The impact of a community college teacher education .../67531/metadc271877/m2/1/high_re… · Perkins, Britine Lynee. The impact of a community college teacher education program on

APPROVED: Richard Fossey, Major Professor Kathleen Whitson, Minor Professor John Brooks, Committee Member Nancy Nelson, Chair of the Department of

Teacher Education and Administration Jerry R Thomas, Dean of the College of

Education Mark Wardell, Dean of the Toulouse Graduate

School

THE IMPACT OF A COMMUNITY COLLEGE TEACHER EDUCATION PROGRAM ON

THE SUCCESS RATE OF MINORITY TEACHER CERTIFICATION STUDENTS

Britine Lynee Perkins

Dissertation Prepared for the Degree of

DOCTOR OF EDUCATION

UNIVERSITY OF NORTH TEXAS

May 2013

Perkins, Britine Lynee. The impact of a community college teacher education program on

the success rate of minority teacher certification students. Doctor of Education (Educational

Administration), May 2013, 78 pp., 10 tables, 4 illustrations, references, 76 titles.

The relationship between the mission of community colleges and the increasing teacher

shortage has become more transparent as many community colleges have implemented teacher

education programs to address community needs, the shortage of qualified teachers, and the lack

of diversity among teachers. As the community college’s teacher education role has increased,

many community colleges have responded by adding associate of arts degrees and certificate

programs specific to teacher education to tackle the shortage of teachers and the lack of diversity

among teachers in the nation’s classrooms.

The purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness of one community college’s

pre-service teacher education program in transferring minority students to a university teacher

education program and the likelihood of the students graduating with both bachelor’s degrees

and teacher certification. This longitudinal ex post facto causal-comparative mixed methods

case study involved tracking a cohort of minority students over a 6-year period. Data were

gathered from existing teacher education program records for native and transfer students at one

community college and two four-year institutions. Unstructured interviews were conducted with

administrators over the community college’s program. For data analysis, χ2 and Phi Coefficients

were conducted to compare the minority students’ university transfer and graduation rates to

native university students’ transfer and graduation rates. Results of the study demonstrated that

the minority students were graduating at an observably higher rate than both the native to

university students and their respective ethnic peers who began college at two-year colleges at

the national level.

This study’s findings might help community college teacher education programs to

increase enrollments of minority students and to address the needs of surrounding communities.

The findings contributed to the relatively scarce literature regarding minority teacher preparation

in community colleges. The study’s findings might also be useful to community colleges

looking toward or already implementing similar pre-service teacher education programs.

Overall, the results indicated that pre-service teacher education programs at the community

college level can be effective at producing transfer students who successfully graduate from

four-year teacher education programs.

ii

Copyright 2013

by

Britine Lynee Perkins

TABLE OF CONTENTS

LIST OF TABLES .......................................................................................................................... v

LIST OF FIGURES ....................................................................................................................... vi

Chapter

1. INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................................... 1

Problem Statement ....................................................................................................... 6 Purpose of the Study .................................................................................................... 6 Research Questions ...................................................................................................... 7 Significance of the Study ............................................................................................. 7 Overview of Methodology ........................................................................................... 8 Delimitations and Limitations ..................................................................................... 8 Definitions of Terms .................................................................................................... 8 Summary .................................................................................................................... 10

2. REVIEW OF LITERATURE ....................................................................................... 11

Teacher Education ..................................................................................................... 11 University Teacher Education Programs ......................................................... 13 The Teacher Shortage ...................................................................................... 15 Addressing the Minority Teacher Shortage ..................................................... 16 The Role of the Community College in Teacher Education ............................ 18 Diverse Student Population .............................................................................. 21

Recruiting and Retaining Minorities for Urban School Districts .............................. 23 Increasing Ethnic Diversity in Teaching ................................................................... 26 Summary .................................................................................................................... 28

3. METHODOLOGY ....................................................................................................... 29

Research Questions .................................................................................................... 29 Case Study Method .................................................................................................... 30 Instrumentation .......................................................................................................... 31 Participants ................................................................................................................ 31 Procedures .................................................................................................................. 32 Data Analysis ............................................................................................................. 33

4. PRESENTATION OF THE DATA .............................................................................. 34

Summary of Data Collection ..................................................................................... 35 Quantitative Results ................................................................................................... 35 Qualitative Results ..................................................................................................... 41

When the Program Begin and with How Many Students ................................ 41 Gender and Ethnicity for this Pioneering Group of Students .......................... 42 The Specific Purpose of the Program............................................................... 42

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How the Program was Advertised or How the Students were Chosen ............ 42 How the Program has Changed Since Its Implementation and Where It is Now ............................................................................................... 42 Hurdles Overcome ........................................................................................... 43 The Structure of the Program and Specific Supports in Place for Successful Student Transfers ........................................................................... 44 To Which 4- year schools the Students Transfer ............................................. 45

Results for Research Questions ................................................................................. 45 Research Question 1 ......................................................................................... 45 Research Question 2 ......................................................................................... 46 Research Question 3 ......................................................................................... 47 Research Question 4 ......................................................................................... 49

Summary .................................................................................................................... 52

5. SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS, AND RECOMMENDATIONS ............................... 54

Review of the Methodology ...................................................................................... 54 Summary of Major Findings ...................................................................................... 55 Discussion .................................................................................................................. 57 Implications and Conclusions .................................................................................... 60 Recommendations for Future Research ..................................................................... 64

APPENDIX A. UNT INSTITUTIONAL REVIEW BOARD APPROVAL LETTER ................ 67

APPENDIX B. INFORMED CONSENT FORM ........................................................................ 69

REFERENCES ............................................................................................................................. 73

iv

LIST OF TABLES

Table Page

1. Frequencies for Students’ Ethnicities for MVC Only .........................................................36

2. Frequencies for Students’ Genders for MVC Only .............................................................36

3. Gender Frequencies for the Total Sample ...........................................................................37

4. Graduation Status for Total Sample ....................................................................................38

5. Ethnicities of Students Included in Total Sample ...............................................................39

6. Frequencies for MVC Transfers at the Universities Versus Students who were Native to University ............................................................................................................40

7. Frequencies for Enrollment in the UNT and UTA Colleges of Education for the Sample .................................................................................................................................41

8. Test Statistics for the Relationships Between the Universities’ Graduation Rates and the Students’ Status as Native to University or MVC Cohort Member .......................47

9. Crosstabulation for the Two Universities and Their Students’ Graduation Statuses ..........48

10. Crosstabulation for the MVC Cohort Members’ Graduation Rates by Ethnicity ...............50

v

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure Page

1. Pie chart of sample’s gender composition ....................................................................................... 37

2. Pie chart of graduation status with no indicating did not graduate and yes indicating did graduate ..................................................................................................................................... 38

3. Pie chart of ethnicities for the students included in the total sample ............................................... 39

4. Pie chart for transfer versus native to the university status of the sample ....................................... 40

vi

CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

Texas schools districts are becoming increasingly diverse, and yet the teachers,

principals, and other staff remain predominantly Anglo. As the state’s minority public school

enrollment continues to grow, more and more districts, especially those in urban areas, recognize

that all students deserve to see their own ethnicities represented in their education community

(Texas Education Agency [TEA], 2010). In addition, ethnically and culturally diverse teachers

can smooth minority students’ transitions to school by serving as cultural translators who build

upon the communication and behavioral styles of minority students (Darling-Hammond, 2006;

Milner, & Hoy, 2003). However, it is increasingly difficult to attract and maintain quality

minority candidates in many teacher education programs in spite of employment opportunities

being available in struggling PK-12 public schools.

In the 21st century, the stark contrast between the nation’s student diversity and teacher

diversity continues. Recent estimates indicate the percentage of White teachers in public schools

is as high as 83% (U.S. Department of Education, 2010). The percentage of minority teachers is

as low as 17% (NCES, 2009). In Texas, approximately 68% of public school teachers are White

while approximately 65% of the students represent minority races with their numbers increasing

in large urban districts (TEA, 2010). About 15% of students in teacher education programs

represent individuals of color, and if past retention trends hold true, only two-thirds of these

students will become teachers (Darling-Hammond & Berry, 1999). Many efforts currently exist

to entice more minorities into teaching, including forgiveness of loans, mentoring programs,

training in test taking skills, and increased peer and professional contact with minority students

(Bragg, 1998). However, these efforts have had little positive impact for improving the

representation of minority educators (Anglin, Moordian, & Hamilton, 1993).

1

In order for one to become a teacher, a college degree is a necessary first step. However,

colleges of education as a whole are not known for their diversity as evident by the previously

mentioned statistics regarding the teaching population nationwide. The one area of higher

education that is diverse and becoming even more so, is the community college. Community

colleges’ role in teacher preparation is not a new one, as one of the historic original missions of

the majority of the nation’s community colleges involved teacher education in the early 20th

century. A distinctive feature of the early two-year institutions was their accessibility to women,

because these colleges played the leading role in preparing grammar school teachers (Cohen &

Brawer, 2003). Early in the 20th century in such states as Missouri, which did not yet require K-

8 teachers to have a bachelor-level degree, more than 60% of community college students were

women, and virtually all of them were preparing to be teachers (American Association of

Community Colleges [AACC], 2009). Community colleges continue functioning within this

traditional mission today by conferring the associate of arts (AA) degree and providing the

general education needed for earning a bachelor of science (BS) or bachelor of arts (BA) degree.

Due to the unique role for community colleges to serve the needs of their communities,

teacher education programs in community colleges have not only grown but are also considered

crucial to addressing the growing teacher shortage across the nation (Coulter & Vandal, 2007).

In addition to the teacher shortage, a major concern as the public school population increases

involves the lack of diversity among the pool of available teachers (Townsend & Ignash, 2003).

A new form of the AA degree specific to teacher education has recently become available

through community colleges (Cohen & Brawer, 2003). This new form includes resources and

support to facilitate successful transfer to an accredited university based teacher education

program.

2

Presently the nation’s community colleges enroll approximately 11.7 million students

(AACC, 2009). Forty-four percent of all undergraduate students attend community colleges and

comprise a wide array of diverse people with 5.2% being Native American undergraduate

students, 45% being Asian/Pacific Islander undergraduate students, 43% being Black

undergraduate students, and 57% being Hispanic undergraduate students (AACC, 2009). Many

students attending upper division colleges and universities, and specifically teacher education

programs, have transferred from community colleges (Coulter & Vandal, 2007). Given the vast

pool of diverse students, it makes sense for state-level policy makers to focus on community

college programs to successfully funnel minority students into university based teacher education

programs from which they would emerge as fully certified teachers. According to Recruiting

New Teachers, Inc. (RNT, 2002), tapping into this specific pool of potential teachers of color

may not only help relieve this shortage but also may ensure these students are more able to

identify with K-12 students from diverse cultural backgrounds. As a consequence, such teachers

may remain more willing to teach students from their communities for more than a few years

(RNT, 2002). Additionally, RNT pointed out that these teacher education students more

successfully handle common discipline issues as certified teachers working in urban districts.

The relationship between the mission of community colleges and the increasing teacher

shortage has become more transparent as many community colleges have implemented teacher

education programs to address community needs, the shortage of qualified teachers, and the lack

of diversity among teachers (Townsend, 2007). As the community college’s teacher education

role has increased, many community colleges have responded by adding AA degrees and

certificate programs specific to teacher education to tackle the shortage of teachers and the lack

of diversity among teachers in the nation’s classrooms. Mountain View College (MVC) as a part

3

of the seven campuses of the Dallas County Community College District (DCCCD) is one of the

first such community colleges in North Texas involved in offering teacher education.

DCCCD has seven colleges that enroll more than 100,000 credit and noncredit students

every semester, making it one of the largest higher education institutions in the state of Texas

(Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board [THECB], 2004). DCCCD student population,

which mirrors the community population, is diverse at 24.3% Hispanic, 23.9% African-

American, 8.4% Asian, 39.9% Anglo, and 3.4% all other ethnicities combined (THECB, 2004).

DCCCD offers many different teaching-related degrees and certificates. Some degrees and

certificates specifically enable students to transfer to four-year colleges, while others are

designed to prepare students to enter the education workforce with AA degrees (THECB, 2004).

As one of DCCCD’s seven independently accredited campuses, MVC offers the associate

of arts in teaching (AAT) which consists of courses students can transfer to baccalaureate

programs that lead to initial Texas teacher certification (DCCCD, 2007). These THECB

approved courses are offered in the following areas: (1) Elementary and middle school (which

includes bilingual and English as a second language); (2) high school and all levels of arts and

special education certification; and (3) early childhood through Grade 4 (MVC, 2010). Once

students complete these courses along with DCCCD core curriculum courses they are assured

transfer to any Texas public college or university (THECB, 2004). In the fall of 1997, MVC

began the Teacher Training Academy with 25 students. The majority of these students were

female and Hispanic. The purpose of the program was to create a seamless process for students

pursuing careers as educators from elementary school through college, and to help cure the

teacher shortage, particularly in the predominantly minority area of south Dallas which MVC

serves. Initially, the program was a partnership between Dallas Independent School District,

4

Texas Woman’s University (TWU), the University of North Texas (UNT), and Mountain View

College (MVC). Recruitment was done through community events as well as various student

and employee groups. Graduating seniors from two local high schools that MVC served were

also specifically targeted through campus visits, and pizza parties to talk about the pros of a

career in teaching. In the fall of 2005, MVC received a 5 year Title V grant in partnership with

University of Texas at Arlington (UTA) in which to create a nursing program, but a small

amount of the money was to be used to increase teacher candidates into UTA. The goal was to

increase the number of nursing and teacher education students into UTA, but in reality the

grant’s intent was just to increase the number of nursing and teacher candidates overall,

regardless of what university they transferred to, including UNT. The number of minority

nursing and teacher education candidates did increase overall during the 5 year period of the

grant. The grant funds allowed MVC to provide the students with the resources they needed to

be more prepared than if they took regular core and electives. The electives offered were also

specifically focused on teacher preparation for the schools with which MVC has articulation

agreements, but they are also electives that would have them prepared for any university’s

teacher education program. Since the grant’s end in 2010, the responsibilities of the grant have

been transferred to various individuals throughout the teacher education program with the focus

remaining on offering resources and support for students to successfully transfer and graduate

from a university based teacher education program. The purpose of the MVC teacher education

program continues to remain as a vehicle to provide potential teacher candidates with the

academic, professional, and personal resources to become certified, placed teachers (MVC,

2010).

5

Problem Statement

Mountain View College was one of the first community colleges in the North Texas

region to establish a pre-service two year teacher education program (DCCCD, 2007). The

effectiveness of this program in transferring, graduating, and placing successful teacher

education candidates into the education workforce has yet to be determined. The value of this

program in increasing the number of minority teachers employed by Dallas and Fort Worth area

school districts is the impetus for this study. The shortage of minority teachers is increasingly,

becoming more acute nationwide and especially in Texas (TEA, 2010). In the last 20 years,

community colleges’ role in teacher education has become more prominent (Townsend, 2007),

yet few of these programs have been studied for success levels in adding to the number of

employed certified teachers who are minorities. In order to understand the impact these

programs have, an in-depth case study is needed.

Purpose of the Study

The purpose of this case study was to examine the effectiveness of one community

college’s pre-service program in transferring minority students to a university teacher education

program and the likelihood of the students graduating with certification. MVC began a pre-

service teacher education program for the purpose of increasing the number of teachers for the

large urban area it serves (DCCCD, 2007). In this study, a cohort of pre-service teachers who

enrolled in the fall of 2003 at MVC and who were accepted into the teacher education program at

UNT and UTA was examined. This case study was used to evaluate the effectiveness of a

program designed to increase enrollment by minority participants in teacher education programs

and to increase the number of minority public school teachers representing people of color.

6

Research Questions

The following research questions were examined to determine whether a community

college’s pre-service teacher education program has succeeded in increasing the number of

minority certified teachers and whether these candidates have obtained employment as K-12

teachers:

1. What kinds of supports exist at MVC for preparing minority students to successfully

complete a teacher certification degree?

2. If cohort members dropped out of the teacher education program after transferring from

MVC to UNT or UTA, what was the dropout rate?

3. What are the differences in the UNT and UTA graduation rates for the MVC cohort

following their transfer to the universities and the native to university students?

4. Are there differences, by ethnicity, between the graduation rates for the MVC transfer

cohort graduates and the traditional (non-transfer) graduates in the teacher education

programs at UNT and UTA?

Significance of the Study

At present, little research is available regarding the impact of community college based

teacher education programs in preparing minority teachers, although community colleges clearly

represent a major resource in the development of minority teachers (Coulter & Vandal, 2007).

This study’s findings may help community college teacher education programs to increase

enrollments by minority teacher education candidates and to address the needs of surrounding

communities. In addition, this study contributed to the relatively scarce literature regarding

minority teacher preparation in community colleges. Since the focus was on a MVC cohort

mainly composed of minority students (DCCCD, 2007) compared to UNT and UTA”s traditional

7

teacher education candidates who are predominately White (UNT, 2009), understanding the

experiences and long term success of these minority students can aid teacher education

administrators and professors in better designing appropriate curricula and cultures for learning.

Overview of Methodology

This study was a longitudinal, ex post facto causal and comparative mixed methods case

study and involve tracking a mainly minority cohort of students over a 6 year period. Archival

data for students entering MVC in the fall semester of 2003 were used to answer the graduation

rate and transfer rate research questions. Once the data were collected, the researcher compared

minority students’ graduation and transfer rates to traditional students’ graduation and transfer

rates.

Delimitations and Limitations

This study setting was delimited to a cohort of students enrolled at MVC and UNT, and

UTA. Only those cohort students who transferred from MVC to UNT and UTA were included

in this and in the sample, although some cohort members transferred to other institutions. These

students might not be representative of participants in similar teacher education programs. The

results might not be generalized to other programs or regions in the United States.

Definitions of Terms

In order to aid the understanding of terms used throughout the document, the following

list of definitions is provided.

Associate of arts (AA) degree. The AA degree is a two-year degree conferred mainly by

community college.

8

Bachelor of arts or bachelor of science degree. A degree granted for the successful

completion of a baccalaureate program of studies, usually requiring at least four to six years of

college level study.

Certification. The process one must go through to become a teacher, usually consists of

fulfilling all prerequisite coursework, teacher preparation courses, student teaching or internship

and testing requirements (Darling-Hammond, Berry, & Thoreson, 2001).

Community college transfer student. This student has transferred 24 or more credit hours

from a two-year institution of higher learning (public or private) to the university level.

Ethnicity. Categories of race defined by African American/Black, American Indian,

Asian American/Pacific Islander, Hispanic/Latino, and White/Anglo.

Graduation rate. The percentage of students who have completed a prescribed course of

study in a college or university in 6 years or less.

Minority. This term refers to African American/Black students born in the United States

and individuals of African descent. Additionally, it includes Hispanic/Latino students primarily

of Mexican descent and born in the United States or people born in Mexico who immigrated to

the United States.

Mountain View College. Also known as MVC, this college is one of eight separately

accredited colleges which comprise DCCCD.

Traditional student. A student whose initial college enrollment was at a given institution

of higher education, who has not transferred from another institution of higher education since

initial enrollment, and who is younger than 25 years old.

9

Summary

In considering the desperate need for minority teachers, exploring why minority students

choose to enroll and persist in teacher education programs along with the institutional and

educational commitments that accompany their decisions is necessary. Teacher education

programs are no longer the exclusive property of four-year institutions. In view of the massive

nationwide teacher shortage, the community college is profiled as the institution that is highly

capable of educating the teachers of tomorrow (Manzo, 2003). The urgent teacher shortage in

many states has led to those states using community colleges to help prepare larger numbers of

multi-ethnic and multicultural teachers for classrooms. Although many two-year institutions

have been actively involved with teacher training for years, parents, politicians, and citizens in

general have not realized the potential that community colleges have for developing quality

teacher education programs until now. Of the 3 million teachers needed in the next 5 years,

community colleges can provide up to 25% (Manzo, 2003). This study might be used to

consider whether the MVC effort yields increases in the number of minority students transferring

from a community college based pre-service teacher education program to a university based

teacher education program.

10

CHAPTER 2

REVIEW OF LITERATURE

The purpose of this case study was to examine, for a cohort of mainly minority students

attending a community college’s pre-service program, effectiveness in transferring students to

the teacher education program at an area university and the likelihood of the students graduating

from the university with certification and job placement. In this chapter, the literature is

reviewed. The strands addressed are the importance of teacher education, the role of community

colleges in teacher education, and the importance of the recruitment and retention of minorities

in urban school districts.

Many researchers investigating teacher recruitment and retention strategies aimed toward

minorities have found it elusive to successfully impact the recruitment and retention of larger

numbers of minorities to teaching (Achinstein, Ogawa, Sexton & Freitas, 2010; Case, Shive,

Ingebretson, & Spiegel, 1988; Claycomb & Hawley, 2000). However, these researchers have

agreed that even though recruitment and retention are a challenge, policymakers must still

attempt to create and enact strategies positively affecting the recruitment and retention of

minority teachers, particularly in order to impact schools with high need for teachers. This

information helps explain the need for and expanding role of community colleges in teacher

preparation, especially the community college’s role in addressing the need for a diverse

teaching force in urban districts.

Teacher Education

Of wide agreement is the mantra that better teachers are critical for better schools

(Darling-Hammond, 2006), and a well prepared teaching workforce is a prerequisite for quality

education. Many believe that good teachers are just born, undermining the need for effective

11

teacher training. With educational standards continuing to increase, especially in states such as

Texas, the need for greater diversity in the teaching workforce is more critical than ever.

Increased educational standards have led to assessments of teacher education programs in most

areas of postsecondary education (Grossman, 2005); however, the majority of community

college teacher education programs have only been informally assessed during this last decade.

In addition to the increase in standards is the growing need for teachers, especially in high need

subjects and high needs geographic areas, that have resulted in the popularity of alternative

teacher certification routes and in these students bypassing traditional university teacher

education programs, resulting in many wondering if traditional programs have lost credibility as

they have not kept up with addressing the teacher shortage crisis, particularly for urban districts

(National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education, 2003).

Public school enrollment in the United States is expected to continue growing in the

coming years. Between 1998 and 2008, the percentage of public school students who were

White decreased from 68% to 55%, while the percentage of public school students who were

Hispanic doubled from 11% to 22%. Nationwide by 2008, larger percentages of Hispanic,

Black, and American Indian were students attending high poverty schools than were White or

Asian students (U.S. Department of Education, 2010). In contrast nationwide, teacher diversity

only rose slightly by 2008, with 83% White, 7% Black, and 7% Hispanic in secondary schools

and elementary schools having only a 1% difference in increase for each ethnicity (U.S.

Department of Education, 2010). In Texas, the teacher diversity numbers are better but still do

not mirror the state’s current student population. Black students make up 14% of the state’s

public school population with Hispanic students at 47% and White students at 34% (Texas

Education Agency [TEA], 2010). However, the Black teacher population is just 10% with

12

Hispanic teachers at 22% and White teachers at 67% of the state’s full time teaching workforce

(TEA, 2010). In Dallas ISD, the district primarily targeted for service by Mountain View

College’s (MVC) teacher education program targets, 67% of the students are Hispanic, 27%

Black, 5% White, and 1% Asian, whereas the teacher population is 40% Black, 22% Hispanic,

35% White, and 2.3% Asian (TEA, 2010). Additionally, 71% of Dallas ISD teachers are female

(TEA, 2010). Through 2019, public education enrollment is projected to increase by

approximately 52 million students, with the largest growth happening in the South (including

Texas; U. S. Department of Education, 2010). This growing student body will also become

increasingly diverse.

In addition to these statistics, researchers have suggested that the nature of teacher

education matters and that most new teachers entering classrooms feel inadequately prepared,

more so in challenging schools (Darling-Hammond, 2006; Darling-Hammond, Chung, & Frelow,

2002). Schools of education must train effective teachers, and these teachers must be able to

effectively handle social issues and cultural differences. For too long teacher education

programs have interchangeably used the term multiculturalism with diversity to suggest an

interest in increasing diversity. However, the focus has not been on actually increasing the

diversity of the students within pre-service pools. Public school populations have changed

greatly in the past century, yet most teacher education programs are still set up to train pre-

service teachers who are predominantly White, middle class, and female and who will teach an

increasingly diverse group of students.

University Teacher Education Programs

Most university based teacher education programs have a selective admissions processes

that usually consist of requiring standardized test scores and minimum grade point averages.

13

Candidates must be admitted to the university before they can apply for the school’s teacher

education program. Due to recent criticism of many university based teacher education

programs, admissions standards at many have been made more rigorous (Carini & Kuh, 2003;

Greenburg & Walsh, 2010). Some believe that these tougher policies have impacted student

demographics and left out a number of potential teacher candidates who could have been assets

to their programs (Darling-Hammond, 1998; Education Trust, 1999; Gitomer & Latham, 2000).

Another factor further impacting diversity among teacher education students is the

expense of attending a four-year university. For example, tuition rates in Texas have risen 58%

between 2003 and 2007 (Texas Higher Education Board, 2010). The tuition increase does not

include additional university specific fees and other expenses related to attending a university

that have increased. University specific fees which add to the cost of attending a four-year

institution typically result in reducing the diversity of the student body. The current economic

climate, coupled with states’ reactions that include drastic cuts to higher education budgets has

negatively impacted many colleges and university programs originally aimed at ensuring ethnic

and gender diversity (Clark, 2010). Along with enormous cuts to budgets leading to staggering

increases in tuition and fee rates, the availability of scholarships and grants upon which most

minority students depend if they are to attend college also continues falling, and this lack of

availability of funding further depletes diversity levels in higher education (Clark, 2010). The

result leads to a predominately White, middle class, and female pool of teacher candidates. One

concern about the predominantly White, female demographic profile of teacher candidates is the

likelihood that male and minority students will receive discouraging messages about equal

access, knowledge, and achievement with regard to teaching. In a democratic society, the profile

of teachers should mirror the profile of the student population for reasons including proper

14

availability of role models sharing the characteristics and cultures of their students alone

(Zumwalt & Craig, 2005).

The Teacher Shortage

Nationally and regionally, most teacher shortages in K-12 schools occur in secondary

mathematics, the sciences, and special education (Fuller, 2008; RNT, 2002). In Texas, teacher

shortages also occur in bilingual education, English as a second language, and educational

technology (TEA, 2009). While shortages occur in most K-12 public schools, these shortages

are exaggerated in rural and urban schools due to inherent difficulty of recruiting and retaining

qualified teachers. Additionally, for many people, teaching is no longer an attractive profession.

To some, teaching is not a profession but a vocation with a rigid, bureaucratic hierarchy. Worse,

education is seen as not treating teachers as professionals. Unlike other professionals, teachers

often have little say about the decisions made in schools or how decisions will be implemented

(e.g., No Child Left Behind, 2001). The shortage has been compounded by the gap between

teachers’ ethnicities and socioeconomic statuses and the ethnicities and socioeconomic statuses

of the students they teach (Villegas & Lucas, 2004). Educators need to reflect the cultural

diversity of the global society in which student graduates will be expected to live and work.

Current university based teacher education programs lack diversity in their pre-service teacher

cohorts, and as a result, limited numbers of minority teachers have entered the teaching

profession. Teacher education programs need to focus on how to increase the percentage of

teachers from underrepresented groups in order to meet the educational needs of the 21st century

United States.

15

Addressing the Minority Teacher Shortage

National Center for Education Statistics (NCES, 2009) noted that few minority students

major in education and the number of minority college graduates who pursue education degrees

has actually decreased from 1997 to 2008. According to Gloria Ladson-Billings in her keynote

address before the Holmes Partnership Group in October 2007, current university teacher

education programs are “archaic” and “barely breathing” when it comes to recruiting and

graduating minority teacher candidates. Also, quality teachers can dramatically improve the

achievement of poor and minority students and substantially narrow the achievement gap

(Darling-Hammond & Dilworth, 1997; Haberman, 2005; King, 1993). Racially and culturally

diverse teachers can help smooth the transition from home to school for minority students by

serving as cultural translators who build upon the communication and behavioral styles of

minority students (King, 1993; Quiocho & Rios, 2000). Efforts must be made to ensure minority

students receive quality high school educations to result in their access to and successfully

maneuvering through college. With these efforts, these college graduates become candidates for

teacher recruitment. Without these efforts, recruiting qualified and diverse groups of teachers

continues to be a cyclical problem. Other, less discussed reasons for minorities not pursuing

teaching as a career bear discussion.

First, deeply embedded in the education system and occurring long before students begin

thinking about college is students’ lack of academic preparation. African Americans and

Hispanics (many of whom come from poor families) are less likely to be placed in gifted and

talented programs in elementary school or in advanced placement programs in high school (Ford,

1994). Although students from minority groups may be quite capable of succeeding in these

programs, K-12 school personnel do not encourage them to participate in programs that could

improve their academic skills. Just as African American and Hispanic students are

16

overrepresented in vocational and special education programs, they are underrepresented in

advanced placement and college prep programs (Irvine, 2003). K-12 students’ poor or negative

experiences (e.g., poor student-teacher relationships, inadequate career guidance, and academic

counseling) may also discourage minority students from pursuing teaching as their career. Thus,

minority students and students from economically disadvantaged backgrounds do not acquire the

academic background, skills, and knowledge prerequisite to succeeding in college (Ford, 1994;

Haycock, 2000) which further prevents them from entering the teaching profession. For those

who do graduate college, the better array of other occupations with higher salaries offers more

enticements than the teaching profession.

Teacher education programs’ entrance exams along with certification exams further close

the education career door on many minorities, since they tend to score lower on standardized

exams than do their non-minority counterparts (Berends, Kirby, & Naftel, 1999). Education

gatekeepers rely heavily on these exams for screening, evaluation, and hiring decisions. Since

minority students tend not to perform well on these standardized exams, they are screened out of

teaching and the power to pursue a teaching career. One of the issues facing higher education is

how to create and sustain a pool of candidates, especially from minority groups, who can meet

the new, more rigorous academic requirements for teacher preparation and licensure. It is

possible to increase the quantity of teachers, enhance teacher diversity, and maintain more

rigorous standards of teacher quality (Haycock, 2001).

Second, once teacher education programs in higher education attain good candidates, the

programs need to ensure adequate training. The assertion that subject matter knowledge alone is

sufficient to be a successful teacher of subject matter to diverse students is not realistic.

Majoring in a subject or finally passing a subject matter exam, even if the bar is set high, is no

17

guarantee that teachers understand the central concepts in their disciplines and have the

pedagogical knowledge needed to transform content to promote understanding to diverse

students (Gay, Dingus, & Jackson, 2003).

Further, schools of education and schools of arts and sciences must work together to

strengthen the content knowledge base of the specialty area of teacher education candidates.

Most schools of arts and sciences to do not recognize the importance of their role in teacher

education and do not include it as a part of their mission. Universities that have recognized the

importance of faculty being educational specialists and possessing relevant classroom teaching

experience along with their discipline degree have a much higher graduation and job placement

rate of education graduates (Floyd & Arnault, 2007), Early intervention and continuous

preparation is very important for minority students. A diverse and well educated workforce is of

great importance for the health of public schools in this nation (Darling-Hammond, 2003).

Efforts have been made to entice more minorities into teaching, including forgiveness loans,

mentoring programs, training in test taking skills, and increased peer and professional contact

with minority students; however, these efforts alone have had little positive impact in improving

the representation of minority educators (Achinstein et al., 2010).

The Role of the Community College in Teacher Education

Teacher education has always been a fundamental part of community colleges. During

community colleges’ early history, its main role was that of teacher training, especially in the

preparation of early grade teachers throughout most of the nation. With the minimum

requirement of a teaching credential needed most of these teachers only need to attend a

community college to obtain the necessary 12 to 15 hours to teach K-8 (Cohen & Brawer, 2003;

Floyd & Arnauld, 2007). After the Great Depression, this role of teacher training greatly

18

diminished being replaced by “normal” schools, which have grown into many of today’s colleges

and universities. These were replaced by hundreds of community colleges who now serve an

arresting number of students in their local communities.

Today, the changing profile of American society has produced an economically diverse

and multiethnic population with wide discrepancies in educational attainment, and this

population of students is typically underprepared for college work. As has been noted, a

majority of minorities entering college choose to enroll at community colleges, because more

than one-half of these students are first generation students often from working-class families

and minority backgrounds (Battle & Cuellar, 2006; Gederman, 2001; National Association of

Community College Teacher Education Programs [NACCTEP], 2008). Many, therefore, enter

community colleges in need of remedial programs and special services. Due to community

colleges’ open admissions policies, services are in place to help these students succeed and to

broaden the pool of prospective teachers as a consequence (Walker, Downey, & Kuehl, 2008).

Many students enter community college with unclear educational goals, but effective career

counseling and advising at the community college can influence students to consider teaching as

a career option. Successful community college pre-service programs can address teacher

shortages and can be used to recruit future teachers with backgrounds similar to the students

whom they could eventually teach. According to the NACCTEP (2008), 91% of community

colleges nationally offered teacher education courses in 2007, and as of 2008, 47% of

community colleges offered some type of teacher education programs. These programs range

from offering teacher education courses to bachelor’s degrees in teacher education.

Many community colleges have recently expanded their missions by adding unique AA

programs in education for students intending to transfer to four-year institutions. The associate

19

of arts in teaching (AAT) degree specifies the course content that includes the first 60 hours of

teacher education. Although most states generally have prohibited community colleges from

granting baccalaureate degrees, some community colleges have begun offering a baccalaureate

degree in teacher education. In 2001, the state of Florida was the first to approve a baccalaureate

teacher education program at St. Petersburg College and has since expanded such programs to

Miami Dade Community College (Coulter & Vandal, 2007). In addition to Florida, Nevada,

Utah, and Arkansas also allow community colleges to offer baccalaureate teacher education

degrees. Texas and California have considered whether or not to offer teacher education

baccalaureate degrees at the community college level (Coulter & Vandal, 2007). In addition to

baccalaureate degree programs, community colleges have expanded teacher certification

programs. This has led to tension between community colleges and the baccalaureate

institutions, baccalaureate institutions that were not adequately addressing the teacher shortage

issue but are now seeking the community college’s assistance in developing their own programs

(Floyd & Arnault, 2007).

In Texas, community colleges like Houston Community College, offer those who already

possess a bachelor’s degree to obtain teacher certification at the community college level. A

plethora of community colleges throughout the nation offer alternative teacher certification

programs that allow students holding baccalaureate and/or more advanced degrees to enter the

teaching profession without having to return to college and major in education (Center for

Community College Policy, 2003). These changes provide flexibility to students having

difficulty in the workforce due to layoffs or job insecurity and desiring to change careers by

entering the field of teaching.

20

Like four-year colleges and universities, community colleges must gain accreditation to

offer course credit and award degrees. For community college teacher education programs, this

means seeking accreditation from the national accrediting association: the Council for the

Accreditation of Educator Preparation (CAEP). Obtaining this accreditation legitimizes

academic programs for teacher education while increasing programs’ quality and prestige (Imig

& Harrill-McClellan, 2003). In response to the national teacher shortage, especially in the area

of diversity, community colleges have increased their involvement in teacher education.

Community college pre-service teacher education programs will continue to be of interest

nationally as more community colleges add or expand programs in the area of teacher education.

Diverse Student Population

Community colleges remain the primary vehicle for minority students to access higher

education. According to the NCES (2009), almost 20% of the nation’s community colleges

report minority enrollments of over 50% compared to 15% in public universities. Community

college student demographics vary greatly by age, academic readiness, ethnicity, gender, and

socioeconomic status. About 50% of college students begin their academic studies at a

community college (AACC, 2009). Most of these students are dependent students from

households earning less than $32,000 annually, and those who are dependent, usually earn less

than $25,000 per year (Horn & Nevill, 2006).

In most community colleges, Black and Hispanic students make up larger percentages of

the college population than in four-year public universities. In community colleges, Blacks

comprise 15% and Hispanics comprise 14% of the student population, while comprising 10%

and 9%, respectively, at four-year public universities. Also, compared with students attending

traditional four-year universities, a larger percentage of community college students are older,

21

female, and of lower socioeconomic status while their White counterparts are younger and from

higher levels of socioeconomic status (Horn & Nevill, 2006).

Most minority community college students enter college with the expectation that they

will matriculate to a four-year college or university. If community colleges, along with

university partners, would develop programs targeting minority high school students, especially

those who are first generation, to acclimate them to campus life, these programs could potentially

impact the minority teacher pools (Curry, 1998; Gaskin, Helfgot, Parsons, & Solley, 2003). The

acclimation of students to campus life could include attending activities such as athletic events,

seminars, special programs, summer institutes, and workshops to strengthen core academic

knowledge, testing skills, and study habits. Participating in campus-based activities before

enrollment helps students understand what college life is like, enables them to adapt more

effectively, and possibly, increases their recruitment, retention, graduation, and placement rates.

Further, educators have concluded that teacher preparation is consistent with the community-

based and student-centered missions of community colleges (Bragg, 1998).

Community colleges are now attempting to meet the challenge of providing new teachers

to their communities through a variety of programs. Many of these programs involve

collaborating with other institutions to recruit potential teachers. Some community colleges are

offering those with bachelor’s degrees the opportunity to obtain teacher certification at the

community college level, and a few community colleges now offer four-year teaching degrees

(Coulter & Vandal, 2007). In addition to these programs, many higher education institutions

have established “2+2” articulation agreements between community colleges and local

universities for teacher education programs. These 2+2 programs allow students to finish the

first 2 years of a teacher education program at the community college, and then go on to obtain

22

their last 2 years of courses, bachelor’s degrees, and teacher certification at four-year institutions.

Since community college students who might be interested in teaching often do not self identify,

2+2 programs enable community college faculty to recruit potentially interested students into

teaching (Anglin et al., 1993; Coulter & Crowe, 2003). Community college students of color

generally have to overcome many obstacles in order to achieve higher education and possess the

unique ability to understand the needs of minority and low-income K-12 students who heavily

populate urban schools. By tapping into this diverse recruitment pool, community colleges can

strengthen the pathway to teacher education programs. Thus, community college programs and

faculty can actively increase in the number of minority teachers available to urban schools.

Recruiting and Retaining Minorities for Urban School Districts

Today, more students from minority groups attend college. However, fewer students,

including minorities, pursue teaching as a career (King, 1993). Essentially, minority teachers

often enter teaching for socio-psychological benefits and intrinsic reasons, but these students are

difficult to recruit and retain. Most barriers relate to their recruitment. First, other disciplines

aggressively recruit minority students. Law, business, and other disciplines offer more prestige

and financial incentives to them than the field of education. Further, the number of minorities

who aspire to teach continues declining. This decline mirrors the decline in the general

enrollment of students in schools, colleges, and departments of education (U.S. Department of

Education, 2010).

The other major barrier is retention, as reflected by low graduation rates for minorities

from higher education. Few college students of color persist in teacher education programs.

Specifically, once admitted to teacher education programs, minorities find little emphasis on

multicultural education, have few role models, and receive little preparation to deal effectively

23

with urban issues and realities (Banks, 1994). Feeling underprepared to work with urban school

realities, minority students’ interest and persistence in teaching decrease. Combined with

feelings of alienation, minorities feel pushed away from the higher education community and

away from the benefits of graduation. A lot of these students find alternative college majors and

career choices. The major challenge facing today’s teacher education programs is how to come

up with innovative and realistic solutions to recruit and retain minorities (Education Alliance,

2004). The National Collaborative on Diversity in the Teaching Force (2004) argued the critical

importance of the multiracial teaching staff in school operations. The National Collaborative on

Diversity in the Teaching Force condemned the current trend toward smaller numbers of ethnic

minority educators in classrooms. Finally, the National Collaborative on Diversity in the

Teaching Force urged local school board, state legislatures, and other appropriate governing

bodies and agencies to collaborate on increasing the number of ethnic-minority teachers in

classrooms and in school administration to percentages at least equal to, but not limited to,

minorities’ proportions of the general population.

Although many researchers have looked at recruitment and retention strategies aimed

toward minorities, these researchers have not been able to generate new strategies for

successfully recruiting and retaining more minorities into teaching (Case et al., 1988; Claycomb

& Hawley, 2000; Achinstein et al., 2010). However, even though recruitment and retention are a

challenge, policymakers still must attempt to create and enact strategies to increase the

recruitment and retention of minority teachers, particularly in order to impact high needs schools

(Case et al., 1988; Claycomb & Hawley, 2000; Achinstein et al., 2010). Additionally, once

minority students enter classrooms as certified teachers, they leave classroom teaching at a much

higher rate than White teachers. Therefore, employment retention is just as crucial as

24

employment recruitment (Borman & Dowling, 2008; Ingersoll & Conner, 2009; Education

Alliance, 2004). One factor is once minority teachers obtain their credentials, they face

discriminatory employment practices and school climates not culturally conducive to their

success. Minority teachers do not feel comfortable discussing issues of racism and believe other

professionals in their schools do not recognize their leadership abilities, as noted by their lack of

promotion opportunities (Quiocho & Rios, 2000).

Addressing these recruitment and retention factors requires university departments of

education, school districts, and policymakers at all levels of government to cooperate. Clear

evidence suggests that certain fundamental approaches enacted at community colleges can

impact the diversity of the teacher pool, especially in regard to recruiting teachers for urban

classrooms (Education Alliance, 2004; Gederman, 2001; RNT, 2002). Programs such as The

Education Associate Program at Bronx College, New York, The Partnership for Excellence in

Teacher Education Program at El Paso Community College, Texas, and The School of Education

at Miami-Dade College, Florida, model how to identify policies and strategies and address the

minority teacher shortage for improving urban schools (RNT, 2002). Many states have

implemented incentive programs to focus solely on minority recruitment such as:

• Creating programs that work with high school students to encourage participation in

teacher education, including summer workshops, counseling, and promise of

financial aid once admitted into a pre-service program

• Establishing grants, loans, and scholarship programs for minorities interested in

teaching

• Creating programs for para-educators to obtain teacher certification

25

• Creating fellowships for students once they are admitted to teacher education

programs

• Economic and social support, including admission testing and certification testing

skills along with ongoing academic tutoring and counseling

• Strong mentoring program (National Collaborative on Diversity in the Teaching

Force, 2004)

Greater resources are needed to target minority recruitment and preparation and to ensure

the teaching force is fully competent, qualified, and culturally diverse. Recruiting and retaining

minority teachers is a challenge that teacher education programs at all levels must overcome.

The problem is especially magnified for the urban schools needing minority teachers the most.

Increasing Ethnic Diversity in Teaching

As student populations become more diverse, the teacher population is becoming less

diverse. To reverse the serious decline in the numbers of teachers of color, educational leaders

must understand the complex roots of the diversity problem and enact bold solutions. The

simple step of assuring that poor and minority children have highly qualified teachers may

significantly relieve about half of the achievement gap (Ferguson, 1998). A shared background

may additionally help teachers demonstrate and communicate the importance of learning to

students who otherwise might see little purpose in attending school. Of course, non-minority

teachers can achieve great success in teaching minority students, but they must often overcome a

certain cultural distance to do so (Irvine, 2003). In absence of this cultural gap, some minority

teachers may have an advantage for discovering the most effective ways to teach students

experiencing difficulty in school.

26

Teachers need to understand and deal with cultural diversity in K-12 schools. While role

models enhance children’s impressions of what they can become, an even more important goal is

securing a racially and ethnically balanced teaching population. Teachers of color bring with

them an inherent understanding of the backgrounds, attitudes, and experiences of students from

similar backgrounds and therefore can help inform White teachers as to effective ways and

means to communicate with students of color (Dilworth, 1990). A tremendous value in diversity

exists in a democracy, and “diversity is not just an issue of color but a concept that encourages

diversity of thought—the exchange of different ideas and ways to approach problems” (Michael-

Bandele, 1993). A visit to any school, urban or not, highlights the significant disparities between

the numbers of teachers of color and of students of color. The typical response of teacher

education programs to the growing diversity of K-12 students has been to offer one or two

courses on multiculturalism, bilingual/ESL curriculum, or urban education.

Essentially, the need to diversify the teaching profession is based on more than the

perception that minority teachers work effectively with minority students. Rather, another

important rationale is that minority students need minority teachers to be their role models,

advocates, and cultural translators (King, 1993; Villegas & Irvine, 2009). The benefits relate to

increased achievement, enhanced self-perceptions, and higher aspirations among minority

students. Also, minority teachers most certainly positively influence the development of White

students.

In addition, little attention has been paid to reforming teacher education programs

regarding issues of diversity and equity, especially in terms of planning teacher recruitment

programs. Demographic data on the current and future teaching force does not mirror the

27

changes taking place in the student population. The reality is that minority teachers play a

significant role in the lives of minority students. Students need minorities teaching them.

Summary

The number of literature reviews confirms the role that community colleges can play in

increasing minority teachers and helping overall with reducing the teacher shortage. Urban

public education is the best hope for many families and children of color, whose communities

and dreams are already substantially jeopardized, but who are remarkably resilient. Today, too

few teachers of color teach, too few qualified minority teachers are available for hire, and too

many minority teachers leave the profession too soon. Teacher education programs should help

minority students prepare and study for critical exit and certification exam, but mainly White

students emerge from college with teacher certification. Clearly, much more empirically-based

research must be completed to address the impact of practices designed facilitate the entry of

teachers of color into the teaching profession. Chapter 3 defines the research methods and

materials used for completing this case study.

28

CHAPTER 3

METHODOLOGY



program and the likelihood of the students graduating with certification. In this chapter, the

research questions, an explanation of the case study method, instrumentation, participants,

procedures, and data analysis are presented.

Research Questions

The following research questions were examined to determine whether a community

college’s (i.e. Mountain View College’s [MVC]) pre-service teacher education program has been

successful in increasing the number of minority teachers graduating from a four-year university

(i.e., the University of North Texas [UNT], the University of Texas at Arlington [UTA]):




MVC to UNT or UTA, what was the dropout rate?




cohort graduates and the traditional (non transfer) graduates in the teacher education


29

Case Study Method

A good case study brings a phenomenon to life for its readers and helps them to

understand its meaning (Gall, Gall, & Borg, 2006). If researchers want to discover, understand,

and gain insight, they must purposefully select a sample from which the most value can be

learned (Patton, 1987). For this study’s purpose, it made sense to follow a cohort of students

through their pre-service program and transfer experience to shed light on the program’s value

and effectiveness. Thus, the case study was the most appropriate method for this investigation.

According to Yin (2008), the case study is used “to explain the causal links in real-life

interventions that are too complex for the experimental strategies” (p. 25). The pre-service

teacher education program at MVC was one such intervention used for a “real-life” situation. In

addition, semi structured interviews were conducted with the original teacher education

program’s director, the current program director, as well as the Executive Dean of

Communications and Teacher Education at MVC. Questions were posed to the participants in an

effort to explain the community college’s decision to take on teacher education and how they

targeted students to enroll and persist in a specially designed teacher education program and to

transfer to a four-year program.

According to Stake (1995), the main purpose of a case study is particularization, not

generalization. Therefore, the researcher becomes intricately knowledgeable about the case and

knows all about it very well (Stake, 1994). To know a case very well, every investigation should

have a general analytic strategy and rely on the theoretical propositions that led to the case study

(Yin, 2008). Yin (2008) and Stake (1995) designed protocols for conducting the case study. The

researcher used these protocols to enhance the reliability and validity of the data. Another

strategy to ensure the researcher knows the case well involves utilizing multiple sources of data

and ensuring triangulation of the evidence. Triangulation increases the reliability and

30

organization of the data. In the context of data collection, triangulation enables corroboration and

reliability because the data gathered from several sources are compared to similarities and build

upon emerging themes.

The longitudinal case study method was used to describe the minority students of a specially

designed pre-service teacher education program and to what extent the program was successful.

The case study was used to identify a sample of a cohort of students who were tracked over a

period of time by their community college. The case study method allowed the researcher to

focus on the intensive study of specific students, to employ qualitative data collection, and to

evaluate program success through quantitative data collection. The case study method was

chosen because it represents the best method for generating understanding of the transfer process

from the case of MVC to its partners UNT and UTA.

Instrumentation

Instruments included the following: student records, and institutional artifacts. Student

records for the MVC Fall 2003 cohort and for those who became UNT and UTA students

included contact information, demographic data (gender and race), transfer data, and graduation

data. Institutional artifacts included college and university undergraduate catalogs, program

requirements and procedures, and institutional support mechanisms.

Participants

The target population consisted of all MVC pre-service teacher education cohort

members enrolled Fall 2003 through Fall 2010, the 2003-2005 UNT teacher education cohorts,

and the Fall 2003 through 2005 UTA teacher education cohorts. The MVC cohort members who

successfully transferred to UNT and UTA were compared to the traditional UNT and UTA pre-

service teacher education cohort. The participants’ races were important to the study. Minority

31

race membership was studied specifically, because students from the MVC Fall 2003 cohort

predominantly represented Hispanic and Black minority races.

Procedures

Following the successful proposal of the study, approval for conducting the study was

obtained from the UNT Institutional Review Board (Appendix A) with prior permission from

DCCCD’s Chancellor’s Cabinet. This study utilized an ex post facto causal-comparative and

mixed methods study. First, the data for participants representing the Fall 2003 cohort were

identified by computer generated searches and obtained from the respective offices of

institutional research at MVC, UNT and UTA. Students’ transfer, drop out and graduation rates,

from MVC, UNT, and UTA were collected.

Data were obtained regarding MVC cohort members who successfully transferred to or

graduated from UNT or UTA’s College of Education through communications with UNT and

UTA’s Offices of Institutional Research and alumni organizations. Upon receipt of the names

and contact information of the MVC Fall 2003 cohort members who transferred to UNT’s and

UTA’s teacher education program and graduated, the survey/questionnaire was sent to the MVC

cohort transfer students by United States Postal Service mail and by email. Participants were

asked for their permission to be included in the study, provided the consent form (Appendix B),

and asked about their current teaching employment status and location as well as their

perceptions of their experiences as MVC, UNT and UTA teacher education candidates. Follow

up contact was made up to three times by email for those who had not yet responded by email

(Gall et al., 2006). Due to extremely low return rates the survey component of the research was

withdrawn from this study. Artifacts and documents consisted of applicable community college

and university catalogs and webpages, MVC pre-service teacher education program information,

32

UNT’s and UTA’s College of Education admissions and degree requirements, and MVC

marketing materials. The researcher used all of the available data to code and organize the

categories and themes for the data analysis.

Data Analysis

Limiting the study to a specific transfer cohort from MVC during a 6-year period

provided a finite number of students cases for elaborating on the case studied. The first research

question was analyzed qualitatively using artifacts collected from MVC and utilizing

unstructured interviews with the appropriate personnel at MVC. The second research question

was analyzed by using categorical data provided by MVC, UNT, and UTA, and described

frequencies to calculate the dropout rate. The third and fourth research questions were answered

by comparing the transfer and graduation rates for MVC cohort students and traditional (non

transfer) UNT and UTA teacher education students. The third and fourth research questions

used categorical data provided by MVC, UNT, and UTA and utilized χ2 and phi coefficients

because of the data being categorical. The statistical software SPSS was used to analyze data

and answer the three quantitative research questions.

33

CHAPTER 4

PRESENTATION OF THE DATA



program and the likelihood of the students graduating with certification. Mountain View College

(MVC) began a pre-service teacher education program in order to increase the number of

teachers available within the large urban area it serves (DCCCD, 2007). In this study, a cohort

of pre-service teachers who enrolled in the fall of 2003 at MVC and who were accepted into the

teacher education programs at the University of North Texas (UNT) and the University of Texas

at Arlington (UTA) was examined. The following research questions guided this study:




MVC to UNT and UTA, what was the dropout rate?

3. What is the difference between the MVC cohort members transfer from MVC to UNT

and UTA rates versus their graduation rates from UNT and UTA (following their transfer

to the universities)? (calculate completion rate)




While the information presented is specific to MVC and the universities at which the MVC

students enrolled, the outcome information might be useful to other institutions with teacher

education programs. The information also might be useful for those analyzing current practices

and further developing strategies to facilitate policy awareness.

34

Summary of Data Collection

Instruments used for this study included students’ records and institutional artifacts.

Student records for the MVC fall of 2003 through the spring of 2010 cohort and for those who

became UNT and UTA students during this time period included contact information,

demographic data (gender and race), transfer data, and graduation data. Institutional artifacts

included college and university undergraduate catalogs, program requirements and procedures,

and institutional support mechanisms. Student gender, ethnicity, and graduation status data were

obtained from MVC’s, UNT’s, and UTA’s respective institutional research offices. Because the

study was limited to MVC cohort members who transferred to UNT or UTA, any cohort

members who transferred to other universities were omitted from the final analysis.

Quantitative Results

The data were summarized using frequency distributions as seen in Table 1 through

Table 4. Next, the demographic data were summarized to compare the MVC transfer students

and the universities’ non-transfer students. These pie charts are provided in Figures 3 and 4. As

illustrated in Table 1, of the 123 MVC students who transferred to UNT and UTA, 34.1% were

White, 43.9% were Latino/Hispanic, 0.8% were American Indian, 16.3% were Black/African

American, 0.8% were Asian/Pacific Islander, 1.6% did not report an ethnicity, and 2.4% reported

ethnicity as Other. As seen in Table 2, the proportion of females (85.4%) in this sample was

similar to the national average of females to males in colleges of education.

35

Table 1

Frequencies for Students’ Ethnicities for MVC Only

Ethnicity n % Cumulative %

White 42 34.1 34.1

Latino/Hispanic 54 43.9 78.0

American Indian 1 .8 78.9

Black / African American 20 16.3 95.1

Asian / Pacific Islander 1 .8 95.9

Other 3 2.4 98.4

Not Reported 2 1.6 100.0

Total 123 100.0

Table 2

Frequencies for Students’ Genders for MVC Only

Gender N % Cumulative %

Female 105 85.4 85.4

Male 18 14.6 100.0

Total 123 100.0

The sample was composed of 2003 through 2010 native and non-native transfer students

at UNT’s and UTA’s colleges of education. With regard to gender, as shown in Table 3 and

Figure 1, the majority of students were female at 77.6% with less than a third, 22.4% being male,

which is represented of the overall teacher education composition nationwide.

36

Table 3

Gender Frequencies for the Total Sample

Gender n % Cumulative %

Female 3,786 77.6 77.6

Male 1,096 22.4 100.0

Total 4,882 100.0

Figure 1. Pie chart of sample’s gender composition.

Table 4 and Figure 2 display graduation data. The sample had a 61.4% graduation rate

from UNT’s and UTA’s colleges of education. This rate was observably higher than the Texas

graduation rate of 48.5% and the national graduation rate of 55.5% (NCES, 2009).

37

Table 4

Graduation Status for Total Sample

Status N % Cumulative % Did Not Graduate 1,886 38.6 38.6

Did Graduate 2,995 61.3 61.4

Total 4,881 100.0 100.0

Figure 2. Pie chart of graduation status with no indicating did not graduate and yes indicating did graduate.

With regard to the total sample’s ethnicity, as noted in Table 5 and Figure 3, 63.6% were

White, 19.3% were Latino/Hispanic, 8.6% were Black/African American, 0.8% were American

Indian, 4.1% were Asian/ Pacific Islander, and 3.6% were Other. Given that overall campus

ethnicities at UNT and UTA are White and overall teacher education students are predominantly

38

White, the ethnic distribution in the respective teacher education sample student population was

expected.

Table 5

Ethnicities of Students Included in Total Sample

Ethnicity n % Cumulative % White 3,105 63.6 63.6

Latino/Hispanic 940 19.3 19.3

American Indian 37 .8 .8 Black / African American 420 8.6 8.6

Asian / Pacific Islander 200 4.1 4.1

Other 176 3.6 3.6

Not Reported 3 .1 .1

Total 4,881 100.0 100.0

Figure 3. Pie chart of ethnicities for the students included in the total sample.

39

MVC reported 191 teacher preparation graduates earning the associate of arts in teaching

from 2004 through 2010. Out of the 191 graduates, 123 (64.4%) transferred to UNT or UTA.

Table 6 provides the transfer frequencies. Figure 4 illustrates these percentages as a pie chart.

As noted in Table 7, the majority of the sample attended UNT at 96.3%.

Table 6

Frequencies for MVC Transfers at the Universities Versus Students who were Native to University

Student Transfer Status n % Cumulative %

Native to University 4,758 97.5 97.5

Transferred from MVC/DCCCD 123 2.5 100.0

Sub Total 4,881 100.0

Missing Data 1 .0

Total 4,882 100.0

Figure 4. Pie chart for transfer versus native to the university status of the sample.

40

Table 7

Frequencies for Enrollment in the UNT and UTA Colleges of Education for the Sample

University N % Cumulative % UNT 4,701 96.3 96.3

UTA 180 3.7 3.7

Total 4,881 100.0 100.0 Missing Data 1 .0 Total 4,882 100.0

Qualitative Results

Archival data were obtained from MVC that included the college’s catalogs, teacher

preparation associate degree program requirements and procedures, and institutional support

mechanisms. In addition, semistructured interviews were conducted with the original teacher

education program’s director, the current program director, as well as the Executive Dean of

Communications and Teacher Education at MVC. The three participants were presented in

advance with a request for a 60-90 minute interview. At the same time, the eight planned

questions were provided. Out of the three participants, two were interviewed in person. The

third participant chose to respond to the questions via reply to the request for participant email.

Eight questions were used for the interviews, and the three respondents provided very similar, if

not the same, responses to each of them. The data collected through the interviews are provided

below.

When the Program Begin and with How Many Students

All three respondents answered that the Teacher Training Academy began in the fall of

1997 with 25 students.

41

Gender and Ethnicity for this Pioneering Group of Students

Two of the respondents stated that they believed the group was majority female (if not all

female) and majority Hispanic. They also said that there might have been a few Anglo and/ or

African American students in the first group, but the majority of the students were Hispanic. The

third respondent was not involved in the program at its inception.

The Specific Purpose of the Program

Two of the three respondents stated that the purpose of the initial program was to help

cure the teacher shortage issue, particularly in Oak Cliff (located in south Dallas) with its

demographic majority of Hispanic and African American/Black students. The goal was to create

a seamless certification process for students pursuing careers as educators from elementary

school through college. The third respondent was not involved in the program at its inception.

How the Program was Advertised or How the Students were Chosen

Two of the three respondents stated that the program was a partnership between the

Dallas Independent School District, Texas Woman's University, UNT, and MVC. Staff at all

four entities announced the program and its offerings at community events and to various student

and employee groups. Additionally, graduating high school seniors at MVC’s feeder schools of

Adamson and Sunset High Schools were invited to the campus for a pizza party at which staff

from all the partnering institutions talked about the pros of a career in teaching. Again, the third

respondent was not involved in the program’s inception.

How the Program has Changed Since Its Implementation and Where It is Now

Two of the three respondents stated that the program began with a 5-year Title 5 Grant,

shared between MVC and UTA. Respondent 2 stated that it was initially meant to create a

nursing program, but that a small amount of the money was included to increase the number of

42

teacher candidates transferring into UTA. Respondent 1 stated these initial funds were used to

build a model classroom and two rooms to serve as an additional lab and classroom and to bring

on other faculty members to help design the program. All three respondents stated that by the

third year, the program was standing on its own. Two of the three stated that at this point the

goal was to increase the numbers of students transferring into UTA but in reality they just

wanted to increase the numbers of enrolled students, period, so the students could choose to what

university (e.g., UTA, UNT, or TWU) they wanted to transfer.

The respondents stated that overall the numbers of students going to UTA had increased

for both the College of Nursing and the College of Education by the third year. Two respondents

noted that by the third year, the grant was utilized to fund a recruiter, or as Respondent 1 stated a

“school alliance coordinator,” to service all of the high schools that MVC served. These students

were advised that on completion of the teacher education program, they could transfer to any

four-year university, not just UTA. All three respondents noted that the majority of the students

transferred to UTA or UNT, and Respondent 2 added that a very small percentage did transfer to

Dallas Baptist University.

Hurdles Overcome

All three respondents stated that the granted ended in October 2010 which resulted in the

teacher education program’s faculty and staff now having to be moved to different positions. All

three respondents were concerned with the current economic situation and how it would impact

current and future cohort members. Respondent 2 specifically noted the negative impact of

budget cuts on the cohorts’ outlook on the teaching profession as a secure career. All three

respondents said that special funding and grants are now not available to the cohort members

until they transfer to a four-year institution. They all stated that by January 2011, MVC

43

employed only one full-time faculty member and one advisor for the program; however, the

program was now strong enough to be financially on its own. The respondents also pointed out

that all of the academic deans have been very supportive of the program to ensure its continued

success.

The Structure of the Program and Specific Supports in Place for Successful Student Transfers

All three respondents agreed that the goal/mission of the program was to provide students

with the resources they needed to earn for the associate level and four-year degrees. Respondent

2 stated that the students had resources available to them that other students did not have (e.g.,

innovative research labs, calculators, see and solves for those desiring to become elementary

teachers, and Lego boards). All responded that the intent was to have the students become more

prepared than if they just took regular core and elective classes. All three respondents agreed

that the teacher education program’s electives specifically focused on the schools with which

MVC has articulation agreements. However, Respondents 2 and 3 stressed that these electives

are teacher preparation classes that will ensure their students are adequately prepared for any

university based teacher education program, regardless of where the students decide to transfer.

All three respondents noted that there is a faculty sponsored club that is performs

community service projects as a part of the program’s mission, the mission to expose cohort

members to service within their current communities since these are the areas where the students

are from and might teach within someday. The respondents thought of this service as helping to

ensure that as teachers the current students will understand that they must care about their

students. The three also pointed out that the program operates parent workshops for the Spanish

speaking community as well as other programs of interest to the surrounding area. Respondent 1

44

pointed out that the MVC program was trying to serve the community not only academically but

also socially.

To Which 4- year schools the Students Transfer

All three respondents agreed that currently the majority of the cohort students are

transferring to UNT Dallas or UTA. The first two respondents stated that very few transferred to

the UNT Denton campus as of 2011.

Results for Research Questions

Research Question 1

This question asked: What kinds of supports exist at MVC for preparing minority

students to successfully complete a teacher certification degree? The goal and mission of the

MVC teacher education program was to provide students with the resources they needed to have

them prepared for the associate level and to successfully transfer to a four-year university’s

college of education. MVC’s students had resources available to them that other students who

were taking regular general education courses for transfer did not have, such as state of the art

innovative research labs for hands on teacher education practice, specially designed calculators

to assist elementary teacher education students in their preparation, see and solves hands on

manipulatives for elementary classrooms, Lego boards, and numerous other hands on items to

help provide real scenarios to aspiring teachers. The objective of the program was to provide

more preparation to the students than if they just took regular core and elective courses. In

MVC’s case, the non-core elective courses were specifically focused on teacher preparation and

for the four-year education schools with which MVC held articulation agreements, but these

courses were designed so that regardless of to what college of education the students transferred,

they were prepared for any university based teacher education program. As of 2011, the MVC

45

program main focus of articulation was with UNT Dallas, a recent addition to the UNT system

serving the same community as MVC.

Along with the elective courses, the cohort students could participate in a MVC faculty

sponsored club which provided them with opportunities to complete community service projects

and exposed them to service instilling in the cohort members the importance of caring about their

students. In addition, parent workshops for those speaking Spanish and other languages were

provided, along with health and nutrition counseling and parenting classes. These services

complemented and supported the program’s mission of creating teachers who understand they

need to serve their community both academically and socially.

As of January 2011, there was only one full time faculty member and one advisor for the

MVC teacher education program. Because of the small size of the program, the MVC

administrators did not believe the program could continue to stand financially on its own.

However, as long as the MVC teacher education program continues to have very supportive

deans, said all three participants, the program should continue to provide the students of south

Dallas the opportunity to become teachers and to serve their own communities.

Research Question 2

This question asked: If cohort members dropped out of the teacher education program

after transferring from MVC to UNT and UTA, what was the dropout rate? The dropout rate for

the transferring students was 35.6%. It was possible that some of the students who were thought

to have dropped out might have transferred to universities other than UNT and UTA and were

not included in this study. Therefore, the transfer rate from MVC to these two institutions stands

out at 64.4%, which is a very high transfer to university rate for a community college program.

46

Research Question 3

This question asked: What are the differences in the UNT and UTA graduation rates for

the MVC cohort following their transfer to the universities and the native to university students?

The UTA student data showed that students who transferred from MVC appeared to be more

likely to graduate. The ϕ coefficient for the two dichotomous variables of graduated versus

transfer or native status yielded a .207 (p = .05, ϕ2 = .043). Table 8 depicts the χ2 test results and

ϕ coefficients. While this statistical result was significant, no practical difference was observed

between the graduation rates for the two types of students and the two universities. As may be

observed in Table 9, UTA graduated lower percent of its students.

Table 8 Test Statistics for the Relationships Between the Universities’ Graduation Rates and the Students’ Status as Native to University or MVC Cohort Member

University to Which MVC Cohort Transferred

χ2 Statistics Data ϕ Correlation Data

χ2 df P ϕ P

UNT 2.266a 1 .132 .022 .132

UTA 7.745b 1 .005 .207 .005

Total .438c 1 .508 .009 .508

Note. For a, n = 4,701. For b, n = 180. For c, n = 4,881.

47

Table 9

Crosstabulation for the Two Universities and Their Students’ Graduation Statuses

University to Which MVC Cohort Member Transferred Graduated

No Yes Total UNT Native to

University Count 1,795 2,884 4,679

% within MVC 38.4% 61.6% 100.0% % within Graduated 99.7% 99.4% 99.5% % of Total 38.2% 61.3% 99.5% Transferred from

MVC/DCCCD Count 5 17 22

% within MVC 22.7% 77.3% 100.0% % within graduated .3% .6% .5% % of Total .1% .4% .5% UNT Subtotals Count 1,800 2,901 4,701 % within MVC 38.3% 61.7% 100.0% % within graduated 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% % of Total 38.3% 61.7% 100.0% UTA Native to

University Count 47 32 79

% within MVC 59.5% 40.5% 100.0% % within graduated 54.7% 34.0% 43.9% % of Total 26.1% 17.8% 43.9% Transferred from


% within MVC 38.6% 61.4% 100.0% % within graduated 45.3% 66.0% 56.1% % of Total 21.7% 34.4% 56.1% UTA Subtotals Count 86 94 180 % within MVC 47.8% 52.2% 100.0% % within graduated 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% % of Total 47.8% 52.2% 100.0% UNT & UTA Combined Native to

University Count 1842 2916 4758

% within MVC 38.7% 61.3% 100.0% % within graduated 97.7% 97.4% 97.5% % of Total 37.7% 59.7% 97.5% Transferred from


% within MVC 35.8% 64.2% 100.0% % within graduated 2.3% 2.6% 2.5% % of Total .9% 1.6% 2.5% Sample Total Count 1,886 2,995 4,881 % within MVC 38.6% 61.4% 100.0% % within graduated 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% % of Total 38.6% 61.4% 100.0%

48

Research Question 4

This question asked: Are there differences, by ethnicity, between the graduation rates for

the MVC transfer cohort graduates and the traditional (non-transfer) graduates in the teacher

education programs at UNT and UTA? Looking at only the MVC students’ data provided at the

universities, no statistically significant differences in graduation rates by ethnicity were

observed. However, MVC’s Black/African American students were observed as graduating at a

higher rate than the same ethnicity’s national graduation rate for students who started at a two

year colleges (5.3%). Additionally, Hispanics graduated at a slightly higher rate in contrast to the

national two-year college graduation rate for Hispanic students of 7.4%. The current study’s

data also suggested that Blacks/African Americans graduated at a lower rate than their Hispanic

counterparts with the MVC cohort with Black/African American students graduating at 50% and

Hispanic students graduating at 72.2%. Within the sample, the rates were statistically similar

regardless of ethnicity or race (χ2 = .438, df = 1, p = .508). The results are depicted in Table 10.

49

Table 10

Crosstabulation for the MVC Cohort Members’ Graduation Rates by Ethnicity

Ethnicity of MVC Cohort Member Graduated

No Yes Total White Native to University Count 1,161 1,902 3,063 % within MVC 37.9% 62.1% 100.0% % within Graduated 98.6% 98.7% 98.6% % of Total 37.4% 61.3% 98.6% MVC Transfer Count 16 26 42 % within MVC 38.1% 61.9% 100.0% % within graduated 1.4% 1.3% 1.4% % of Total .5% .8% 1.4% White Subtotals Count 1177 1928 3105 % within MVC 37.9% 62.1% 100.0% % within graduated 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% % of Total 37.9% 62.1% 100.0% Latino/Hispanic Native to University Count 359 527 886 % within MVC 40.5% 59.5% 100.0% % within graduated 96.0% 93.1% 94.3% % of Total 38.2% 56.1% 94.3% MVC Transfer Count 15 39 54 % within MVC 27.8% 72.2% 100.0% % within graduated 4.0% 6.9% 5.7% % of Total 1.6% 4.1% 5.7% Latino Subtotals Count 374 566 940 % within MVC 39.8% 60.2% 100.0% % within graduated 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% % of Total 39.8% 60.2% 100.0% American Indian Native to University Count 14 22 36 % within MVC 38.9% 61.1% 100.0% % within graduated 93.3% 100.0% 97.3% % of Total 37.8% 59.5% 97.3% MVC Transfer Count 1 0 1 % within MVC 100.0% .0% 100.0% % within graduated 6.7% .0% 2.7% % of Total 2.7% .0% 2.7% American Indian

Subtotals Count 15 22 37

% within MVC 40.5% 59.5% 100.0% % within graduated 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% % of Total 40.5% 59.5% 100.0%

(table continues)

50

Table 10 (continued)


No Yes Total Black/African American

Native to University Count 188 212 400

% within MVC 47.0% 53.0% 100.0% % within graduated 94.9% 95.5% 95.2% % of Total 44.8% 50.5% 95.2% MVC Transfer Count 10 10 20 % within MVC 50.0% 50.0% 100.0% % within graduated 5.1% 4.5% 4.8% % of Total 2.4% 2.4% 4.8% Black Subtotals Count 198 222 420 % within MVC 47.1% 52.9% 100.0% % within graduated 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% % of Total 47.1% 52.9% 100.0% Asian/Pacific Islander Native to University Count 73 126 199 % within MVC 36.7% 63.3% 100.0% % within graduated 98.6% 100.0% 99.5% % of Total 36.5% 63.0% 99.5% MVC Transfer Count 1 0 1 % within MVC 100.0% .0% 100.0% % within graduated 1.4% .0% .5% % of Total .5% .0% .5% Asian Subtotals Count 74 126 200 % within MVC 37.0% 63.0% 100.0% % within graduated 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% % of Total 37.0% 63.0% 100.0% Other Native to University Count 46 127 173 % within MVC 26.6% 73.4% 100.0% % within graduated 100.0% 97.7% 98.3% % of Total 26.1% 72.2% 98.3% MVC Transfer Count 0 3 3 % within MVC .0% 100.0% 100.0% % within graduated .0% 2.3% 1.7% % of Total .0% 1.7% 1.7% Other Subtotals Count 46 130 176 % within MVC 26.1% 73.9% 100.0% % within graduated 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% % of Total 26.1% 73.9% 100.0%

(table continues)

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Table 10 (continued)


No Yes Total Not Reported Native to University Count 1 0 1 % within MVC 100.0% .0% 100.0% % within graduated 50.0% .0% 33.3% % of Total 33.3% .0% 33.3% MVC Transfer Count 1 1 2 % within MVC 50.0% 50.0% 100.0% % within graduated 50.0% 100.0% 66.7% % of Total 33.3% 33.3% 66.7% Not Reported

Subtotals Count 2 1 3

% within MVC 66.7% 33.3% 100.0% % within graduated 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% % of Total 66.7% 33.3% 100.0% Sample Total Native to University Count 1,842 2,916 4,758 % within MVC 38.7% 61.3% 100.0% % within graduated 97.7% 97.4% 97.5% % of Total 37.7% 59.7% 97.5% MVC Transfer Count 44 79 123 % within MVC 35.8% 64.2% 100.0% % within graduated 2.3% 2.6% 2.5% % of Total .9% 1.6% 2.5% Subtotals Count 1,886 2,995 4,881 % within MVC 38.6% 61.4% 100.0% % within graduated 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% % of Total 38.6% 61.4% 100.0%

Summary

This study was conducted to examine the effectiveness of one community college’s pre-

service teacher program designed to facilitate the transfer of minority students to university

based teacher education programs. The study was also conducted to determine the likelihood of

the MVC transfer students graduating from a university with teacher certification. The study

specifically looked at MVC’s teacher education program and the two universities to which they

most commonly transferred, namely, UNT and UTA. The initial target population consisted of

191 MVC students from 2003 to 2010. This study focused on whether the minority students and

52

cohort members successfully transferred and graduated from the respective colleges of

education. In this chapter the findings for each research question were presented and although

no statistical significance was found between the transfer students graduation rates and those of

native students, overall the MVC cohort graduated at higher percentage than the native students

from both UNT and UTA. There was no statistical significance found between the cohort

members graduation rates by ethnicity, but the data suggested that Blacks/African Americans

graduated at a slightly lower rate than Hispanic cohort members. The minority students were

graduating at an observably higher rate than both the native to university students and the

national percentages for their respective ethnic peers who began college at two-year colleges

(Black/African American, 5.3%; Hispanics, 7.4%). Further discussion of the findings as well as

conclusions and recommendations follow in Chapter 5.

53

CHAPTER 5

SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS, AND RECOMMENDATIONS

This chapter presents a review of the methodology, a summary of major findings,

discussion, implications and conclusions, and recommendations for future research. This study

was inspired by a major concern related to the shortage of teachers, especially minority teachers,

and the effectiveness of preparing these students for successful completion and certification.

Mountain View College (MVC) was one of the first community colleges in the North Texas

region to establish a pre-service two-year teacher education program (Dallas County Community

College District [DCCCD], 2007). The effectiveness of this program in transferring, graduating,

and placing teacher education candidates successfully into the education workforce has yet to be

determined. The value of this program in increasing the number of minority teachers employed

by Dallas and Fort Worth area school districts was the impetus for this study. The shortage of

minority teachers is increasingly becoming a more acute problem nationwide and especially in

Texas (Texas Education Agency [TEA], 2010). In the last 20 years, the community college role

in teacher education has become more prominent (Townsend, 2007), yet few of these programs

have been studied for success levels in adding to the number of employed certified teachers who

are minorities. In order to understand the impact these programs have, an in-depth case study

was needed.

Review of the Methodology

The following research questions guided this study:


complete a teacher certification degree, and did the students feel that they were helpful?


54

MVC to UNT and UTA, what was the dropout rate?






This study was a longitudinal ex post facto, casual comparative mixed method case study

and involved tracking a mainly minority cohort of students over a 6-year period. Archival data

and student records from the respective institutional research offices for students entering MVC

in the fall semester of 2003 and transferring to UNT or UTA were used to answer the graduation

and transfer rates-related research questions. The present study utilized printed materials such as

college catalogs, school brochures, handbooks, and electronic resources from the respective

schools and their websites. In addition, unstructured interviews were conducted with relevant

personnel involved in the MVC pre- service teacher program.

Summary of Major Findings

With the increasing national emphasis on teacher preparation, MVC joined the leagues of

community colleges across America seeking to improve teacher preparation and high quality

teaching. MVC’s pre-service teacher education program has been preparing students for transfer

to four-year colleges of education since 1997. This study included an in-depth look at MVC’s

successes with transferring students who participated in its pre-service teacher education

program to university based teacher education programs and whether those students successfully

graduated with the bachelor’s degree. Statistically, the results from this study were encouraging

for the MVC transfer students. The results showed:

55

• DCCCD reported 191 teacher preparation graduates since this programs inception in

1997, and out of that number, 123, or 64.4%, transferred to UTA or UNT.

• Of the 123 who transferred to UNT or UTA, 19.3% were Latino/Hispanic, and 8.6% were

Black/African American. Both transfer rates were higher than the national averages of

7% for each of the ethnic groups.

• In regard to gender, there was no statistical significance between female and male

graduation rates for the MVC cohort. The proportion of females to males was similar to

the national average of 75%, with MVC cohort enrolling at 85% females, and transferring

and graduating females at 77.6%. Given that overall campus gender and ethnicities at

UNT and UTA and overall teacher education students were predominantly White

females, the overall distribution was expected.

• Supports included innovative hands on research labs, specially designed calculators to

help teachers effectively teach math skills, tools and model classrooms to provide real life

teaching scenarios, elective courses in teacher education that would ensure preparation

regardless of to what university students transferred, and detailed, dynamically changing

articulation agreements with the partnering universities. Faculty sponsored clubs

provided mentoring to students and service projects for students to complete. Programs

for enabling cohort students to engage in community service were required.

• The MVC program dropout rate was 35.6% (123 out of 191). Some of the students

classified as drop outs might have attended universities other than UNT or UTA and

would not have been able to be included among known data.

• The sample had a graduation rate of 61.4% for UNT and UTA, a significantly higher

value than the Texas average graduation rate of 48.5% and the national graduation rate of

56

55.5%.

• There was no statistically significant difference between the MVC cohort members

transferring from MVC to UNT or UTA versus their graduation rates from UNT and

UTA. The MVC cohort graduated at higher percentage from UNT than UTA with 77.3%

rate from UNT versus 61.4% from UTA.

• There was no statistically significant difference between the cohort member’s graduation

rates by ethnicity. The data suggested that Blacks/African Americans graduated from

MVC at a slightly lower rate (50%) than Hispanics (72.2%). However, in contrast to the

national community college graduation rate of 5.3% for Black/African American students

and 7.45% for Latino/Hispanic students, these MVC cohort group students graduated at

phenomenally higher percentages. The lower Black/African American graduation rate

was most likely due to the small number of students in the sample for this ethnicity. The

data also showed that Latino/Hispanic students graduated a higher rate from UNT than

UTA, suggesting the school to which they transferred influenced to their graduation

likelihood.

Discussion

Findings of this study support existing research related to reform in teacher education, the

role of community colleges in teacher education, and recruitment and retention along with

support of those seeking to successfully transfer from the community college’s pre-service

teacher program to graduate from university based teacher education program. However, the

results of this study showed that compared with native students and four-year institution transfer

students, the MVC cohort students completed university based teacher education programs at

higher rates than those expected per state and national graduation statistics. The statistical

57

analysis and comparisons used in this study showed no significant difference between the groups

studied. This finding is promising particularly for students in the MVC cohort, as well as for

students in other community college level teacher education programs.

According to the U.S. Department of Education (2001), given a variety of factors, such as

the aging of the teaching force, class-size reduction initiatives, teacher attrition, and so on, at

least 2-million new PK-12 teachers were needed by 2010, but this number was not achieved.

Along with this critical shortage aspect is the growing ethnicity disparity between the students

who attend U.S. public schools and U.S. public school teachers. Currently, about 38% of public

school students are from an ethnic minority group whereas close to 90% of U.S. teachers are not

of ethnic minority descent (American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education, 2002;

Digest of Educational Statistics, 1998; U.S. Department of Education, 2001). The teaching

profession continues to be represented by White females who are unrepresentative of the student

population (NCES, 2007). About 15% of students in teacher preparation are individuals of color,

but if past trends hold true, only 66% of these students will become highly qualified teachers

(Darling-Hammond & Berry, 1999).

Traditionally teachers are trained at university based programs. However many

university based teacher education programs are finding it increasingly difficult to attract and

maintain quality minority students for their programs, especially for employment in struggling

PK-12 public schools. The typical response of teacher education programs to the growing

diversity of K-12 students has been to add a course or two on multicultural, bilingual/ESL, or

urban education to the curriculum (Nieto, 2000).

Even though Milner (2003) showed that ethnically and culturally diverse teachers can

smooth the transition from home to school for minority students by serving as cultural translators

58

who build upon the communication and behavioral styles of minority students, little attention has

been paid to reforming teacher education programs regarding issues of diversity and equity. In

particular, university based teacher education programs have not adequately planned recruitment

programs for finding students willing to become teachers who teach children in urban and poor

rural districts (Darling-Hammond, 2000).

The cultural duality between available teachers and current students is further

complicated by the lack of sustained attention to preparing teachers to teach across lines of

ethnicity, language, and social class in most teacher education programs. Demographic data on

the current and future teaching force continues to fail to mirror the changes taking place in the

student population. However, with more than 1,100 community colleges across the nation with

millions of ethnically diverse students who are potential untapped sources for teacher education

programs (RNT, Inc. 2002), the opportunity to recruit minorities into teacher education programs

has not been adequately addressed. Community colleges represent an unused opportunity for

preparing pre-service teachers.

The primary mission of community colleges is to meet the needs of the communities they

serve, which makes them the ideal vehicle to help prepare students for the teaching field. The

American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education (2002) noted that community colleges

can and should play a major role in the recruitment of minority teachers since their students are

very diverse. Now many community colleges, such as MVC, have begun including the mission

of preparing teachers for the communities they serve by ensuring their students are ready to

become quality teachers by graduating from their two-year programs successfully with the

associate level degree and by transferring to the four-year university. Based on the findings,

59

MVC serves as the best practices model for preparing teacher education students at the

community college.

Implications and Conclusions

The study’s findings might be useful to community colleges looking toward or already

implementing similar pre-service teacher education programs. This study’s results should help

demystify views that community college transfer students are not academically prepared for

colleges of education when compared to native and other four-year institution transfer. Based on

the findings, MVC’s program might serve as a model for policy implementation to ensure

community college students’ successful transfer to and completion of a university based teacher

education program.

The MVC teacher education program was created to increase the pool of eligible teachers

for the community it serves. This study’s findings should encourage community college and

university based teacher education programs to recognize the role that community college

students can play in addressing the teacher shortage, especially in improving the numbers of

available minority teachers across the nation. The community college students who were a part

of this study graduated with bachelor’s degrees at a comparable rate to their native to university

cohorts. The Latino/Hispanic students graduated at a higher rate, which was encouraging. The

findings may provide insight for creating best practices models of pre service teacher education

programs at the community college level or for improving practices at both community colleges

and four-year institutions.

Implications for community colleges and university based teacher education programs

include policies that may serve as a starting point for action in tapping the minority rich

community college student pool to increase the diversity of teachers in public schools. The

60

courses taken in the community college teacher education programs should prepare students to

enter any university based teacher education program. Extreme caution should be taken to

ensure that two-year courses and preparation do not prevent or interfere with successful

completion of the university based teacher education program. It is important that policy makers

in community colleges and university teacher education programs work together to ensure that

the transition from community college to the university is as seamless as possible and

articulation agreements ensure successful completion of the two-year and four-year programs.

Articulation agreements are vital for the seamless transfer of community college teacher

education students to the university based teacher education programs. The teacher education

elective courses offered at the community college should be accepted by the universities without

complication. There should be ongoing communication between community college educators

and university personnel to ensure that community college teacher education program courses

meet the needed requirements for completing university based teacher education programs. It is

also vital that students pursuing secondary teacher certification have access to content courses at

the community college level that will help prepare them for upper level teacher education

coursework once they transfer to the four-year university. This opportunity was one factor cited

at MVC as vital to the program’s success. Perhaps allowing some of these upper-level courses to

be taken at the community college would ensure these students to stay within their communities

while pursuing teacher education degrees, thereby cutting down on transportation issues. Online

and distance learning courses could be utilized to limit the amount of travel required for minority

community college students likely to have challenges with transportation.

Another implication for community colleges is the importance of mentoring. A vital

thread that ran through MVC’s teacher education program was how mentoring relationships must

61

continue to be fostered. Supportive faculty can be the difference between the student who

successfully transfers and graduates and the one that gives up or drops out. This mentoring

support is even more vital once students begin taking required coursework in their field of study

at the four-year institution. Community colleges are encouraged to offer time management

instruction along with ongoing mentoring for students throughout their educational programs.

Many of the barriers student face, especially at the community college level, relate to lack of

energy or time for completing coursework. Many of these students are trying to balance work,

family, school, and other responsibilities and offering time management strategies could help

them to be successful throughout their educational careers and beyond. One way to accomplish

this goal would be to assign advisors, specific faculty members, or counselors willing to support

and encourage the students as they complete their programs.

Community college programs need to offer sufficient field experiences for students early

in their programs. These opportunities were cited as major ways to prepare MVC students for

successful transfer. These early experiences should foster student persistence and help the

students develop a clear sense of direction for what teaching field they want to pursue.

Freshman courses such as foundations of education, instructional technology, and educational

aspects of exceptional learners should be made available to ensure pre service teachers are better

able to determine if education is a profession to which they can commit themselves. This type of

course planning could ensure only committed students will enter the teaching profession and will

become quality teachers. In addition to these types of courses, community colleges need to offer

hands on field experiences to ensure that students understand the real world relevance of what

they plan to teach.

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Due to the lack of evidence for program marketing, community colleges need to do more

to advertise their pre service teacher programs. MVC is not the only such program in the Dallas-

Fort Worth area. There are at least three others, but many high school and community college

students are likely to be unaware that these pre-service education programs exist at the

community college level. At the community college level, most students are very mobile and are

not actively involved in campus activities, thus advertising through electronic tools, admissions

flyers, campus flyers, and ongoing courses could help students gain necessary information for

choosing to enroll in innovative education plans or programs.

MVC cited local school partnership as a component in advertising and recruiting students

for their teacher education program. Further implications for community colleges and university

based teacher education programs would be to create or ensure the successful continuation of

specific programs and advertising campaigns for student groups targeted at increasing the

numbers of available qualified teachers, especially the number of available minority teachers.

Many local high schools already have organizations or even courses targeted at students who

want to become teachers. Programs such as Future Teachers of America, and Ready, Set, Teach

can offer support and access to minority students prior to college. Through new partnerships, or

by strengthening the already established partnerships, between the local school districts,

community colleges, and university partners valuable information and current research can be

used to motivate these young student, to provide them with up to date information, and to show

them how to become involved in their possible future profession.

Policymakers must continue to research and establish measures in regard to recruiting

minority students into teacher education at the community college. Given that in most

community colleges, Black and Hispanic students represent a larger percentage of the college

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population, continued recruitment and retention could greatly impact minority teacher pools

(Gaskin et al., 2003). MVC cited how receiving certain grants and funding has allowed them to

create the teacher education program. Policies need to be implemented that ensure funding is

directed toward researching and developing how to successfully recruit and retain minorities into

the field of education. The results suggested that utilizing the cohort model in the community

college teacher education program builds a collective culture and significantly impacts the

successful graduation of these minority students at four-year institutions. Using the cohort

model at the community college level might not only increase the number of minority teacher

education candidates but also may increase the numbers of students who can transfer

successfully and graduate from any four-year program.

Recommendations for Future Research

Much more research is needed on the impact of practices that may facilitate or obstruct

the entry of teachers of color into the education profession. Additional research is needed to find

out why disparities exist and what the best solutions are for closing this gap. Additional areas of

research should include expanding studies of native to four-year university students and

community college transfer students in the area of teacher education. These recommendations

for additional study include:

• Addressing why there is little diversity in teacher education programs at four-year

institutions.

• Investigating if and why community college students are not as likely to successfully

graduate from a teacher education program after transferring to a four-year university.

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• Conducting a longitudinal study to discover what happened to those students not

completing their four-year degrees during this researcher’s time period; did they

eventually finish and graduate from any baccalaureate program?

• Examining transfer students in teacher education, from other institutions, to compare with

those students reported here. (As noted in the limitations sections, only one community

college and two transfer institutions were involved.)

• Learning why students choose one university over another and what are the, if any,

preconceived notions about transferring.

• Distributing a survey only to the minority students involved in this research to obtain

their perceptions of their pre service preparation and transfer experiences.

• Engaging a focus group of minority students shortly after four-year graduation from a

four-year teacher education program to discover how many actually succeeded in

obtaining teacher certification and placement and what led to their successes.

• Investigating the experiences of only community college transfer students at a four- year

institution, because the purpose of this study did not allow for recognizing the differences

between ethnicities for just the community college transfer students, and bears further

investigation.

• Investigating if using a cohort model will increase transfer and graduation rate regardless

of program undertaken.

Overall, the results of the study indicated that pre service teacher education programs at

the community college level can be effective at producing transfer students who successfully

graduate from a four-year teacher education program. Because the majority of community

college students are minorities, tapping this pool can ensure that teachers of color are available

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for children attending what will be a minority majority public school population within the next

few years. MVC’s teacher education program certainly represented a model program for other

community college pre service programs to follow.

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APPENDIX A

UNT INSTITUTIONAL REVIEW BOARD APPROVAL LETTER

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APPENDIX B

INFORMED CONSENT FORM

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70

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