October 25, 2007

Best teaching degrees
Earn your teaching credential in an OC program.
BY SHERYLL ALEXANDER

According to the National Center for Education Statistics, almost 4 million teachers will be needed by 2014. Unfortunately for our children, some would-be teachers are attending inferior credentialing programs. However, Orange County has some of the finest teaching credential programs in the country. Here are some of OC’s best and most interesting programs:

Cal State University Fullerton

Cal State University Fullerton has perhaps Orange County’s most comprehensive teaching credential program. Since 1970, Cal State Fullerton is the only teacher-preparation program in Orange County accredited by the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education, which just happens to be the most prestigious and rigorous accrediting body in the country.

CSUF also claims it provides some of California’s most innovative credentialing programs, all of which are taught by both scholars and researchers at the university’s Fullerton and Irvine campuses. How does CSUF back this claim? In statewide survey, first-year teachers who graduated from CSUF performed above the California State University system average in every category. According to the survey, more than 90% of CSUF’s graduates would recommend the university’s credential and graduate programs to friends and colleagues.

CSUF’s College of Education offers the multiple-subject (K-8), single-subject (9-12), and education-specialist (special education) credentials. Advanced credentials are offered in reading, special education and administrative services.

For additional information, visit
ed.fullerton.edu

National University

National University, which has several Orange County campuses along with extensive online programs, leads California in preparing credentialed teachers, an award given 7 years in a row by the Commission on Teaching Credentialing. In 2005-2006, National University cranked out 2,699 teachers earning single-subject, multiple-subject and special-education credentials.

Graduates and those obtaining their teaching credentials from National University’s School of Education have also been recognized as some of the best educators in California, based upon assessments by the National Blue Ribbon School competition, the California Distinguished School Program and various “teachers of the year” competitions.

In addition, Diverse Issues in Higher Education, a scholarly journal, has recognized National University for the diversity of its students and graduates.
For additional information, visit nu.edu

Soka University

Soka University, located on a scenic hillside in Aliso Viejo, has one of OC’s newest master’s degree programs in Second and Foreign Language Education. This program emphasizes “Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages” (TESOL).

Recent graduates of this program, says Soka Provost Tomoko Takahashi, “have been snapped up by universities and high schools all over the world, with graduates now working in China, India, the Philippines, Brazil, South Korea, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Canada and Japan, as well as here in the United States.”

Soka’s 2-year master’s degree program includes an extensive practicum with students enrolled in the university’s Intensive English Language programs.

For more information, visit soka.edu

OCM

Sheryll Alexander is a lifestyles writer from Costa Mesa.