Graduate School of Education extends application deadlines for all programs, including popular Early Completion Option (ECO)
Popularity of TeachersCHOICE Programs Prompts
GSOE to Extend all Application Deadlines
San Francisco, CA - June 1, 2006 – Due to the popularity of the recently announced  TeachersCHOICE program and its innovative Early Completion Option (ECO) - an option that allows teacher candidates to save thousands of dollars and hundreds of hours in classes - Alliant's Graduate School of Education has recently fielded a flurry of applications from career changers, charter school teachers and other students interested in earning teaching certificates. In response, the Graduate School of Education (GSOE has) extended its application deadlines for all of its programs. Alliant advisors are available to help with additional information and will be processing a backlog of current applications, as well as new ones, through August, 2006. Alliant is developing new applications. Until they are printed, candidates are encouraged to use current applications posted on this website; deadlines on these applications will be ignored. Alliant International University recently announced the creation of TeachersCHOICE, the first program of its kind in California. Designed to help address the state’s teacher shortage, TeachersCHOICE is attracting the state’s best and brightest - candidates who wish to enter urban and public charter schools, where they are critically needed. The cornerstone of the TeachersCHOICE program is the Early Completion Option, an alternative credentialing route that allows candidates who pass the state’s Teaching Foundations Exam to enter the classroom as paid teachers, bypass most traditionally required education coursework, earn a credential in nine months, and benefit from an intensive mentoring support system. According to Geoffrey Cox, President of Alliant International University, “Everyone knows that a great teacher can make a tremendous impact on a child’s life, so as a nation, we need to do a better job of attracting our most passionate and high-achieving individuals to the classroom. Karen Webb, dean of Alliant’s Graduate School of Education, has created programs that reflect excellence and the innovative thinking required to meet the challenges of education today and in the future. This is certainly true when it comes to teacher credentialing. TeachersCHOICE includes an Early Completion Option, an alternative route that recognizes professional backgrounds and supports high-achievers as they transition into the classroom. We might be talking about an attorney who has practiced law for 15 years and wants to give back, or an engineer who has 20 years of military service. It’s imperative to acknowledge those backgrounds and create a streamlined credentialing process. The fact is, many of these professionals have the passion to teach, and they’ll pursue it if we open our minds to the idea that they might not need a different preparation path.”
The Early Completion Option allows candidates who qualify by passing the exam to bypass most traditional education coursework. They find a position as a salaried teacher while simultaneously completing work needed to earn their teaching credential. A key factor in the program’s design is that new teachers are intensely supported in the classroom by mentors and by a seminar series that addresses the topics most often cited in research as critical for new teachers’ success, such as advanced classroom management and working with California’s diverse urban populations. The streamlined program results in substantial cost and time savings for qualified new teachers.
This program became possible when Sen. Jack Scott (D-Pasadena), Chairman of the Senate Education Committee, authored Senate Bill 57 in 2001. Although five years have passed, the legislation has barely been utilized. No one could have anticipated it would take so long. First, a state test had to be written and approved so individuals could prove they had the necessary knowledge to bypass university coursework. That exam, called the Teaching Foundations Exam, is now approved and available for candidates seeking credentials in math, English and multiple subjects. The science test also is available and should be validated shortly so examinees know what results are required to bypass coursework. Alliant International University, which already offered highly rated teacher preparation programs, utilized the legislation authored by Senator Scott as the foundation for its new TeachersCHOICE preparation programs.
Alliant’s TeachersCHOICE preparation programs are designed to address an anticipated critical shortage of California teachers. According to education experts who recently testified before a Senate panel studying the issue, that shortage could be as high as 100,000 within 10 years. Other studies place the number at 200,000. The need to devise ways to attract career changers to teaching and promote alternative credentialing routes has therefore never been more critical. Alliant’s Early Completion Option seeks a solution by specifically appealing to a candidate pool of high-achievers and career changers. Dean Karen Webb added, "California’s children deserve great teachers and this new program will help us ensure that we are attracting the best and the brightest to our public classrooms.” In 2001, the California legislature approved and then-Governor Davis signed the Scott Bill into law. The law requires that all teacher internship programs approved by the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing offer an early completion option to qualified teachers. Individuals can become qualified partly by passing the Teacher Foundations Exam that demonstrates knowledge of teaching methods and pedagogy taught in teacher preparation programs. The law allows would-be teachers to enroll in an approved university or district teacher preparation program, but allows them to bypass most teacher education coursework, which many teachers often cite as less valuable than the more practical, hands-on approach of in-class teaching and support.
According to Trudy Day, Director of Teacher Preparation Programs at Alliant and a former teacher and high school administrator of 30 years, “We have embraced the notion that there is no one-size-fits-all solution to teacher credentialing. It’s why we support the exploration and design of alternative teacher preparation programs at Alliant. There are a lot of people out there who have dreamed of becoming a teacher and of changing children’s lives and outcomes. With the Scott Bill, we were able to build a program to attract and support high-quality teachers who are passionate about making a difference in urban neighborhoods, but might not be so passionate about the traditional process required to earn a credential, which many career changers perceive as too cumbersome given their backgrounds.”
Day is quick to point out that the streamlined Early Completion Option is a rigorous route. “This is not for the faint of heart. It’s an intensive route for the high-achiever. Candidates still have to pass all the state-mandated tests and meet other requirements. One of our jobs is to help advise candidates on the credentialing route that’s the best fit given their background and skills.”
Information on the Teaching Foundations Exam can be found at www.ets.org under Praxis tests and state requirements of California. An independent, not-for-profit institution of higher education with a history distinguished by innovation, Alliant International University focuses on preparing upper-division undergrads and graduate students for professional careers in psychology, education, business and other social science fields. Alliant was formed in July 2001 through the combination of the California School of Professional Psychology (CSPP) and United States International University (USIU). Alliant enrolls approximately 3,600 students at six locations in California, as well as in Mexico City and Tokyo. For more information:
|
