NACCTEP News Home
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| Message From The President |
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Dear NACCTEP Members,
I hope that you have all had a very productive fall semester. As part of NACCTEP Executive Board duties, in September, Virginia Carson, Past President; Ray Ostos, Executive Director; Pam Asti, Executive Assistant; and myself conducted our annual advocacy visits "on the hill" in Washington, D.C. The delegation disseminated information about all of the good work you are doing and sought support for your federally-funded projects. In particular, we focused on our ever important work on the STEM fields. As you know, that emphasis continues to be paramount.
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| Director's Note |
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Community college teacher education programs have been essential to the growth, development, and training of future teachers and current educators across America for many years. In today’s economy, our role is expanding while our budgets are often shrinking. As we work our way through the joys and challenges associated with an economy in which many people are knocking on the doors of community colleges for cost-effective and conveniently located education or training, we must remember that the eyes of the nation are upon us. If we can rise to the challenge of serving those in need at this time of economic downturn by propping up the victims of job loss and instability, and serving incoming students who cannot afford the cost of a university education, community colleges will, invariably, be sought out as the most viable post-secondary option for many Americans in the future. |
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From left to right in the picture: Susan Stawas, Leslie Anderson, Elissa Fabula |
TEACH Institute at Anne Arundel Community College
By: Colleen Eisenbeiser, Anne Arundel Community College, Hanover, Maryland |
| The Teacher Education and Child Care (TEACH) Institute at Anne Arundel Community College (AACC) makes a positive impact on the lives of children by providing quality education and professional development for current and future child care providers, teachers, and school employees. Two significant assets of AACC’s TEACH Institute are our chapter of the Student Educators Association (SEA) and our Transition Specialist, Judy Sinkovitz, a retired teacher with decades of experience working with high school students.
Judy and the position she fills became a part of TEACH in 2003 through the College and Careers Training Initiative. Though her role has shifted slightly over the years, her primary objective has been to interface with the high school students enrolled in child development or introduction to teaching courses, sharing with them their future opportunities in teacher education, and the means to reach their career goals. Through a series of presentations and various activities, Judy has prepared students to move from high school into college programs, but like any great teacher, she is always looking for better strategies to reach her audience. Judy realized early on that although many of the high school students are committed to entering the field of education, they are often stymied by the actual process of transitioning to college. |
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The Heartfelt Reality of the First Years of Teaching By: Penny Murray, Grass Lakes Community School, Michigan and former NACCTEP Scholarship Recipient |
| Since receiving the National Association of Community College Teacher Education Programs (NACCTEP) scholarship, I finished studies at Jackson Community College (JCC), left a 17-year marketing and communications career to pursue teacher education full-time, transferred to Spring Arbor University (SAU) to complete my elementary teacher certification, and gained employment with Grass Lake Community Schools. I think of the concepts of potential and kinetic energy, taught to my current 6th grade students, while reflecting on the roller coaster ride I experienced between then and now. Earning the NACCTEP scholarship set the stage for potential energy: I was financially able to continue on my path toward earning teacher certification. Working with educators like Mary Belknap, Ph.D., I found my education at JCC to be outstanding—exactly what I needed for a strong foundation for my teaching career.
Faced with a daunting spiral of affording a post-baccalaureate teaching degree at SAU, a private university, I met Miriam Sailers, Ed.D. who helped me to navigate the possibilities with a smooth transition from JCC to SAU. Another hair-raising hill conquered, and I had the kinetic energy to move on and see my dream to fruition!
I had no idea about the climb to come. In January 2007, my mom received a devastating diagnosis: adenocarcinoma of unknown origin—cancer. I was beginning my student teaching experience at George Long Elementary School with a split classroom of 2nd and 3rd grade students. Upon successfully completing student teaching, I dropped everything to be a caretaker for my mom during what would be a short, intense battle. With my mom’s death, August 2007, it seemed my roller coaster failed mechanically. I reflected heavily on how far I had come, and I had to persist. Mom would want me to continue on this ride, no matter what twists and turns came my way.
I finished my education at SAU in May 2008, and earned my official teaching employment as a 2nd grade teacher at George Long Elementary, Grass Lake Community Schools, in June 2008. Currently, I am delighted to co-teach 46 6th graders at Grass Lake Middle School. With perseverance, and assistance like that which I received in the form of the NACCTEP scholarship, any Millennium Force-like coaster is reduced to virtually a carnival kiddie ride. |
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Prepare all Entering College Students for Credit-Bearing Mathematics or English Coursework
By: Virginia Carson, South Georgia College, Douglas, Georgia |
| Prepare all entering college students for credit mathematics or English instead having many first-year students need remedial courses? What a concept!
This is the heart of a current proposal from the National Governors' Association (NGA) and the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO). Consideration of this proposal is generating attention and support from many different associations and educators. The most recent draft of the document can be found at http://www.corestandards.org/. This is not a federal initiative. It has state-level support and organization. |
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Advancing the Technological Literacy and Skills of Elementary Educators
By: Melissa Higgin, Martha Hass, and Christine M. Cunningham, Museum of Science, Boston, Massachusetts |
| Developing teachers’ understandings of engineering and technology is critical if they are to prepare their students for the 21st century and build the foundation for the next generation of technicians and engineers. The Advancing Technological Literacy and Skills of Elementary Educators (ATLAS) program at the Museum of Science, Boston, has been funded through the Advanced Technological Education division of the National Science Foundation. The program is currently testing a variety of models for enriching pre-service teacher education courses with engineering and technology. For the past three years, we have been working collaboratively with teams of community college education and science faculty to explore what engineering instruction could look like in college courses that prepare future elementary teachers. |
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Key Partners for Solutions
By: Arturo Montiel, South Texas College, Texas |
| The National Association of Community College Teacher Education Programs (NACCTEP) Board held its annual meeting in Washington, D.C. on September 16 - 17, 2009. The Board was approached by the National Migrant & Seasonal Head Start Collaboration Office (NMSHSCO) and asked for a Board member to attend its meeting located a few blocks from the NACCTEP meeting. Two NACCTEP Board members, Dr. Janet Johnson (Rio Salado College, AZ) and Dr. Arturo Montiel (South Texas College, TX) attended this meeting to gain valuable insights and bring back to stakeholders within NACCTEP the issues at hand and solutions proposed in the meeting.
The meeting was entitled “Key Partners for Solutions” and the primary focus was to gather stakeholders to identify issues and ideas for solutions for new legislation that will impact Head Start across the country. The Head Start Act of 2007 states that by 2013, 50 percent of all Head Start teachers nationwide must have a bachelor degree and 100 percent of Head Start teacher assistants nationwide must have a Child Development Associate (CDA) or be enrolled in a program leading to an associate or a bachelor degree. |
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Delaware Technical & Community College By: Nancy Campbell, Delaware Technical and Community College, Delaware |
| Delaware Technical & Community College (DTCC), the state’s only community college, provides post-secondary education at the associate degree level. The essence of DTCC is access, opportunity, hope, and excellence. Those core values are implemented through quality education at an affordable price, flexible schedules and learning methods, excellent child care for parents, and more — all of which have earned the college numerous accolades at both national and state levels.
As a statewide college, DTCC has campuses located in each county: the Stanton and Wilmington sites in New Castle County, the Terry Campus in Kent County, and the Owens Campus in Sussex County. |
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Why is advising undergraduate future teachers difficult in Michigan?
By: Mary C. Belknap, Jackson Community College, Michigan |
| Advising an undergraduate future teacher begins by enthusiastically guiding and supporting their career dream. However, very quickly, the advising becomes difficult. Why, one might ask? The answer to this question appears simple; but every higher education institution involved in Michigan teacher education, both at the community college and university level, is autonomous. Yes, each higher education institution operates their teacher education program independently, supported by the Michigan Department of Education. The Michigan Department of Education regulates or approves all state university teacher education programs, but there is not a specific regulatory group or suggested guide for community college or university programs. Just as there are various program configurations in certification institutions in Michigan, there are numerous variations to teacher education programs at community colleges. All community college pre-service teachers in Michigan must transfer to a four-year degree granting institution for certification recommendation by the Michigan Department of Education. |
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Delgado and Nunez Community Colleges
By: Sean P. Martin and Timothy R. Stamm, Delgado Community College, Louisiana |
Delgado Community College is located in New Orleans, Louisiana and is the oldest and largest community college in the state. Elaine P. Nunez Community College is located immediately adjacent to the Greater New Orleans area in Chalmette, Louisiana. Together, the two colleges have a considerable history of providing technical, workforce, and college parallel transfer educational programs for the region of Southern Louisiana. In 1998, both colleges became members of the newly formed Louisiana Community and Technical College System. This system, along with the Louisiana State University System, the Southern University System, and the University of Louisiana System, provides comprehensive higher education to the citizens of Louisiana.
Community colleges in Louisiana have had a long and successful history of providing instructional programs that prepared students for success as child care center owner/operators and child care teachers. Many of these programs addressed the competencies of early learning and development from birth to age eight. As a result, students interested in becoming certified classroom teachers often used such programs as a pathway to success and were able to transfer a portion of programmatic requirements to baccalaureate teacher preparation programs. Most success in transfer, however, was the result of institution-to-institution transfer agreements and often centered on relationships and the creation of specialized courses useful for specific inter-agency agreements. |
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