Association of State Directors of Teacher Education and Certification Conference
Tawn Hauptli, Ed.D.
Chair, Education Studies Department, Mesa Community College
People care. That is my major takeaway after attending the 91st annual National Association of State Directors of Teacher Education and Certification conference.
I am not sure what I was expecting. Visions of sessions related to fingerprinting, criminal background checks, cut off scores for assessments or ways to punish schools and districts who failed to make adequate yearly progress vaguely occupied my thoughts.
Indeed, there was a session dedicated to regulating the profession—it stands to reason that certification programs need to have a set of agreed upon standards in place. However, I was pleasantly surprised to find the session by Harry Cayton “A New Professionalism” emphasized professionalism through “right touch regulation.” After years of what has felt like an industrialized, scripted approach to the process of teaching and learning in the name of accountability, it was refreshing to see regulation presented as a way to support the professional identity of the education community. A crucial part of any professional are the principles which guide decision-making. The “NASDTEC Featured Strand—Using NASDTEC Model Code of Ethics for Educators” highlighted the MCEE resources developed by and available for use for by educator preparation program providers. This well-developed resource provides as a uniform source of guidance.
In her talk “A Look at a Changing Future,” Lynn M. Gangone, Ed.D., President and CEO of the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education talked to us about what we know to be true: our profession is in peril. We are in peril not as a consequence of the lack of regulation, but as a result of a shortage of individuals selecting our profession, of teachers lacking full certification, and of a diverse population choosing to become teachers. Dr. Gangone spoke about the good work being done by the Coalition for Teaching Quality: Prepared and Effective Educators for All, a consortium of stakeholders from across the spectrum of education. Working together, this group is advocating for policy solutions to meet the needs of the diverse students enrolled in schools across the nation.
I have long subscribed to the adage that students don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care. With the percentages of students who suffer from adverse childhood experiences and mental health issues on the rise, I was inspired by Glenn Lipson, Godwin Higa, and Becky Pitkin’s session on “Approaches in Addressing the Impact of Adverse Child Experiences (ACE’s) & Mental Health Issues in Schools.” This session described the importance of and ways to develop trauma informed schools that better identify and meet the needs of these students. As many of us are aware, the industrial model of education is obsolete. I particularly enjoyed the session on “Teaching 21st Century/Social and Emotional Learning Skills Through the Disciplines.” Katherine Bassett and Elizabeth Miner posited it is absolutely possible for students to master knowledge academic content through a focus on skills, character and meta-learning.
I left the 91st annual NASDTEC conference feeling incredibly proud to be an educator, knowing I am part of a community of dedicated individuals across the nation responsible for teacher certification.
Resources:
https://www.professionalstandards.org.uk/what-we-do/improving-regulation/right-touchregulation
https://www.nasdtec.net/page/MCEE_Rationale
http://www.coalitionforteachingquality.org/main/
https://www.safeschools.com/courses/student-mental-health/
https://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2017/12/13/we-need-to-modernize-education-the-clock.html
A Window into Research on Community Colleges
Curating Ideas for Effectiveness
Michael De Leon
Graduate Student – Higher Education Policy, Texas Tech University
It is often difficult to keep up with all the writings and ideas available about community colleges. This “curated resources” section of the newsletter is intended to provide a summary of two or three articles, reports, or policies that are likely to be of interest to faculty and administrators in community colleges with teacher education programs.
For the November newsletter, I have two interesting pieces - the first, a longitudinal profile of enrollment in community colleges over the past 17 years. This report by the American Association of Community Colleges describes downward trends in enrollment that seem to have implications for community college educator preparation programs, and community colleges in general. The second piece is a recent article (2018) describing trends in persistence among
students who transfer to 4-years from community colleges. This research article describes some very encouraging outcomes that could be generalized to the preparation and transfer of teacher education students.
I hope you find them useful!
American Association of Community Colleges (2019). Community college enrollment crisis? Historical trends in community college enrollment. Author. Washington, DC. Available online: https://www.aacc.nche.edu/2019/08/07/community-college-enrollment-crisis/
This 2019 update examines enrollment trends in community colleges over a 17-year span from 2001 to 2017. Different student population characteristics are broken down for comparison and evaluation of what these overall trends mean to community college stakeholders.
Central to this analysis is that between 2010 and 2017, overall enrollment numbers at community colleges has fallen over 14.4%, representing an annual decrease of 2.2% or approximately 1 million less students from its 2010 enrollment height of over 8 million. Although the overall rate of decline has slowed more recently from the 2010 highs, overall enrollment and first-time enrollment numbers have steadily decreased for community colleges but not for 4-yr institutions.
Within this data, Hispanic enrollees and high school dual enrollment programs have both shown increases towards overall enrollment numbers. However, with falling full-time enrollment numbers overall, funding for community colleges that use FTE numbers to calculate funding levels is concerning.
Sources of data:
Fall Enrollment Survey of the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS)
Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS)
National Center for Education Statistics (NCES)
Community college enrollment trends:
Overall
● Record high enrollment in Fall of 2010 at over 8 million students representing a 20.3% increase from 2006.
● From 2010 to 2017, enrollment fell 14.4% to approximately 7 million students.
● Estimates for fall of 2018 projects an additional 3.2% decrease to levels below 2006.
● US labor data shows that post the 2008 Great Recession, the unemployment rate reached 10%. 10 months after, 2010 fall enrollments reached their height. US labor unemployment data tracked against community college enrollments from 2010 to 2017 demonstrate a strong correlation as a driver of student enrollment
.
Age
● 18-21 year-old's make up the largest demographic representing over 40% of total enrollment. 18-21 year-old's was the only demographic where full-time enrollment was greater than part-time. However, with full-time enrollment numbers decreasing and part-time enrollment remaining balanced, this closing gap means that part-time students will also be greater for this demographic in the future.
● High school students enrolled part-time in dual enrollment programs account for the greatest increase in enrollment, representing a 170% increase from 2001 to 2017.
Race / Ethnicity
● There was a sharp increase in Hispanic student enrollment from 2010 to 2017. In 2017, Hispanic students made up almost 25% of total enrollment vs 13.9% in 2001.
● Similarly, African American student enrollment reached a high of 14.6% of all community college enrollments but decreased to 12.7% in 2017.
Lee, Hyekyung, & Schneider, Tetyana. (2018). Does Posttransfer Involvement Matter for Persistence of Community College Transfer Students? Community College Journal of Research and Practice, 42 (2), 77-94.
Building on several theories from various authors regarding student involvement, persistence, and levels of engagement leading to goal attainment for different students, the authors of this paper hypothesizes that community college transfer students who are involved socially, academically, or both will be more engaged, and will, therefore, persist and attain a degree at a higher rate.
Key findings and discussions included:
Overall, irrespective of the type of institution, community college transfer students tended to be more academically involved than socially involved.
Persistence
● Hispanic transfer students demonstrated a 1.87 times greater chance to persist and attain their bachelor’s degree than did their White counterparts or other ethnic groups. Increasing pathways for Hispanic students as well as evaluating challenges unique to other groups should be further evaluated.
● Transfer students having parents with a post-secondary degree are 1.69 times more likely to persist towards their degree attainment than students with parents who had not completed at least their bachelor’s degree.
● Students with a goal of at least attaining their bachelor’s degree had a 2.92 higher chance of persisting and attaining their degree versus students with a goal of completing an associate’s degree or having no degree attainment goal.
Impact of Work Responsibilities
● Students having the environmental pull variable of work responsibilities affected their persistence towards degree attainment. This study showed that for every 1-hour increase in weekly work hours, the odds of persistence towards degree attainment lowered by 2.0.
Early Achievement Matters
● Transfer students having a better GPA in their 3rd year of postsecondary education had a higher likelihood to persist. A 1.0 increase in GPA in the year following their transfer increases the chance of persisting towards degree attainment by 1.32 times.
Critical Importance of Advising
● Within academic involvement, only academic advising was a statistically significant factor in predicting persistence for community college transfer students. Students who visited with their academic advisor more often had a 2.14 chance of persisting and attaining their degree than those met that with their advisors less often after their transfer.
Overall, these research findings advocate for the development of tailored policies and practices to meet the unique needs and challenges of community college transfer students at 4-yr institutions that are designed to increase academic and social involvement as well as encourage the persistence and degree attainment of this key demographic.
Curating Ideas for Effectiveness
Michael De Leon
Graduate Student – Higher Education Policy, Texas Tech University
It is often difficult to keep up with all the writings and ideas available about community colleges. This “curated resources” section of the newsletter is intended to provide a summary of two or three articles, reports, or policies that are likely to be of interest to faculty and administrators in community colleges with teacher education programs.
For the November newsletter, I have two interesting pieces - the first, a longitudinal profile of enrollment in community colleges over the past 17 years. This report by the American Association of Community Colleges describes downward trends in enrollment that seem to have implications for community college educator preparation programs, and community colleges in general. The second piece is a recent article (2018) describing trends in persistence among
students who transfer to 4-years from community colleges. This research article describes some very encouraging outcomes that could be generalized to the preparation and transfer of teacher education students.
I hope you find them useful!
American Association of Community Colleges (2019). Community college enrollment crisis? Historical trends in community college enrollment. Author. Washington, DC. Available online: https://www.aacc.nche.edu/2019/08/07/community-college-enrollment-crisis/
This 2019 update examines enrollment trends in community colleges over a 17-year span from 2001 to 2017. Different student population characteristics are broken down for comparison and evaluation of what these overall trends mean to community college stakeholders.
Central to this analysis is that between 2010 and 2017, overall enrollment numbers at community colleges has fallen over 14.4%, representing an annual decrease of 2.2% or approximately 1 million less students from its 2010 enrollment height of over 8 million. Although the overall rate of decline has slowed more recently from the 2010 highs, overall enrollment and first-time enrollment numbers have steadily decreased for community colleges but not for 4-yr institutions.
Within this data, Hispanic enrollees and high school dual enrollment programs have both shown increases towards overall enrollment numbers. However, with falling full-time enrollment numbers overall, funding for community colleges that use FTE numbers to calculate funding levels is concerning.
Sources of data:
Fall Enrollment Survey of the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS)
Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS)
National Center for Education Statistics (NCES)
Community college enrollment trends:
Overall
● Record high enrollment in Fall of 2010 at over 8 million students representing a 20.3% increase from 2006.
● From 2010 to 2017, enrollment fell 14.4% to approximately 7 million students.
● Estimates for fall of 2018 projects an additional 3.2% decrease to levels below 2006.
● US labor data shows that post the 2008 Great Recession, the unemployment rate reached 10%. 10 months after, 2010 fall enrollments reached their height. US labor unemployment data tracked against community college enrollments from 2010 to 2017 demonstrate a strong correlation as a driver of student enrollment
.
Age
● 18-21 year-old's make up the largest demographic representing over 40% of total enrollment. 18-21 year-old's was the only demographic where full-time enrollment was greater than part-time. However, with full-time enrollment numbers decreasing and part-time enrollment remaining balanced, this closing gap means that part-time students will also be greater for this demographic in the future.
● High school students enrolled part-time in dual enrollment programs account for the greatest increase in enrollment, representing a 170% increase from 2001 to 2017.
Race / Ethnicity
● There was a sharp increase in Hispanic student enrollment from 2010 to 2017. In 2017, Hispanic students made up almost 25% of total enrollment vs 13.9% in 2001.
● Similarly, African American student enrollment reached a high of 14.6% of all community college enrollments but decreased to 12.7% in 2017.
Lee, Hyekyung, & Schneider, Tetyana. (2018). Does Posttransfer Involvement Matter for Persistence of Community College Transfer Students? Community College Journal of Research and Practice, 42 (2), 77-94.
Building on several theories from various authors regarding student involvement, persistence, and levels of engagement leading to goal attainment for different students, the authors of this paper hypothesizes that community college transfer students who are involved socially, academically, or both will be more engaged, and will, therefore, persist and attain a degree at a higher rate.
Key findings and discussions included:
Overall, irrespective of the type of institution, community college transfer students tended to be more academically involved than socially involved.
Persistence
● Hispanic transfer students demonstrated a 1.87 times greater chance to persist and attain their bachelor’s degree than did their White counterparts or other ethnic groups. Increasing pathways for Hispanic students as well as evaluating challenges unique to other groups should be further evaluated.
● Transfer students having parents with a post-secondary degree are 1.69 times more likely to persist towards their degree attainment than students with parents who had not completed at least their bachelor’s degree.
● Students with a goal of at least attaining their bachelor’s degree had a 2.92 higher chance of persisting and attaining their degree versus students with a goal of completing an associate’s degree or having no degree attainment goal.
Impact of Work Responsibilities
● Students having the environmental pull variable of work responsibilities affected their persistence towards degree attainment. This study showed that for every 1-hour increase in weekly work hours, the odds of persistence towards degree attainment lowered by 2.0.
Early Achievement Matters
● Transfer students having a better GPA in their 3rd year of postsecondary education had a higher likelihood to persist. A 1.0 increase in GPA in the year following their transfer increases the chance of persisting towards degree attainment by 1.32 times.
Critical Importance of Advising
● Within academic involvement, only academic advising was a statistically significant factor in predicting persistence for community college transfer students. Students who visited with their academic advisor more often had a 2.14 chance of persisting and attaining their degree than those met that with their advisors less often after their transfer.
Overall, these research findings advocate for the development of tailored policies and practices to meet the unique needs and challenges of community college transfer students at 4-yr institutions that are designed to increase academic and social involvement as well as encourage the persistence and degree attainment of this key demographic.
The American Association of Colleges of Teacher Education, AACTE, recently released a video on Identifying Barriers to Workforce Diversity in Education. NACCTEP’s Executive Director Kim Tobey participated in the interviews and is featured in the video.
Student Perspective – Kielsey Lopez
Kielsey Lopez is a junior at Texas Tech University enrolled in the Elementary-level teacher preparation program. She is a native of Lubbock, Texas and decided to attend South Plains College (in Levelland, Texas) prior to attending Tech. Kielsey chose South Plains College because she had several friends and family members that had attended and had a good experience there. She felt it would be a good place to start her own college preparation.
Advisors Matter
Kielsey has not always wanted to be a teacher. When she started at SPC, she knew she wanted to earn her bachelor’s degree, but her first interest was in nursing. Ultimately though, nursing could not hold her interest and she decided to make a change. She visited with her advisor at SPC who helped her explore many different options, finally settling on teaching, in part, because her course credits from nursing would easily transfer to the new degree. But her advisor did not stop there. The general advisor put Kielsey in touch with two education faculty members who became very important in helping her know she made the right choice.
Lasting Impact of Educator Preparation at SPC
The two faculty members made a lasting contribution to Kielsey’s preparation in terms of helping her better understand the work of a teacher in classrooms, the importance of relationships, and the need to differentiate instruction in a way that helps all students learn.
“Each Friday we did classroom observations. Our instructors prepared us with ‘look-for’ lists, like how to get students’ attention, and then we wrote reflection papers about what we saw and what we might use when we become a teacher.” These experiences helped her see that “kids are really at very different levels in the classroom, and how important it is to differentiate what you’re teaching.”
Kielsey recalled one particularly meaningful experience in an elementary classroom when there was a student who came in a little late in the morning. “My cooperating teacher knew something was wrong. She took the student aside to ask her what was wrong. The student cried and my cooperating teacher comforted her. It was so important for me to
see a teacher reaching out to help that little student to get into the right mindset and to feel safe.”
Looking to the Future
When asked what advice she has for high school students considering teaching as a career, Kielsey was quick to say, “Go shadow a teacher before you make that decision because it's not as easy as most people think.” She also recommended starting at South Plains College because “it is affordable, the small campus feels like family, and they really prepared you for the next step.”
Kielsey Lopez is a teacher candidate working in a district-based “grow your own” teacher program in Brownfield Independent School District. She’ll become a certified teacher and begin teaching in SY2020 at Brownfield ISD.
Kielsey Lopez is a junior at Texas Tech University enrolled in the Elementary-level teacher preparation program. She is a native of Lubbock, Texas and decided to attend South Plains College (in Levelland, Texas) prior to attending Tech. Kielsey chose South Plains College because she had several friends and family members that had attended and had a good experience there. She felt it would be a good place to start her own college preparation.
Advisors Matter
Kielsey has not always wanted to be a teacher. When she started at SPC, she knew she wanted to earn her bachelor’s degree, but her first interest was in nursing. Ultimately though, nursing could not hold her interest and she decided to make a change. She visited with her advisor at SPC who helped her explore many different options, finally settling on teaching, in part, because her course credits from nursing would easily transfer to the new degree. But her advisor did not stop there. The general advisor put Kielsey in touch with two education faculty members who became very important in helping her know she made the right choice.
Lasting Impact of Educator Preparation at SPC
The two faculty members made a lasting contribution to Kielsey’s preparation in terms of helping her better understand the work of a teacher in classrooms, the importance of relationships, and the need to differentiate instruction in a way that helps all students learn.
“Each Friday we did classroom observations. Our instructors prepared us with ‘look-for’ lists, like how to get students’ attention, and then we wrote reflection papers about what we saw and what we might use when we become a teacher.” These experiences helped her see that “kids are really at very different levels in the classroom, and how important it is to differentiate what you’re teaching.”
Kielsey recalled one particularly meaningful experience in an elementary classroom when there was a student who came in a little late in the morning. “My cooperating teacher knew something was wrong. She took the student aside to ask her what was wrong. The student cried and my cooperating teacher comforted her. It was so important for me to
see a teacher reaching out to help that little student to get into the right mindset and to feel safe.”
Looking to the Future
When asked what advice she has for high school students considering teaching as a career, Kielsey was quick to say, “Go shadow a teacher before you make that decision because it's not as easy as most people think.” She also recommended starting at South Plains College because “it is affordable, the small campus feels like family, and they really prepared you for the next step.”
Kielsey Lopez is a teacher candidate working in a district-based “grow your own” teacher program in Brownfield Independent School District. She’ll become a certified teacher and begin teaching in SY2020 at Brownfield ISD.