CalStateTEACH and CollegisEduprise Tackle Teacher Shortage Through Technology
CollegisEduprise, Inc., technology services and e-Education provider to higher education, announced today a three-year partnership with CalStateTEACH to provide strategic marketing services, infrastructure support and instructional development services for its online teacher credential program. The partnership will enhance the accessibility, visibility and convenience of the CalStateTEACH program through the increased use of e-Education technologies.
CalStateTEACH, a statewide program of the California State University system, prepares Multiple Subject credential candidates in response to California’s shortage of credentialed K-8 teachers. According to the California Department of Education, it is expected that within the next 10 years, California must recruit and credential approximately 300,000 new teachers.
At present, there are 34,000 teachers in California (roughly half in elementary schools) who are uncredentialed and employed on “emergency permits.” These teachers are allowed to continue teaching while working toward earning their credentials. Although a variety of programs exist for preparing California teachers, they are often either at capacity or are inaccessible for prospective applicants. The flexibility and accessibility of e-Education coursework available through the CollegisEduprise partnership should expedite the credentialing process. The program, established in 1999, began its Fall session on September 24 with a new cohort of 860 teachers.
“Since the program’s inception, more than 200 teachers have obtained their teaching credentials,” said Jodi Servatius, CalStateTEACH Director. “However, our state is a long way from the goal of having every California child taught by a fully qualified teacher.”
“Our program has enjoyed significant success, but we knew we had a long way to go and that we needed to enhance our infrastructure, faculty development and marketing expertise to expand the reach of the program to geographically dispersed teachers,” Servatius continued. “Our success will require additional expertise if we are to achieve our goal to enroll 1,500 candidates each year, and CollegisEduprise provides that expertise.”
CollegisEduprise is developing a customized marketing program to support the CalStateTEACH mission to increase the awareness of the online offerings and attract more applicants. The plan includes an outreach effort to educate principals throughout California about the program benefits, utility and convenience. Additionally, instructional analysts from CollegisEduprise will assess the readiness of faculty to teach online and provide faculty development in the technical and pedagogical skills necessary to rapidly expand a quality online learning environment.
CollegisEduprise will seamlessly integrate CalStateTEACH’s custom student information system with its Blackboard 5.5 course development software, which Servatius said will “eliminate the need for duplicate entry of student records into multiple databases.” The time saved will allow faculty members to focus on the instructional aspects of our program.
“We are pleased to be working closely with CalStateTEACH to help them increase the reach and learning effectiveness of their program,” said Bill Graves, Co-Chairman of CollegisEduprise. “We applaud their commitment to providing accessible programs to not only attract new teachers, but to help credential teachers who might otherwise be discouraged from obtaining credentials due to inaccessible coursework, inconvenient travel and other concerns.”
About CollegisEduprise:
CollegisEduprise, Inc. provides comprehensive business, technology and education services for higher education. Founded in August 2001, it combines the strengths of Collegis and Eduprise and becomes the first higher education technology services provider and partner that links administrative and academic goals through strategic vision and implementation. Visit CollegisEduprise.
About CalStateTEACH:
CalStateTEACH is a statewide Multiple Subject credential program with regional centers in Los Angeles, Fullerton, Pomona, Hayward and Fresno/Monterey Bay. Every county in California is served by one of these centers. For more information, call toll free 1-877-225-7828 or visit the Web site at www.calstateteach.net.
CONTACT:
Matt Gomez
Director of Media Relations
CollegisEduprise, Inc.
2300 Maitland Center Parkway, Suite 340
Maitland, FL 32751
(800) 800-1874
(407) 421-9365 cell
mgomez@collegis.com
