Teacher Preparation

Re “Accelerated Program Prepares New Teachers,” June 20.

The Times is to be commended for drawing attention to an innovative new program to prepare future teachers for the classroom. Between growing enrollments and the need for new teachers under the class-size reduction program, it is essential that we find better ways to prepare quality teachers in Los Angeles.

The Los Angeles Annenberg Metropolitan Project (LAAMP) helped develop and fund the program described in your article so that new teachers would enter the classroom with strong field experience and a firsthand knowledge of the challenges facing urban schools.

In addition to accelerating the pace of the credential program, this project also builds partnerships between faculty at Cal State Northridge and experienced teachers in the Polytechnic family of schools in Sun Valley. These veteran educators work together to provide the most effective training program possible for new teachers. Rather than travel to the university for classes, these teacher candidates were able to take their college courses right on the campus of the K-12 schools in the community.

We are proud of the initial 60 “graduates” of this program, and look forward to expanding the program in other parts of Los Angeles.

MARK SLAVKIN

Public Engagement, Advocacy and Communications Director, LAAMP