The Nord Family Foundation has donated $13,000 to Oberlin College, the Lorain County Community College, and the Center for Leadership and Education, a group involved in public education reform, to establish a teacher certification program. According to Director of the Center for Service and Learning Daniel Gardner, "the money is for us to study the issue and come up with a solution."
Gardner said, "We are trying to construct a plan for Oberlin College undergrads and mid-career professionals who want to go into teaching to have a good pathway to do so."
Students have expressed interest for educational training. In recent years, students have passed petitions and held forums to start a certification program. According to senator first-year Russell Menyhart, programs were a very popular thing in the planning sessions.
Senator junior Dan Persky said, "It is an excellent idea. Since we don't have an education department, we should have a way for Oberlin students to be certified teachers."
Gardner cautions that the process is just beginning, so it is too early for speculation about the exact design of the system. A likely method would involve a partnership with another university. Lorain County Community College currently has partnerships with other universities in the state in many fields. Partnerships could involve other professors coming to Oberlin or Oberlin students studying away.
"We are looking at what university is best set up to provide an innovative, high quality, rapid, low-cost way for Oberlin students to earn a teaching certificate for teaching in Ohio and other states as well," Gardner said.
He said that, if established, a program would ideally take four and a half years.
Gardner said that the Educational Plans and Policies Committee (EPPC) will make recommendations about teacher certification. The EPPC makes decisions on curricular and departmental issues for the College of Arts and Sciences. Menyhart, a member of the committee, said that a member of EPPC is meeting with Gardner, but no discussion of teacher certification has yet occurred within the committee.
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