The Role of the Community College in Teacher Education (New Directions for Community Colleges Series No. 121).

by Barbara K. Townsend and Jan M. Ignash. Jossey-Bass, San Francisco, CA, 2003, 113 pages, $28, softcover, ISBN 0194-3081. Reviewed by Audrey J. Jaeger.

Teacher shortages across the nation have renewed interest in involving community college systems in the efforts to expand the teacher pipeline. Many states are recognizing that community colleges, with their tradition of responding quickly and flexibly to community needs, are a logical solution to unprecedented teacher shortages. In The Role of the Community College in Teacher Education, editors Barbara Townsend and Jan Ignash have compiled case studies from six states, reviewed national standards for teacher education programs, and provided additional resources to guide community college leaders, state higher education agencies, legislators, and others interested in "improving and expanding the community college role in teacher education" (p. 3).

This volume offers practical information on program structures, factors, and stakeholders that can affect community college decisions to participate in teacher preparation programs. Chapter 1 provides an overview of the traditional and non-traditional ways that community colleges are involved in teacher education. This chapter concisely addresses the multitude of issues surrounding teacher education and offers illustrative examples from the case studies (Missouri, California, Maryland, Arizona, Florida, and Texas) presented later in the volume. The case studies show both the unique and similar ways states have approached the community college role in teacher education.

Throughout the text, the pros and cons of community college involvement in teacher education are discussed. From the viewpoint of proponents, community colleges serve a high number of minority students, and for that reason they have the potential to increase the diversity of classroom teachers. The community college can serve as an important resource for increasing and maintaining the teacher pool. Community colleges often develop strong partnerships with local entities. Students in teacher education programs can benefit from these partnerships through job placements in local school systems. Finally, community colleges offer a more affordable option for many students. From the viewpoint of opponents to community college involvement in expanding the teacher pipeline, the addition of teacher education programs, especially those leading to a baccalaureate degree, may serve further to muddy the waters of the community college mission. These efforts could increase feelings of competition or distrust between community colleges and four-year institutions, causing other articulation and transfer programs to suffer. Another possible repercussion of adding baccalaureate programs is the creation of a two-tier faculty system within the community college. Unlike the majority of their colleagues, most faculty, in a teacher preparation program would need to hold doctorates for program accreditation purposes.

The case studies within the volume offer details on a variety of program structures for teacher preparation across the United States. One issue at the center of teacher education discussions is articulation. These agreements bring their own set of challenges, as seen in Missouri's case in Chapter 2. Before the state began to respond to the national standards movement for approval of four-year teacher education programs, community college students in Missouri were already experiencing problems transferring to four-year college teacher education programs. The case reviews how community colleges were strategically brought into the conversation in a proactive attempt to ease some of the tensions of student transfer. A more seamless articulation agreement between a community college and a particular four-year college is described in Chapter 3. This program, Teacher Training Academy at Cerritos Community College in California, has been in existence for five years and is one of the oldest described in this volume. No detailed results or evaluation data from the program are given beyond its number of graduates.

This volume also addresses the associate degree and other alternative certification programs. Chapter 4 describes efforts in Maryland that led to the creation of the Associate of Arts in Teaching (A.A.T.) degree. The uniqueness of Maryland's story lies in both the strong statewide interest and participation in the creation of this degree and the use of student outcomes versus particular courses to define the degree goals. Students completing the 60-hour A.A.T. degree program can transfer all 60 hours to any four-year state institution offering a teacher education program. Creative programs designed for and targeting teaching assistants and other part-time and full-time employees of the local school district who are not certified teachers are described in both Chapter 3 (California's TEACH and Transition to Teaching programs) and Chapter 5 (Arizona's "Grow-Our-Own" programs). Community colleges have also created certification programs for lateral-entry teachers. Chapter 7 discusses the Collin County Community College district in Texas, home to an Alternative Teacher Certification program for individuals who hold a baccalaureate degree outside education but who desire to become certified teachers.

The most controversial option presented in this volume is the offering of a baccalaureate degree in education by a community college. Chapter 6 discusses how this non-traditional option was negotiated at St. Petersburg College in Florida. In 2001, St. Petersburg was identified as a pilot site for a community college baccalaureate program in teacher education. In accordance with Florida law, St. Petersburg College was required to show demand for its program from community partners and constituents, demonstrate that the need for teachers was not being met elsewhere, and show that they had the facilities and resources to deliver the program.

One final area of teacher education discussed in this volume is professional development and in-service teacher education programs. This area of involvement receives limited attention in the text, although it could be a key element in teacher retention. Discussion of teacher retention is absent from the state case studies. Two chapters provide insight into particular in-service programs. Victor Valley College in California (Chapter 3) offers a certificate program in educational technology that attracts many teachers seeking to enhance their professional skills. Chapter 5 gives examples of several efforts in the Arizona community college system, including unique collegial relationships across institutional types, teachers creating courses for teachers, ESL initiatives, and more. The next step, which is missing from this discussion, is information on the effectiveness of these programs.

The examples set forth in each case study both explicitly and implicitly offer several important lessons for those involved in examining the community college role in a state's teacher education efforts. First, the case studies reveal that there are many stakeholders, both internal and external to the community college, that must be considered in decision making. For example, elected officials may shape the program effort in a state, as seen by the inclusion of California Governor Gray Davis's statement in Chapter 3. Statewide commissions that are developed to examine the issues can include business, government, education, and community leaders, as seen in Arizona (Chapter 5). Decisions in Florida and Texas, described in Chapters 6 and 7 respectively, were directly influenced by the needs of the K-12 school districts. These are only some of the individuals and groups interested in the teacher education discussion.

A second lesson offered by the case studies is a virtual checklist of items to consider when examining the community college role in teacher education. Chapter 6 discusses the process that Florida underwent to develop a baccalaureate degree program in teacher education. The chapter reviews St. Petersburg College's considerations regarding program location, facilities, student services, delivery methods, funding, student financial aid, marketing for the program, curricular concerns, and regional accreditation for their baccalaureate program. Chapter 7 discusses the Alternative Teacher Certification (ATC) programs in Texas and offers a list of considerations, including market needs, competition, mentoring components, advisory committees, recruiting, and evaluation.

This volume raises several questions that cannot be easily answered, partly because many of the programs described in the case studies are only two to three years old with few or no graduates. How does the involvement of community colleges affect teacher quality and retention? Evaluations and studies must be performed to examine and compare the performance and retention of students in four-year teacher education programs to those who transfer from community colleges, receive alternative certification, or receive associate or baccalaureate degrees from community colleges. As Chapter 10 describes, there is a great need for data on student experiences as well as national comparisons of programs. Similarly, professional development and in-service programs must be evaluated for effectiveness. The six case studies in this volume exemplify the wide variety in degrees of involvement, and more options will surely be identified as more states consider these ideas and publish the accounts of their processes. How will community colleges be held accountable for their programs? What other ways can community colleges play a role in teacher preparation? Finally, does the creation of community college programs towards expanding the pipeline of teacher education program graduates really make a difference? No Dream Denied, a 2003 report of the National Commission on Teaching and America's Future, indicates that recent efforts in teacher recruitment may have been misplaced at the expense of more-needed efforts in teacher retention. Until the teaching profession is viewed as a competitive career choice and rewarded with competitive salaries, the efforts to expand the pipeline may prove to be in vain. The dire need for professional development and career advancement opportunities for teachers is already recognized but deserves additional attention.

Although this volume adds to the discussion of teacher preparation, it would benefit from a more connected approach. For example, in Chapter 2 the authors discuss recommendations from a recent American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education (AACTE) report. These recommendations are relevant to most states; yet, they are not addressed in any of the state case studies or mentioned again in the text. The volume would benefit from some general ideas that connect all chapters. For example, Chapter 7 discusses the system in Texas and offers a number of valuable suggestions for individuals, institutions, and states to consider. How do these connect to AACTE's recommendations? Are they worth-while for other states to consider? Although each state is unique, there are some similarities, and the volume would be enhanced if the editors identified the similarities as well as the differences. Readers should begin with Chapters 1, 8, and 9. These chapters provide foundation information relating to teacher education and serve as an overview of the issues.

Dr. Audrey J. Jaeger is an Assistant Professor of Higher Education at North Carolina State University. [e-mail]