Program aims to promote student interest in teaching

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and University of California
President Robert Dynes have been collaborating to outline a program
to increase the number of credentialed math and science teachers in
California.

The system-wide program, called California Teach, has a goal of
producing 1,000 credentialed math and science teachers with UC
degrees every year by 2010.

“The kinds of people this program is encouraging to become
teachers are the people who are capable of making change in our
educational system,” said William Layton, a Physics and
Astronomy professor who will be teaching some of the courses
offered through the program.

According to a report issued in 2004 called California Teaching
Force, the supply of secondary math and science teachers in
California will drop within the next several years because about
one-third will be retiring.

In response, California Teach is being implemented on all UC
campuses to create qualified math and science teachers with UC
degrees.

The program is open to any student who has taken a science or
math class, but at this point program organizers cannot gauge how
much interest there will be on campus, especially because many
students do not enter college planning on pursuing education.

“The real problem is not enough students are interested in
becoming teachers,” Layton said.

The California Teach program, which will begin winter quarter at
UCLA as well as at UC campuses system-wide, will consist of courses
on how to be an effective teacher and on the latest methods in
teaching, in both seminars and an intensive summer session taken
between third and fourth years.

Students in the program will be able to assistant teach in local
classrooms.

First-year students will be able to teach in elementary schools,
second-year students in middle schools, and third and fourth-year
students will assist in high school classrooms. Students enrolled
in these courses will receive a stipend of about $600 for their
work in the classroom each quarter.

The summer session will be a subject-focused series that aims to
help students complete the teacher training requirement toward
obtaining a credential in their area of study.

The cost to students of attending the summer session will be
subsidized.

Students may also receive aid for housing as well as
compensation for the loss of a summer job.

The funding for California Teach is coming from three sources:
$4 million from corporate donations, $1 million from the state
budget and the remainder from the university.

When the program is at full operation, it is expected to cost
$20 million per year, and funding is expected to increase
incrementally to this level over the next four years.

Since 2000, UCLA has offered two courses that allow math and
science students to observe and assist in local classrooms: Life
Sciences 130 and Math 99.

Arlene Russell, faculty director of UCLA California Teach, said
these courses will be modified to accommodate California Teach
standards. “California Teach is evolving from the current
structure we have here at UCLA,” Russell said.

Layton, who currently teaches Life Sciences 130, said that there
has been little interest in these classes so far, but added that he
hopes there will be more interest in the near future.

The courses will remain almost the same as they are now, with
the addition of the option of assisting at elementary schools to
accommodate first-year students.

After completing the program at UCLA, students are meant to be
teaching interns for one year before they are given their
credentials.

California Teach will cut the traditional two years of graduate
school off of the credential process and put students directly in
the classroom.

According to the California Teach Web site, all teachers put
through this program will be considered “highly
qualified” under the No Child Left Behind Act.

The California Teach program is still new and in the development
and implementation process.

Both Layton and Russell said one of the biggest problems the new
program will face is getting the word out to students.

Too many students are coming to the University without
considering teaching as an option, Layton said.

“I would like to see UCLA affirm and support
students’ interest in teaching as a career” through
making more information and support available, Russell said.

A resource center will be opened within the next few weeks to
help students obtain information about the program, Russell
said.

So far the California Teach program has only been advertised to
math and science majors through e-mail, but undeclared majors who
are interested in teaching and have taken a math or science course
are welcome to the program, Russell said.

One of the more fundamental problems with student recruitment is
that most life science students want to go into the medical field,
Russell said.

Many students, however, later decide that they do not want to be
doctors or researchers and need more career options, and teaching
may be a good fit for them, Russell said.

“Many of the same altruistic qualities of health sciences
can be found in the teaching profession,” Russell said.