A big solution to both the teacher shortage and the need to recruit a more diverse teaching force lies right under our noses, says a new report. The nation's 1,100 community colleges, which are a starting point for more than one in five public school teachers, could be more deliberately cultivated as teacher training institutions.

Tapping Potential: Community College Students and America's Teacher Recruitment Challenge examines policies and practices that can help community college students interested in teaching to gain the skills, knowledge and credentials they need to enter the profession. The report, funded by the Carnegie Corporation of New York and produced by Recruiting New Teachers Inc., also offers recommendations for improving the transfer process, beefing up two-year college education coursework and providing associate degrees in education.

The report highlights six community colleges that provide models for the nation, four of which are home to AFT faculty locals: Bronx Community College, Henry Ford Community College, Miami-Dade Community College and Community College of Philadelphia. The other two models are at El Paso Community College and Phoenix College.

These colleges stand out in educating first-generation college students from diverse backgrounds who are committed to the urban communities they grew up in and who have a mature understanding of what it takes to succeed in challenging classrooms, says Jacqueline Jordan Irvine, a professor of urban education at Emory University. She was one of the presenters at a press conference held to release the report.

Joan Gosnel, dean of academic affairs at Miami-Dade Community College, noted that M-DCC students are working adults, and 89 percent of them are African-American or Hispanic. The college has just introduced a new bachelor's degree program in education, developed with local school districts to respond to students' needs.

"This is the kind of cooperation we need," says AFT president Sandra Feldman, among "unions, education officials and two- and four-year colleges."

More information on the report can be found at www.recruitingteachers.org. Also, see "Speak Out" on page 4, for other views on this topic.

[Barbara McKenna / AFT On Campus]

[December 30, 2002]