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Smaller School Districts Finding New Teachers Within Easy Reach

Posted on: Friday, 30 December 2005, 09:00 CST

By Jeff Commings, ARIZONA DAILY STAR

Three years ago, officials in the Vail Unified School District were willing to do almost anything to get teachers interested in making the drive from Tucson to work in their remote schools. But nothing helped and the district struggled.

An innovative program appears to have solved some of the problem - and may be the answer to teacher shortages in other districts, too.

The teacher education program, run by Pima Community College East and the University of Arizona South, put student teachers into Vail classrooms for internships - and then gave the district first dibs on grads.

Suddenly, Vail officials found people willing to teach in their district. Ironically, many were working in the schools already, as aides looking to become teachers, or people living in the area who wanted a new career.

It worked so well that the Sahuarita and Sunnyside districts also have joined the program to ease their own teacher-vacancy woes.

"We need teachers right now," Sahuarita Superintendent Jay St. John said. "And we've been hard-pressed to get them otherwise. (The UA main campus) doesn't produce enough teachers."

The students start with freshman and sophomore classes at PCC East, then take upper-class courses at temporary UA South sites, most of which are in Vail schools. During their final years, the districts provide sites for mentor training. Currently, 135 students are participating in the degree program. About half will graduate and get jobs in the schools where they interned.

"It's a win-win situation," said Raul Ochoa, principal at Santa Clara Elementary, one of several Sunnyside schools using student teachers.

Darla Brown, director of Pima County programs for Sierra Vista- based UA South, said teacher education is the largest of the six degree programs available at UA South. The students in the program are offered internships first in Vail, Sunnyside and Sahuarita, but they also go to Tucson Unified and other area districts.

On average, 10 student teachers are hired in each of the smaller districts per year, though Brown said that may increase as more people become interested in the program.

The reason why the southern districts are often favored is the high number of internships available, the number of open teacher positions offered each year and the dire need to put a teacher in a classroom to even out the teacher-student ratio.

Through 2010, 5,980 new teachers will be needed in Arizona schools each year to accommodate student population growth and teachers who leave through attrition, according to a 2003 report from the Arizona State University-based Morrison Institute for Public Policy.

Though they're called "student teachers," most of the people in the program are older than 30 and are looking for a second career after working as paraprofessionals in school districts, either with disabled kids or as support staff.

Cheri Swain, 52, signed up for the program because she could take night classes and not quit her job as a paraprofessional in the Vail district. Her years in the schools have prepared her for what she sees and experiences during her once-a-week visits to Sycamore Elementary.

Others, such as Carl Hendrix, 50, are dealing with educating kids for the first time. Hendrix spent 21 years training Air Force recruits, and he wanted a change of pace after he retired.

"This is my favorite part of the week because the kids are awesome," he said during a snack break in Ken Bazzell's fifth-grade class at Sycamore. He works there on Wednesdays.

The student teachers spend at least two semesters in classrooms, many of which are elementary level. The first semester is mostly for observation, when they shadow mentor teachers and pick up techniques to make classes fun and educational. In January, most will be in classrooms every day, planning lessons and leading students.

Student teachers say they couldn't learn classroom management in their university classes as well as they do by actually experiencing it. Getting into the classrooms has shown them that not every child learns at the same rate, and that teachers have to adjust accordingly.

"You learn to get into the routine and see what's going on and then take it back to the classroom and discuss what you've learned," said Kathy Rizk, 37. She said she observes mentor teacher Georgia Johnson and tries "to copy what she's doing because she's great at it."

Like other student teachers, Johnson hopes to work at Vail when she graduates because "you know what the district expects."

An upward trend in trainees, teacher grads

Number of students in the teacher education program:

Fall 2002: 25

Fall 2003: 60

Fall 2004: 100

Fall 2005: 135

Expected enrollment in spring 2006 semester: 155

Graduates in the UA/PCC teacher education program:

2004: 19

2005: 37

2006 (estimated): 50

Where the 70 UA South internships are happening in fall 2005:

Sahuarita: 5

Sunnyside: 10

TUSD: 31

Vail: 11

Other: 13

Sources: University of Arizona South and Vail Unified School District

* Contact reporter Jeff Commings at 573-4191 or at jcommings@azstarnet.com.

Source: Arizona Daily Star

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