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CCTC Accreditation 2022

Standard 1

Institutional Infrastructure to Support Educator Preparation

Each Commission-approved institution has the infrastructure in place to operate effective educator preparation programs. Within this overall infrastructure:

(1.1) The institution and education unit create and articulate a research-based vision of teaching and learning that fosters coherence among, and is clearly represented in all educator preparation programs. This vision is consistent with preparing educators for California public schools and the effective implementation of California’s adopted standards and curricular frameworks.

Fresno State's Educator Preparation Programs, housed within the Kremen School of Education and Human Development, utilize research-based approaches to prepare Preliminary and Advanced Candidates who facilitate the education of students throughout our region. Fresno State is situated in the heart of the Central Valley, a region which includes both rural and urban contexts in which over 100 different languages are spoken. In order to meet the needs of PreK-12 students in our region, we have adopted the theme "Leadership for Diverse Communities," which emphasizes developing educators capable of supporting students from all backgrounds in just and equitable ways. In order to accomplish this goal, our model of educator preparation relies on the following frameworks to inform our work.

First and foremost, our programs seek to model an asset-based approach (Moll, Amanti, Neff, & Gonzalez, 1992) to prepare our future educators, recognizing the wealth of resources all students bring with them to the classroom. We utilize culturally sustaining pedagogy (Hammond, 2015; Ladson-Billings, 2009; Paris & Alim, 2014) in order to build on the cultural resources of our candidates. Our goal is to model using asset-based approaches while educating our candidates about how to use these pedagogies within their own contexts.

In order to guarantee that all of our candidates have access to and can participate in meaningful and challenging learning opportunities, we also utilize Universal Design for Learning (CAST, 2021). We recognize that our students need opportunities to demonstrate their developing knowledge and understanding in ways that are appropriate and meaningful to them—and that their students need opportunities to do the same.

Our program also recognizes that education does not happen in a vacuum and that, to truly understand the link between the theories they are learning in their coursework and the application of those theories in practice, candidates benefit from opportunities to apply their new learning in authentic contexts. For this reason, our programs rely heavily on field-based experiences, where candidates are supported by both mentors in the field and university-based coaches. This emphasis on field experience has also led us to develop residency programs in our Basic Credential programs. Our Teacher Residency programs include 1) field-based experiences that emphasize competency-based assessments aligned to district and/or state measures, 2) theory-to-practice connections in coursework with opportunities for simulations and rehearsals of skills, and 3) authentic and substantive collaborations built on mutual trust with local schools and school districts (National Center for Teacher Residencies, 2015). Our Advanced Credential programs also emphasize field experience and hands-on work developed and carried out through collaborative partnerships with educators in P12 settings.

At the heart of everything we do is a culture of inquiry (Darling-Hammond, Hammerness, Grossman, Rust, & Shulman, 2005), in which we encourage candidates to collect data on their practice, analyze that data in meaningful ways, and use the findings to inform the work they do. Ultimately, our goal is to prepare educators who are reflective practitioners, committed to improving their practice in order to improve the educational opportunities for all students in our region.

  • CAST. (February, 2021). The UDL Guidelines. https://udlguidelines.cast.org/
  • Darling-Hammond, L., Hammerness, K., Grossman, P., Rust, F., & Shulman, L. (2005). The design of teacher education programs. In Darling-Hammond, L., & Bransford, J. (Eds.). Preparing teachers for a changing world: What teachers should learn and be able to do (pp. 390-441). Jossey-Bass.
  • Hammond, Z. (2015). Culturally responsive teaching and the brain: Promoting authentic engagement and rigor among culturally and linguistically diverse students. Corwin.
  • Ladson-Billings, G. (2009). The dreamkeepers: Successful teachers of African American children. Jossey-Bass.
  • Moll, L.C., Amanti, C., Neff, D., & Gonzalez, N. (1992). Funds of knowledge for teaching: Using a qualitative approach to connect home and classrooms. Theory into Practice, 31(2), 132-141.
  • National Center for Teacher Residencies (NCTR). (2015). Clinically oriented teacher preparation. Washington DC: NCTR. Retrieved from https://nctresidencies.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/NCTR-COTP-Final-Single-Pgs-1.pdf
  • Paris, D, & Alim, H. S. (2014). What are we seeking to sustain through culturally sustaining pedagogy? A Loving Critique Forward. Harvard Educational Review, 84(1), 85-100.

(1.3) The education unit ensures that faculty and instructional personnel regularly and systematically collaborate with colleagues in P-12 settings, college and university units and members of the broader educational community to improve educator preparation.

Kremen collaborates with faculty and staff, both within the School and across the university. Moreover, we maintain rich relationships with colleagues in P-12 settings and the broader educational community. Documents such as the Academic Policy Manual, the Collective Bargaining Agreement and our MOUs illustrate that these relationships are inherent to our structure. Moreover, the University has established Retention, Tenure and Promotion Policies, an Academic Senate, and a School Constitution. These documents lay out the expectations to achieve tenure; faculty associated with educator preparation programs are expected to be involved in outreach to the educational community.

P-12 Collaborations:

Fresno State has rich collaborations with school districts and P-12 schools. We regularly collaborate with the educational community through our residency partnerships and stakeholder meetings. In addition, the Bonner Center recognizes exemplary schools in the areas of civic and character education.

  • Residency Partnerships
  • Induction Boards
    • Tulare City: Debbie Parker, Board Contact
    • Hanford: Debra Colvard, Board Contact
    • Visalia Unified: Shelly Groom, Board Contact 
    • Central Unified: Janeen Worland, Board Contact 
    • Sanger: Karen Costa-Smith, Board Contact
    • Clovis Unified: Kristie Wiens, Board Contact 
    • Kings County: LaVonne Chastain, Board Contact 
    • Fresno County Office of Education: Manjit Singh, Board Contact 
    • Fresno Unified: Randy Brown, Board Contact 
    • Selma, Clay Joint Elementary, Golden Plains Unified, Kerman Unified, Kingsburg Elementary Charter, and Riverdale: Tim Smith, Board Contact 
    • Madera Consortium (nine school districts): Steve Thornton, Board Contact

Prior to and throughout the development of the PK-3 Early Childhood Education Specialist credential, Fresno State faculty worked in close collaboration with partners in Early Childhood at the Fresno County Superintendent of Schools and other Early Childhood stakeholders from throughout the community, as demonstrated here.

(1.6) Recruitment and faculty development efforts support hiring and retention of faculty who represent and support diversity and excellence.

In recent years, Fresno State has placed a particular emphasis on hiring faculty who represent our diverse student body. Within Kremen, we’ve also included language about diversity, equity, inclusion, culturally and linguistically sustaining pedagogy, and the like within our job ads. This has enriched our faculty with diverse perspectives, research agendas, and mentoring of our students.

Recruitment:

Diversity and Retention Initiatives

(1.7) The institution employs, assigns and retains only qualified persons to teach courses, provide professional development, and supervise field-based and clinical experiences.  Qualifications of faculty> and other instructional personnel must include, but are not limited to:  a) current knowledge of the content; b) knowledge of the current context of public schooling including the California adopted P-12 content standards, frameworks, and accountability systems; c) knowledge of diversity in society, including diverse abilities, culture, language, ethnicity, and gender orientation; and d) demonstration of effective professional practices in teaching and learning, scholarship, and service.

Across all Educator Preparation Programs at Fresno State, we place an emphasis on hiring faculty and instructional personnel who have deep theoretical and practical knowledge relevant to the courses they are hired to teach. 

As demonstrated in the recent job postings provided below, all faculty who teach in the preliminary credential programs must have at least a Masters degree in a relevant field, though a doctorate is preferred.

Additionally, faculty must have recent experience working within TK-12 classrooms. 

Finally, in line with university requirements, faculty must demonstrate experience working in contexts that are culturally, linguistically, and socioeconomically diverse. 

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