The New California Teacher Credentialing Landscape.

California's public school teachers are updating their skills and potential earning power at the speed of the Internet, thanks to new timesaving online teaching credential and certificate programs offered statewide by National University. In a recent article in the Associated Press, California is expected to gain as many as 720,000 student within the next decade according to the California Post-secondary Education Commission.

This is an area that National University knows something about. During the past 10 years, National has prepared more than 10,000 California teachers. Between 1996 and 1997 alone, NU recommended nearly 1,700 students for teaching credentials. In 1998, National recommended more teachers for credentialing than the eight UC campuses combined.

At stake is the need to address an urgent shortage of qualified California teachers to serve a fast growing, school-age population in the nation's most populous state. National University, already a leader in online and innovative classroom education, has designed new programs specifically to meet that need.

National University, in addition to new online Multiple and Single Subject Credential Programs, also offers an online Cross-cultural Language Academic Development (CLAD) certification program for teachers. CLAD certification, which enhances sensitivity to language acquisition and diversity, is important in California's multi-cultural classrooms where as many as 200 language are spoken.

"For time-starved teachers and potential teachers, National University's new online programs offer a convenient means to obtain new skills on a more flexible schedule," said Dr. Ellen Curtis-Pierce, dean of the School of Education at National University. "They can access these programs at any time - even in the middle of the night if they choose," she said.

"Online programs are not for everyone, but they open a new arena for a population of individuals who can not participate in programs at traditional times or at specific locations," Curtis-Pierce said. "Such programs eliminate geography and time constraints for students residing in rural areas far from traditional classrooms," she added.

National can bring a credential program of CLAD certificate directly to a school or district throughout California. Over 500 of NU's alumni have completed a program this way. A two-year survey of 2,588 master teachers indicated a 95.8 percent rating of their NU student teachers as "excellent." 94.6 percent said that when they next work with a student teacher they would like to work with a NU student. Two-thirds of NU student teachers received dents, in oral and written communication skills, and in their knowledge of subject area and classroom teaching.

No wonder, last month the Annual Cox Communication Salute to Teachers awarded "Teacher of the Year" to three of the four winners as graduates of National University.

National University, which offers 17 teacher credential and certificate programs recommends more teachers for credentialing than any other university in California. The San Diego-based University has 25 learning centers in 11 major metropolitan areas throughout the state.

National University also provides credentialing online, offering more than 150 undergraduate and graduate online courses, including the nation's first online Master of Science degree in Electronic Commerce. In April, National introduced two other online degree programs, the Bachelor of Science in Nursing as well as the Bachelor of Business Administration.