Kayla Bui hopes to teach high school math.

UC's Cal Teach inspires future math and science teachers

"I came to UC Riverside knowing I wanted to teach," she said. "With math you could go into business or accounting, but I think that would be boring."

Thanks to the Cal Teach initiative, Bui was able to test-drive a teaching career by interning in geometry and algebra classes in a Riverside high school. Those classroom experiences and the special Cal Teach courses solidified her desire to become a teacher. When she graduates, Bui, now a sophomore, plans to enter a UC Riverside master's in education program where she can concurrently earn a math credential. That's exactly the kind of outcome the University of California and California State University had in mind when they launched Cal Teach in 2005.

The initiative, with support from private industry and state government, has a goal of producing 1,000 new math and science teachers a year to address a critical shortage in teachers credentialed in those subjects. In its fourth year, the initiative is picking up steam. In fall 2008, the nine UC undergraduate campuses had 548 students enrolled in 41 Cal Teach classes. That's the highest number since the classes began in winter 2005 with 84 students.

Some UC Cal Teach students will decide to get their credentials at a CSU, private university or out of state because of cost or personal situation, but UC still does its part in delivering qualified teachers, said Patrick Callahan, executive director of the UC Science and Mathematics Initiative.

Among the students who earned math and science credentials in California in 2006-07, he said, 28 percent earned their math degree and 32 percent their science degree from a UC. Although the full impact of Cal Teach won't be known until next year when students who joined the program as freshman begin to graduate, some Cal Teach participants are already teaching.

Kristine Arquero took Cal Teach classes her senior year at UC Berkeley, interning in an Oakland Technical High School physics class. She's been a high school chemistry teacher in the South Bronx since Sept. 2, working on an emergency credential while earning a master's and teaching credential at Lehman College. And she's firing up her students in more ways than one.

"This high school is 4 years old, and this is the first time they've turned on the Bunsen burners," Arquero said, demonstrating the difference a rigorously prepared science teacher can make.

Getting students excited about chemistry is a challenge, she said, but she puts what she learned from her Cal Teach classroom experiences to work.

"I got my science from UC Berkeley," said Arquero. "But I got the teaching from Cal Teach, and I got the support from Cal Teach."

It's a hard sell persuading engineering, math and science majors to consider teaching, said UC Riverside biology professor Bradley Hyman, the campus Cal Teach faculty director. Those students can find many high-paying opportunities in industry, he said, and teaching isn't valued as a prestigious profession.

"I think we're trying to appeal to the humanity within," he said. "As a teacher you impact 100 or more students a day. It's a generational legacy you'll influence."

Even those students who decide not to pursue teaching are making an impact, serving as role models and valuable classroom tutors, he said.

"I don't think I would be as committed to teaching without the program," said Kristen Simester, who will graduate in December with plans to enter the UC Riverside credential master's program.

"I chose biology as a major because I absolutely love everything about it," she said. "I found teaching was an awesome way to get all my knowledge out there. Every student deserves a great education. Hopefully through my knowledge of the content area, they can get one."