SMC Awarded Grant from California Commission on Teacher Credentialing

We’re excited to announce that Saint Mary’s has been awarded a grant from the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing!

The SMC Teachers for Tomorrow Expansion Grant is a two year grant that will focus on expanding the current Teachers for Tomorrow (TFT) program. Since California changed its policy to allow for undergraduate pathways for teacher credentialing, JCL and KSOE have been on the forefront of innovative programing and partnerships to train transformative educators. 

In 2016, SMC received the Integrated Teacher Preparation Grant; using these funds, we partnered with Los Medanos College to develop project INSTEP (Integrated Special Education Teacher Education Program). While originally designed to expedite the transition for Justice, Community and Leadership students transferring from LMC into SMC, the efficacy of the program eventually led to its expansion to include integrated pathways for both transfers as well as four year SMC undergrads. This program allows undergraduate students to streamline their path to becoming an educator, weaving preparatory teaching courses together with liberal arts courses. Students can choose from concentrations in Multiple Subject Teacher Education, Single Subject Teacher Education, and Education Specialist Teacher Education. Through the TFT program, students are given access to a wide array of support systems, ranging from the opportunity to learn as a unit in a cohort, to early experience in classrooms and engaging with various community partners.

The resources from this grant will also be used to expand our community college 2+2 pathways to include Diablo Valley College, Merritt College, and Chabot College.

In addition to this, the grant will support the creation of integrated four year SSTE pathways, as well as the expansion of a BILA pipeline for aspiring educators looking to find a way to properly prepare themselves for the field. 

Saint Mary’s Kalmanovitz School of Education is leading the way in California for teacher preparation programs to be fully integrated, providing multiple ways to train future teachers, continuing the legacy of the founder of the Christian Brothers, John Baptist de La Salle.