Popularity of GSOE's "Early Completion Option" for Fast-Track Teacher Certification Prompts Expansion to San Diego & LA
 San Diego – Monday June 19, 2006 -- Candidates wanting to take advantage of the special discounted $25 Teaching Foundations Exam (TFE) for science the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing has offered will find it difficult to locate a university program that allows them to take advantage of the fast-track route to a teaching credential the test offers. Even though the legislation that created the test was passed five years ago, only one such university program has been developed in California – the ECO program at Alliant International University.
The Early Completion Option (ECO) program was specifically designed by Alliant’s Graduate School of Education (GSOE) to support candidates who want to take this alternative credentialing route. Launched just this year, the ECO enables candidates who pass the TFE 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. The ECO was developed to respond to teacher shortages, particularly in inner-city and charter schools, and to encourage highly-qualified career-changers to enter the classroom. Deborah Yager, a Ph.D. scientist from Castro Valley with a background in biomedical engineering is considering Alliant’s ECO program. She said, “I considered teaching years ago, but dropped the idea after realistically addressing the pay cut and the two-year credentialing path. This Early Completion Option might be the path that finally gets me in the classroom.” Jerry Mishkin, a student in Alliant’s San Francisco ECO program who has taught in an Oakland charter school, said, “I was so frustrated by having to jump through all these hoops to get credentialled. I just knew there had to be an easier way! I searched all around and finally found the website for the test. It's an incredible test, but no one knows about it! Anyone who passes gets full credit for all the methodology classes. That’s approximately 540 hours of class work, not including homework and papers. That test can save you up to about $5000 in tuition and fees.” Alliant Expands Program to San Diego & LA, Extends Deadlines GSOE offers a suite of “TeachersCHOICE” programs that support both traditional and alternative credentialing routes. The GSOE initially offered the ECO only in San Francisco. In response to student demand, GSOE decided last week to expand the program to San Diego and Los Angeles, and to offer rolling admissions through the summer. The TFE will be offered in several California locations on August 5, 2006. With the exception of the TFE in science, which is being offered at a discounted price of $25, the test costs $155. According to a California Commission on Teacher Credentialing (CCTE) news release issued Thursday, June 16, the discounted science price is intended to attract enough test-takers to ensure that a passing score to can be set for the exam – for the Educational Testing Service to be able to set the score, at least 50 people must take the test. The registration deadline for the exam is July 6. The Teaching Foundations Exam was created in response to Senate Bill 57, authored by Sen. Jack Scott (D-Pasadena), Chairman of the Senate Education Committee, and passed into law in 2001. The legislation allows teacher candidates to "challenge" traditional teacher preparation course work by passing the TFE, which tests knowledge of teaching methods. Candidate must then successfully complete a classroom teaching performance assessment as well. Alliant’s ECO Offers Mentoring and Intensive Classroom Support A key benefit of Alliant’s ECO program 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’ classroom success, such as advanced classroom management and working with California’s diverse urban populations. The streamlined program, which results in substantial cost and time savings for qualified new teachers, should removed barriers that have kept qualified candidates out of teaching. According to education experts who recently testified before a Senate panel studying the issue, California’s teacher 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. Dr. Karen Webb, Dean of Alliant’s Graduate School of Education, says, "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.” Geoffrey Cox, President of Alliant International University, said, “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 to the community, 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 need a different path of preparation.” About Alliant International University 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: Contact: Gratia Bone, Graduate School of Education Marketing Director
(626) 284-2777 x 3026
gbone@alliant.edu Nicolette Toussaint, Alliant Communication Director
Cell: (415) 794-6956; Office: (415) 955-2037
ntoussaint@alliant.edu
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