Three-Year Funding Supports Teacher TRAC Partnership with CSULB

Cerritos College announced today that its flagship Teacher Training Academy (TRAC) program has received a $282,360 grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF). The award, which goes into effect October 1, 2005 and expires September 30, 2008, will go toward developing a secondary school mathematics and science teacher preparation program called Teaching Secondary School Scholar Partnership (TS3P).

“We are thrilled to be awarded the National Science Foundation’s grant,” said Sue Parsons, director of Teacher TRAC.

“There is such a great need for a secondary school teacher development program, given recent changes in state credentialing and an increased emphasis upon technological skills. Additionally, there are far two few qualified secondary teachers in the mathematics and science area, particularly in the high school classrooms of our high-poverty, multicultural service region.”

Teacher TRAC’s TS3P is based on an existing, highly successful partnership between Cerritos College and California State University, Long Beach (CSULB) that prepares future elementary school teachers through a streamlined program that allows the completion of a baccalaureate degree, student teaching and a multiple subject teaching credential in just five years. TS3P, will build on this foundation by creating a secondary school teacher development program. 

“Qualified mathematics and science teachers are vital to providing expanded educational opportunities not only within the classroom,” said CSULB Dean of Education Jean Houck, “but as a necessary element to adequately preparing students for today’s technically sophisticated workplace.”

The overall project goal of TS3P is to increase the number of secondary school teachers who have single subject credentials in mathematics or the sciences. To accomplish this goal, seven objectives will be developed and implemented, including: 1) recruitment, 2) curriculum development, piloting, and pathway development; 3) fieldwork, 4) mentoring, 5) counseling and advising, 6) professional development, and 7) university transfer.

The project seeks to train and assist future high school math and science teachers in transitioning from a two-year to a four-year institution without “transfer shock.” Parsons and faculty say that the seamlessness with which this transition happens among students is the result of years of intensive collaboration between the faculty and administrations of Cerritos College and CSULB to develop a model of intersegmental articulation to benefit students, and to meet the needs for qualified math and science teachers in regional high schools.

According to the grant proposal, the TS3P model will have a broader impact than merely meeting an identified regional need by allowing other institutions nationwide to benefit from the years of groundwork accomplished by Cerritos College and CSULB.

Cerritos College’s Teacher TRAC program offers many services, programs, and pathways for students interested in teaching K-12. For students interested in becoming an elementary school teacher, Teacher TRAC’s flagship program is a partnership with California State University Long Beach. As a student in the integrated, standards-based Teacher TRAC / CSULB program, students can earn their bachelor’s degree and multiple subject teaching credentials and complete their student teaching within four years. For more information about the program, visit www.teachertrac.com.