Eric.ed.gov – Recruiting, Preparing, and Retaining High Quality Secondary Mathematics and Science Teachers for Urban Schools: The Cal Teach Experimental Program

Recruiting, preparing, and retaining high quality secondary mathematics and science teachers are three of the most critical problems in the nation’s urban schools that serve a vast majority of children from socially and economically disadvantaged backgrounds. Although the factors contributing to these problems are complex, one area that has caught the attention of leaders of the teacher education community centers are the alternative pathways (or routes) through which teachers are trained and allowed into the profession. Many of these alternative pathways, teacher educators argue, aim to move teachers into teaching on a fast track and thereby short-change the necessary training that candidates need to have to become adequately prepared as classroom teachers. This article looks at the arguments on both sides: proponents and critics of traditional and alternative pathways of teacher education, and discusses how California addressed the persistent shortages of mathematics and science teachers through the program, Cal Teach. The program provides a unique and excellent opportunity for experimentation in alternative approaches to math and science secondary teaching credential programs.(Contains 7 figures and 4 notes.)