August 25, 2008

Contact:
Liz Babiarz, 404-413-1356
University Relations

College of Education expands programs to train and retain teachers

Atlanta – Each year, Georgia’s classrooms require roughly 14,000 new teachers, a figure that will only continue to increase as baby boomers retire and communities grow.

Georgia State University’s College of Education is working hard to address this need by expanding teacher preparation programs and building a mentoring network to keep both young and veteran teachers in Georgia’s schools.

This fall, the college began offering a new bachelor’s degree program that provides students with academic preparation and field experience to teach children ages infant through 5. In the spring, the college will re-launch a bachelor’s degree program in middle childhood education, producing nearly 80 new teachers in that field annually. Both programs will train certified teachers within four years.

“I think we set the quality standard for teacher preparation and we are increasing our production of teachers in a manner that does not sacrifice that quality,” said College of Education Dean Randy Kamphaus, who will be presenting this information to lawmakers on Wednesday (Aug. 27) at a hearing of the Joint Study Committee on Teacher Training and Certification.

The committee was created recently by the Georgia General Assembly to look at teacher training, recruitment, certification and retention, said Chairman Brooks Coleman, a two-time Georgia State alumnus and former teacher. The committee will hear reports from teacher preparation program leaders throughout the state. Brooks had high praise for Georgia State.

“Georgia State is producing the most innovative and creative teachers, thinking outside of the box,” said Coleman, a republican who represents Gwinnett County. “It’s doing a great job and has one of the most exemplary colleges of education in the state.”

Georgia State’s College of Education and College of Arts and Sciences work collaboratively to prepare teachers with top-level pedagogy and content area knowledge. Candidates who want to be high school teachers, for example, spend four years earning a bachelor’s degree in a subject area in the College of Arts and Sciences and then matriculate into the College of Education to earn a Master’s of Arts in Teaching degree.

“It’s one thing to get pedagogy knowledge and know how to teach, but if you don’t have the content knowledge you need to teach, it’s pretty difficult to do that,” said Maryann Romski, associate dean for social and behavioral sciences in the College of Arts and Sciences. “Georgia State’s model takes a different approach and ups the value of what a teacher is and what a teacher needs to be a teacher.”

To address the shortage of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) teachers, Georgia State has begun a unique partnership with the Georgia Institute of Technology to enlarge the pool of undergraduates entering those fields. Local school districts can hire bachelor’s degree recipients in STEM areas on a provisional teaching certificate and these teachers will simultaneously enroll in Georgia State’s Master of Arts in Teaching degree program.

For other graduate students – veteran teachers returning for their master’s degree or candidates who want to switch career fields to teaching – the College of Education in corporation with the College of Arts and Sciences launched last winter five completely online master degree programs, as part of the Georgia ONmyLINE Board of Regents’ initiative.

The College of Education’s Urban Accelerated Certification and Master’s Program was also recently awarded a $2 million federal grant to recruit, train and retain effective teachers for high-need schools. This program is a two-year track that offers students a $5,000 grant for tuition, an ESOL endorsement and an accelerated pathway to certification in Early Childhood Education. 

The College of Education is even getting young students interested in a career in teaching through its annual Advanced Academy for Future Teachers, Saturday School for Scholars and Leaders and the Bio-Bus program, a mobile science classroom that travels to metro Atlanta schools with the help of the College of Arts and Sciences.

But training teachers is only part of the College of Education’s mission. Fifteen percent of new teachers hired in Georgia leave after their first year, 26 percent leave after three years and 35 percent after five years, according to data from Georgia's Professional Standards Commission.

“We’ll never be able to train our way out of a teacher shortage,” Kamphaus said. “If we keep them in the classroom, it gives us hope of meeting Georgia’s needs.”

This is why Georgia State’s College of Education started the Professional Development School Partnerships Deliver Success (PDS2) program, which is currently in 20 schools in the metro Atlanta area. Entering its fifth year, the program places Georgia State faculty members and pre-service teachers in high-need schools to help increase student achievement, meet strategic school goals and recruit and retain high-quality teachers. Another component of the PDS program is the establishment of cross-career learning communities that allow teachers to mentor and support one another.
“We’re able to come together, both new teachers and veteran teachers, to build trusting relationships and share ideas in a setting that is non-threatening,” said Cecilia Garcia, principal of Lilburn Middle School in Gwinnett County.
The PDS program has increased teacher retention rates by 20 percent in some schools. It’s also been a win-win for Georgia State faculty members, who have been able to conduct research in the schools, as well as Georgia State students who have gained valuable experience through their internships. 

“In the end, everybody benefits and we improve our teacher preparation programs by being more informed from being in the schools,” said Gwendolyn Benson, College of Education associate dean of school and community partnerships.