Since Cal State Long Beach and Cerritos College partnered in 1999 to develop the first formal California Community College-California State University (CSU) educator preparation pathway, thousands of students have transferred seamlessly to CSU teacher preparation programs, completed their bachelor’s degrees and teaching credentials and joined the workforce as educators in California’s P-12 schools.
This successful intersegmental partnership also serves as a model for how California’s community colleges and Cal State’s universities can collaborate to create efficient pathways leading to teaching credentials and job placement opportunities.
The Teacher TRAC program—now celebrating its 25th anniversary—provides aspiring student educators at Cerritos College a guided pathway to complete the foundational child development and introductory pedagogy coursework needed for transfer to a CSU to earn a bachelor's degree and then on to a teaching credential. While at Cerritos College, students gain early hands-on classroom experience to help them find out what teaching path they hope to follow, and are paired up with a teacher mentor throughout the two-year program. Students also receive dedicated support and counseling to ensure they are well prepared to transfer to Cal State Long Beach’s liberal studies bachelor's program—often following the Associate Degree for Transfer (ADT) route. Some Teacher TRAC students will choose to transfer to other universities in the region with educator preparation programs, including CSU Dominguez Hills or Cal Poly Pomona.
“The Cerritos College Teacher TRAC program is highly valued for its proven ability to prepare pre-credential students for careers in education, thanks to the dedication of their faculty and leaders, and strong partnerships with local school districts,” said Shireen Pavri, assistant vice chancellor of CSU’s Educator and Leadership Programs. “Co-developed by faculty from Cerritos College and CSULB, this guided pathway for aspiring educators has served as a model for collaboration between community colleges and CSUs. Ultimately, it’s a win for the students on their path to teaching, and a win for California’s P-12 schools to receive these high-quality candidates in the workforce.”
Once these aspiring teachers transfer from Cerritos College Teacher TRAC to the CSU, they continue to receive wraparound support that begins with a dedicated transfer advisor who meets with them individually about their academic plans and also connects them with campus resources. At CSULB, students are also connected with College of Education peer mentors and student ambassadors who can help students with academic planning, scholarship info and credentialing applications.
Cerritos College Teacher TRAC founder Sue Parsons describes the program as life changing. “It has changed my life, inspires my life, and I know has changed a lot of lives in our communities,” Parsons said. Since its inception, Teacher TRAC has grown to become one of the college’s most successful learning communities, serving more than 5,000 Cerritos College students and involving over 150 faculty members. The program awards students $15,000 in scholarships annually and maintains regional partnerships with five districts and 79 schools.
Jacqueline Cardona, a middle school English teacher at Ellen Ochoa Learning Center in Los Angeles Unified and a graduate of Teacher TRAC’s inaugural class, exemplifies the transformative impact of the program: “Teacher TRAC has changed my life forever. It gave me the tools and support to overcome obstacles and become a teacher who understands and empowers my students.” Despite facing personal challenges—including being one of eight children of immigrant parents with limited education—Jacqueline persevered through college while managing pregnancies and her husband’s deployment. Her firsthand experiences with adversity inform her teaching and leadership, driving her to establish mentorship programs and advocate for marginalized students within her school community.
Once Teacher TRAC students transfer to the CSULB liberal studies program and have completed 90 units toward their degree, they choose whether to follow the traditional bachelor's to post-baccalaureate teaching credential pathway, or the combined bachelor’s and credential program—known as ITEP (integrated teacher education program). Students also choose what type of teaching credential they want to earn: Single Subject (for middle or high school teaching); Multiple Subject (for K-8 teaching); or Education Specialist (for teaching students with disabilities).
CSULB students seeking a Multiple Subject credential also have the option to earn an Education Specialist credential at the same time through the popular Urban Dual Credential Program (UDCP). This two-year immersive clinical program prepares candidates to teach both in the elementary general education classroom as well as the elementary/middle school special education setting, providing strong hiring potential. (Students in all CSULB’s credential pathways can also earn their bilingual teaching authorization.)
One reason the Cerritos College-CSULB teacher preparation partnership is so successful is the strong relationships that exist between the program leaders at each institution. “It's a good model: It’s a formal partnership that’s also fueled by informal relationships that are sustained over time,” said Rebecca Bustamante, associate dean at the CSULB College of Education.
Cerritos College Teacher TRAC founder Sue Parsons said, “Partnerships take time. Putting in that time continues on in relationships with the different deans or associate deans at the CSUs.” That responsiveness and relationship-building includes frequent lunch meetings with program leads, and taking advantage of opportunities to co-present at conferences, co-write articles together and serve on each other’s accreditation committees and advisory meetings. Student ambassadors from CSULB also visit the Cerritos College campus regularly for program outreach activities.
Bustamante adds that the Cerritos College program’s leadership—including Parsons and acting dean of Cerritos College’s Academic Affairs and Strategic Initiatives Colleen McKinley —“is phenomenally committed to the sustainability of Teacher TRAC.” This commitment includes the Fred Gaskin Teacher TRAC Transfer Scholarship, supported by funding from both institutions, which is awarded annually to one Teacher TRAC student who transfers to CSULB’s integrated teacher education program.
While the Cerritos College-CSULB collaboration represents the longest-running partnership at 25 years and counting, CSULB also partners with other community colleges on educator preparation transfer pathways, including a new accelerated ITEP Education Specialist Credential Program (ESCP) for students to earn their bachelor’s and Education Specialist teaching credential in 120 units or four years. Since fall 2023, Golden West College has offered local partner high school students dual enrollment credits that align with CSULB’s new ITEP ESCP, in addition to a new paraeducator certificate. And in fall 2025, Cerritos College expects to launch a new AA degree in special education—in addition to a new special education certificate—that both align with CSULB’s new accelerated program. CSULB worked with both colleges on curriculum alignment with grant funding from the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing.
Using collaborative programs like the CSULB-Cerritos College Teacher TRAC as a blueprint, the CSU and community colleges are working together to develop a framework that will support additional partnership pathways so that more of California’s aspiring educators can successfully enter the workforce.
Learn more about educator preparation programs at the CSU.
More CSU-CCC Educator Pathways
Almost every CSU campus partners with community colleges in their region to streamline the transfer pathway for aspiring educators. The most common undergraduate transfer pathway is the associate degree for transfer in child development/early care and education to a CSU liberal studies (or similar) bachelor’s program. Some community colleges also offer the associate of arts degree for transfer in elementary teacher education. Both pathways help prepare students to begin a credential program to teach at the preschool through elementary school level.
Here are just a few examples:
Fresno State’s Enseñamos en el Valle Central prepares Latinx teachers who can serve students in bilingual classrooms in the Central Valley. Fresno State is collaborating with its two largest feeder community colleges—Fresno City College and Reedley College. In addition, Fresno State’s
Integrated Teacher Education Program partners with South Valley community colleges to help students complete their B.A. in liberal studies and earn a teaching credential in just four years.
Cal Poly at San Luis Obispo partners with Cuesta College and Allan Hancock College to support a streamlined
transfer pathway for aspiring educators to complete their bachelor’s degree and earn a teaching credential. Cuesta College students will soon have an option to complete a Cal Poly bachelor’s in liberal studies on the Cuesta campus, providing more flexibility for non-traditional students.
Sonoma State partners with Mendocino College to offer the
Liberal Studies-Ukiah degree completion program for Mendocino and Lake Conty residents. The program offers face-to-face and hybrid courses taught by Sonoma State faculty on evenings and weekends at Mendocino College—ideal for students with work, family or other commitments.