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To entice more students to become math teachers — and ease a chronic shortage in California classrooms — four state universities will offer preparation programs considerably shortening the time it takes to get a teaching credential.
Cal State Los Angeles, San Jose State, San Diego State and Fresno State have each received state grants of approximately $250,000 to create credential programs that allow future math teachers to earn a bachelor’s degree while simultaneously earning a single-subject math teaching credential.
Once the programs are underway, students will be able to get a credential in four years, instead of the average of 5 1/2 years it currently takes,
Currently to get a teaching credential, most teachers must first earn a four year undergraduate degree, and then enroll in a post-graduate program that can take an additional one to two years. The new programs will eliminate the post-graduate portion, and integrate it into a student’s undergraduate course of study.
The shift is expected to produce nearly 100 new math teachers annually and save students at least $7,000 in tuition costs, said Marquita Grenot-Scheyer, assistant vice chancellor of teacher education and public school programs at California State University. The first students are expected to begin the program in 2018-19.
“This is going to significantly impact the teacher shortage in California,” Grenot-Scheyer said. “The investment in these programs will pay off not just for teacher candidates, but for students in California public schools.”
California is facing a shortfall of 33,000 new math and science teachers over the next decade, as science, technology, math and engineering (STEM) majors seek higher-paying jobs in the technology sector, older teachers retire and the demand for STEM education grows, according to California State University. A study by the Learning Policy Institute found that between 2011-12 and 2015-16, the number of fully credentialed new math teachers dropped by 36 percent, from 1,647 to 1,041,
As a result, more schools are hiring teachers without full credentials, or relying on substitutes to fill math classrooms. The number of temporary or emergency math credentials issued jumped more than 55 percent between 2011-12 and 2015-16, from 439 to 685, according to the Learning Policy Institute study.
To recruit math teachers, school districts have been offering incentives such as housing assistance, cash bonuses and student loan forgiveness. Using funds allotted by the state Legislature, the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing has been giving grants to colleges and universities to create four-year, combination bachelor’s and credential programs, but most of those programs have been for multiple-subject, bilingual or special education credentials.
The $250,000 grants are a result of funds that Gov. Jerry Brown included in the state budget last year. Schools will use the money to free up faculty members to write the new undergraduate curriculum, and to produce marketing materials to attract students.
At Cal State Los Angeles, the new program, called SCOPE, will cover all the required courses for math majors, and include teaching courses instead of electives. It will also include some online and summer classes, allowing students to complete all the requirements for both the math major and teaching credential in four years.
But organizers hope it’ll spark something more important: a passion for teaching math.
“Math is so important, and so many of today’s generation say they don’t like math. To go into a classroom and impart your love of math to students — that is a huge accomplishment,” said Debasree Raychaudhuri, a math professor at Cal State Los Angeles who’s helping organize the Scope program. “By teaching math you can make such a difference.”
Still, schools like Cal State Los Angeles face tough odds in producing more math teachers. Of the school’s 28,000 students, only about 200 are math majors, and of those, about 50 percent intend to become math teachers. The rest plan to work in technology, banking, research or pursue advanced degrees, Raychaudhuri said. Systemwide, only 5,167 students were majoring in math in 2016, just over 1 percent of the system’s 424,309 undergraduates.
The same is true at San Jose State, one of the other schools to establish a new fast-track math teacher program. Of the school’s 150 math majors, only about 50 are planning to become teachers. But by easing the credential process, organizer Cheryl Roddick hopes more students will be inspired to forsake Silicon Valley for the classroom.
After all, there’s more to life than toiling in an office park, she said.
“A lot of people go to these high-tech jobs and come back to us, saying they don’t want to work in a cubicle forever. They want to meet people, make a difference, give back to their communities,” said Roddick, a math professor. “They want to become teachers.”
And they’ll have no trouble finding jobs, she said.
“I get emails regularly from school districts looking for math teachers,” she said. “All our graduates get snapped up right away.”
California State University has taken other steps, as well, to help solve the STEM teacher shortage, such as offering scholarships for future math and science teachers, providing research opportunities with established scientists, and streamlining the transfer process from community colleges.
Legislation that would remove one of the last tests teachers are required to take to earn a credential in California passed the Senate Education Committee.
Part-time instructors, many who work for decades off the tenure track and at a lower pay rate, have been called “apprentices to nowhere.”
A bill to mandate use of the method will not advance in the Legislature this year in the face of teachers union opposition.
Nearly a third of the 930 districts statewide that reported data had a higher rate of chronic absenteeism in 2022-23 than the year before.
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G 6 years ago6 years ago
I have a clear CA Teaching Cred in Math with CLAD. I also a Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Math (good grades) with 10 years teaching experience. 1-3 years at several districts. Great Evaluations until I’m up for tenure.
I’m sorry to say that your article doesn’t match my experience.
Deidre 6 years ago6 years ago
What is available to help teachers with multiple subject credentials become math teachers for grades K-8?
Jonathan Raymond 6 years ago6 years ago
Sadly, I didn’t see one mention of the word quality or whether current teachers have had any input into what is really needed. Without a systemic approach (reviewing the whole aspects of teaching and learning, principal and teacher leadership, working conditions and salaries and compensation), we’re providing “sticker team” solutions, preparing teachers for an outdated system without addressing a more fundamental set of issues.
Replies
Paul 6 years ago6 years ago
I'd say your sentiment is correct for most teacher preparation activities, and indeed, for most aspects of the profession. [When I was a teacher, and used to go to Sacramento to address the Commission on Teacher Credentialing, I was always the only teacher to do so, even though the body collects a $100 fee from almost every teacher every 5 years. The matrons (mostly) on the CTC loved to order surveys, but these were always … Read More
I’d say your sentiment is correct for most teacher preparation activities, and indeed, for most aspects of the profession. [When I was a teacher, and used to go to Sacramento to address the Commission on Teacher Credentialing, I was always the only teacher to do so, even though the body collects a $100 fee from almost every teacher every 5 years. The matrons (mostly) on the CTC loved to order surveys, but these were always directed at deans of teacher preparation programs, at legislators, and at state-level leaders of teachers’ unions, and never at the 290,000-strong, readily-contactable pool of practicing teachers!]
But you are not correct about the math education program at SJSU. The same faculty members also run the Silicon Valley Mathematics Initiative. They themselves are out in the field throughout the year, interacting with rank-and-file math teachers. SVMI professional development is very much a two-way street. Information gleaned from the workshops shapes future professional development, and no doubt influences the math education program.
Paul 6 years ago6 years ago
San José State's Cheryl Roddick, Joanne Rossi-Becker and David Foster are among the best in the world in mathematics education, and their Silicon Valley Mathematics Initiative is a beacon. If any institution can prepare people to teach math effectively in California K-12 classrooms, SJSU is it! The sad part is that school districts squander the good work. School districts have fundamental economic interests in keeping salaries low and maintaining managerial control. A revolving door of new … Read More
San José State’s Cheryl Roddick, Joanne Rossi-Becker and David Foster are among the best in the world in mathematics education, and their Silicon Valley Mathematics Initiative is a beacon. If any institution can prepare people to teach math effectively in California K-12 classrooms, SJSU is it!
The sad part is that school districts squander the good work. School districts have fundamental economic interests in keeping salaries low and maintaining managerial control. A revolving door of new teachers satisfies both interests.
The State of California, as the funder and the policy arbiter, also bears part of the blame. The state’s interests, however, are complex and conflicting. The state funds most teacher preparation, and thus has an economic interest in teacher retention. On the other hand, the state also funds school district operation, and thus has an economic interest in teacher turnover.
I second Hugh Atkins’ comment.
Frida Kahlo said of her life, “I hope the exit is joyful and I hope never to return.” I could say of my teaching work, “the exit was joyful and I will never return.” My credentials and authorizations (there were 7, including Single Subject Math) expired a month ago.
To Mr. Atkins’ list of grievances, I would add:
1. Employing new teachers in dead-end, one-year temporary positions. Only probationary status provides a potential path forward in a given school district.
2. Placing new teachers in the most challenging schools in a district, giving them the most challenging teaching assignments, and stacking their classes with the most challenging students. A first-year medical resident isn’t asked to perform open heart surgery!
3. Teaching Algebra I to ungodly large classes. Under the former Morgan-Hart 9th Grade Academic Class Size Reduction Program, teachers could accomplish so much more with 20 algebra students (100 per day) than they can today with 35-40 (175-200 per day).
Wayne Bishop 6 years ago6 years ago
Leave the approved CSET exam waiver programs and drop almost all of the education school requirements except for student teaching and good math students will choose teaching as a viable option. At present, the year or more of meaningless hurdles turns them off.
E. 6 years ago6 years ago
Not only Math majors can be math teachers! Anyone who’s gotten through Calculus could qualify. Also, you can opt for a Foundational-Level credential, which doesn’t include Calculus. The CSETs, if you have to take them, don’t really go beyond high-school mathematics. They should make sure to reach out to other disciplines!
Hugh Atkins 6 years ago6 years ago
Good luck with this. I have a bachelor’s degree in Math and was, upon graduation, offered a job with a school district starting at 40K and a job as an actuary for an insurance company starting at 83K. The first position offered me a ton of behavioral problems, massive administrative interference, hours of take-home work and a career of low-status and professional disrespect. The second offered none of these. Guess which one I chose.