In one of the first-in-the-state programs, San Jose State University will offer a new teaching credential this fall for educators interested in teaching three-year-olds through third graders.
In May, the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing established the new PK-3 credential in the hopes of addressing a nationwide teacher shortage and expanding the early education workforce.
Heather Lattimer, dean of the university’s college of education, said the college’s faculty collaborated across the college’s child and adolescent development, special education and teacher education departments to quickly develop the “highly inclusive program.”
“SJSU was uniquely positioned to respond quickly to this critical need,” Lattimer said in a spring press release announcing the program.
The program comes three years after Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a law requiring any school district offering kindergarten to also provide transitional kindergarten for all four-year-olds by the 2025-26 school year.
The $2.7 billion transitional kindergarten program aims to make free, high-quality early education available to every 4-year-old in the state — nearly 400,000 – becoming the largest universal preschool program in the country.
But the state’s ambitious goal faces one looming challenge — teacher staffing.
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Several California school districts and charter schools were fined for violating state guidelines on staffing ratios for transitional kindergarten after they struggled to find fully credential teachers to teach the new program, an EdSource article said. Fines ranged from $1,706 to more than $6.9 million.
Previously, preschool teachers would complete coursework and earn credits toward a child development permit, rather than a single or multi-subject credential, San Jose State University said.
But as many public schools are adding a new grade with the expansion of transitional kindergarten, the state developed the new PK-3 credential program to align preschool curriculum and licensing requirements with an elementary school environment.
“This specialized workforce of teachers will reflect the students they serve and will be empowered to make a lasting impact on our state’s children, families and communities,” said Mary Vixie Sandy, the executive director of the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing.
The first PK-3 cohort will start this fall at San Jose State University. The university is currently accepting applications for its second cohort, which will begin in the spring, until October 1.
