The U.S. Department of Labor approved the first nationally registered K-12 teacher apprenticeship program in January 2022, opening the door to a rapidly growing pathway for prospective teachers. By October 2022, Texas had an approved program, and the Department of Labor has now approved registered teacher apprenticeships in more than 30 states.…

This dissertation had a three-pronged approach by examining (1) the role and sustainability of university-based intensive English programs (IEPs), (2) the value of a master's in Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL), and (3) relevance of attending an IEP for international/English as a second language (ESL) students. IEPs face…

Partnerships between two- and four-year Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSI) can provide high-quality, in-depth learning experiences for traditionally underserved students. Blurring the lines between these institutions allows for more seamless transitions for prospective teachers (PTs), and maximum collaboration and program impact. This article…

Utilizing Validation Theory through a social constructivist lens, this phenomenological study explores the ways in which institutional agents, peers, and family members contribute to the academic and interpersonal self-validation of Latine aspiring bilingual teachers who begin their higher education journey in the community college. All…

This paper focuses on the colleges and institutes of higher education (CIHEs), major providers of HE, almost sixty of which existed in England and Wales between the 1970s and the early twenty-first century. Its central argument is that a failure to develop the CIHEs as specialist institutions of advanced professional learning along the lines of…

The prolonged COVID-19 pandemic has placed postsecondary institutions in unfamiliar territory. Undoubtedly, postsecondary education must adapt to the realities of the pandemic, finding new ways to define academic expectations and rigor. Currently, COVID-19-related conversations among educators often default to focusing on students' race and…

This paper outlines how four community colleges, and a large public university, collaborated to support over 80 paraprofessionals who sought to finish their bachelor's degree and earn licensure. Funding from a statewide "Grow Your Own" initiative allowed the teacher educators at the community colleges and university to put in place…

Teacher shortages exist across the nation, with greater shortages in middle school and secondary education (Center for Public Education, 2016). The purpose of this study was to determine the factors and barriers presented to teacher education candidates affecting the selection of their teacher education degrees in a rural community college…

This program evaluation study sought to discern if a preparation pathway offered by Texas Tech University (TTU), one that leverages community college graduates, was yielding desirable outcomes. The Teacher Education Department at Texas Tech University is committed to producing quality teachers that can immediately impact children upon entering the…

For more than 20 years, distance education has provided an option for prospective special education teachers to achieve licensure and a graduate degree. The program began as a two-way interactive television endeavor located at area community college sites. Over time, the program evolved to include online coursework with synchronous class meetings.…

Objective/Research Question: Community college coursework is a crucial entry point for early childhood professionals seeking to advance their careers in education. In this study, we examine how degree candidates at a small community college experienced the shift to online learning and their reasons for persistence in college during the pandemic.…

Too little attention has been given to how colleges, and in particular community colleges, may influence the number of students who enter the teaching profession. Using administrative data from the City University of New York (CUNY), this brief explores the role that the seven CUNY community colleges play in contributing to CUNY degrees awarded in…

Indigenous peoples have rich ways of knowing that have been passed down for generations. Specifically, mathematical ways of knowing are embedded within a nation's and community's language, culture, and place. This article describes how Turtle Mountain Community College now teaches three courses on Ojibwe mathematics which were designed and…

The purpose of this study was to identify the obstacles faced and strategies used to overcome those obstacles by undergraduate teacher education majors who began their coursework at a community college and completed an Associate of Arts in Teaching (AAT) degree in teacher education. In this study, the questions asked of the participants touched on…

Pragmatics, the social language skills human beings use through everyday social interaction, is a critical and complicated segment of learning a new language. Thus, it is essential to teach pragmatics in English as a Second Language (ESL) classrooms and ESL teachers have pragmatic knowledge. This qualitative case study was designed to investigate…