California's emergency credential teachers: examining program conditions for sustainability and effectiveness

Abstract

The Summer Institute for Teacher Education (SITE), a one-year program, emerged in response to a California State University directive to increase the number of credentialed teachers. This article explains the rationale and program approach, describes the participants of the first two cohorts—SITE 1999 and SITE 2000, and uses yearly program evaluations to discuss the program goals and outcomes. It concludes with implications for the preparation of teachers of color and the institutional conditions needed to promote sustainability and teacher effectiveness. Three goals differentiated SITE from the regular program: (1) to create a one-year credential program to increase the yearly number of credentialed elementary teachers, (2) to offer a program for training the growing number of California's emergency credentialed teachers, and (3) to provide the contextual conditions and culturally responsive curricular content needed for successful sustained service to children, especially those attending high-poverty, low performing urban schools.

Notes

* Texas Tech University, Curriculum and Instruction, PO Box 41071, Lubbock, TX 79409, USA. Email: [email protected]