This free two-day workshop is to assist community college faculty in preparing future teachers in science education. NASA Earth and space scientists and educators share authentic inquiry activities, data, and resources related to key topics from the national science standards. The NACCTEP pre-conference institute in 2010 will include a focus on NASA Earth science data and the theme of climate change. Participants receive a $300 stipend.

• Explore standards-based concepts using authentic inquiry.

• Discuss current science research with NASA scientists.

• Identify ways to address Earth and space science misconceptions.

• Explore collaboration plans with colleagues.

For additional information please click here.

Delgado and Nunez Community Colleges

Community colleges in Louisiana have had a long and successful history of providing instructional programs that prepared students for success as child care center owner/operators and child care teachers. Many of these programs addressed the competencies of early learning and development from birth to age eight. As a result, students interested in becoming certified classroom teachers often used such programs as a pathway to success and were able to transfer a portion of programmatic requirements to baccalaureate teacher preparation programs. Most success in transfer, however, was the result of institution-to-institution transfer agreements and often centered on relationships and the creation of specialized courses useful for specific inter-agency agreements. 

The turn-of-the-century brought great change to teacher preparation programs in Louisiana. A Blue-Ribbon Commission was established to address issues in providing quality education to the population of the state. Louisiana, like most other states, was faced with a crisis in public education. Students consistently demonstrated less success than was deemed acceptable on standardized tests. School systems found it difficult to recruit and retain highly qualified teachers. A significant portion of those students finishing high school found themselves underprepared for success in college-level coursework. To combat these challenges, state Colleges of Education embarked on a self-imposed curricular redesign with the goal of providing more rigor and accountability for teacher preparation candidates entering schools as teachers in the state. 

As a result of the redesign, programs designed for child care professionals no longer provided a valid pathway into Colleges of Education. The Louisiana Community and Technical College System colleges worked together with the four-year deans of education to create a new degree program that provides a pipeline of highly qualified candidates to baccalaureate partner institutions. The effort was designed to reform transfer by moving away from a course-by-course model into a “block transfer” model. Through conversations with Colleges of Education partners, an instructional program was designed with a focus on the competencies of graduates as opposed to the equivalency of individual courses. This single program would be duplicated across Louisiana at Community Colleges and would provide students with a seamless transition into a College of Education with the loss of no associate degree program hours. 

The statewide framework for the Associate of Science in Teaching for Grades 1 – 5 was approved in 2004. Delgado Community College and Nunez Community College welcomed inaugural classes shortly thereafter. Unlike most instructional programs at community colleges, the Associate of Science in Teaching is a limited enrollment program. Students must apply for admission and meet certain academic standards, as well as demonstrating a predisposition to the teaching profession through an interview process. To successfully complete the program, candidates must achieve a 2.5 grade point average and receive a successful score on the PRAXIS II, Section 0014 examination. 

The success of instructional programs is measured by the completion rate of program majors and their success in transfer and future employment. Both colleges, while confident in the new program, were anxious to review program completion and success in Colleges of Education.  Shortly after the start of the Fall 2005 semester, Delgado Community College and Nunez Community College were forced to suspend operations as a result of the damage sustained by Hurricane Katrina. Questions lingered about the viability of the new programs and if the career path would be available once the colleges reopened and the rebuilding of communities commenced. In Chalmette, the St. Bernard Public School System became one of the first agencies to recover by creating a redesigned unified school to meet the educational needs of all K-12 students in the area. In New Orleans, the public school system was faced with a State takeover of poorly performing schools, the indefinite closure of many schools, and an expanding charter school concept. 

Enrollment at Delgado Community College and Nunez Community College remains healthy, as many students recognize the need for strong K-12 education is paramount to building a strong Louisiana. The two colleges, where a strong spirit of collaboration always existed, strengthened partnerships by sharing field sites, adjunct faculty, and initiating cross-enrollment agreements to maximize opportunities for student learning and success. Graduate performance on the PRAXIS examination exceeded state and national benchmarks. Transfer to colleges of education met with some challenges and sporadic problems as universities struggled with ways to ease the transition by moving away from course-based awarding of transfer credit. To combat these issues and to facilitate success, all institutions have identified one point-of-contact for teacher candidates. In August 2009, the Board of Regents for Louisiana Higher Education, the coordinating agency for all State Higher Education Systems, adopted a policy guarantying the awarding of transfer credit, as a block, for students who successfully complete the Associate of Science in Teaching for Grades 1 – 5. 

Both colleges are proud of the success of the program and of individual completers but realize these are early indicators. Determining true program impact will involve reviewing candidate performance in the Colleges of Education, and, ultimately, performance in the K-12 classroom. Accountability systems exist to track the performance of classroom teachers to their educational experience. State-wide research is underway to determine the value-added components of individual teacher education programs. State community colleges are confident time will indicate teachers who began their educational careers in the community college are a vital, strong, and constant resource that too often remained untapped. The Louisiana Community and Technical College System remains committed to building a better Louisiana and is committed to providing instructional programs to meet the needs of Louisiana.