UC Riverside is addressing California’s teacher shortage while reducing the time and money it takes for aspiring educators to become state-certified teachers.
A new program allows undergraduates to earn both a bachelor’s degree and a teaching credential in four years, eliminating the need for a separate fifth year of teacher preparation before beginning their careers.
Called PATH, shorthand for “Prepare, Advocate, Teach, and Honor,” the program targets highly motivated undergraduates who want to teach in public elementary schools, where teachers must be certified to teach multiple subjects.
“We have a lot of students who would like to become teachers, but financial means are really difficult,” said Anthony Muro Villa III, an interim associate dean and assistant professor in the School of Education who is helping connect the undergraduate program with teacher preparation.
The program started this academic year as California continues to face a teacher shortage, particularly in special education, STEM, bilingual education, and in schools serving low-income communities. Many school districts struggle to fill classrooms and retain experienced educators, sometimes relying on substitutes or teachers working under temporary permits, according to the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing.
UCR is well positioned to help meet the need for bilingual teachers and educators in lower-income communities.
Many UCR students grew up in bilingual households across Inland Southern California and want to return to their communities to teach because they understand the region and feel connected to it, said Frances Valdovinos, director of UCR’s teacher education program and an assistant dean.
“We are preparing talented students from our region to become educators in their communities,” Valdovinos said. “We need teachers who understand their students’ backgrounds and can better support their needs.”
Villa added, “UCR is a Hispanic-serving institution, so a lot of our students already come in bilingual or multilingual and have considerable experience in local schools. PATH is leveraging that experience.”
For many aspiring teachers, earning a bachelor’s degree is only one hurdle, Villa said. Returning to college for a teaching credential means another year of coursework and supervised teaching that comes with the steep costs of tuition and living expenses.
“It could be a question of, ‘Can I do this financially or can I not?’” Valdovinos ask rhetorically. “The major thing for us is always about how we can remove barriers,” Valdovinos said.
The PATH program folds credential preparation into the undergraduate degree, allowing students to complete both while remaining eligible for undergraduate financial aid. It is a concentration within a bachelor’s degree in Education, Society, and Human Development.
Students follow rigorous coursework that includes math, English, history, and other subjects needed to build the broad knowledge required to teach multiple subjects through sixth grade.
During the summer between their third and fourth years, students take additional courses that bridge undergraduate studies and teacher preparation. Their fourth year includes teacher education courses, seminars, and supervised classroom teaching alongside graduate students pursuing credentials through the traditional route.
The compressed schedule is not for the faint-hearted. The final two years require sustained effort, including giving up the summer break between them.
“It has to be a student who’s committed,” Villa said. “You’re taking no break year during years three and four.”
Valdovinos added, “It’s going to take a dedicated student who really knows that this is the path they want to take.”
