Program Description
The Project Pipeline Single Subject, General Education Credential Program is a two-year program for those individuals who want to earn a California Single Subject Preliminary Teaching Credential to teach students in middle school or high school (Grades 7-12). Program participants will teach full time as the teacher of record, earning a salary, while taking courses every other weekend to earn their credential. Interns will take their courses in a cohort, where a group of fellow interns will take all their courses together, from Pre-service to the end of the program, to encourage peer relationships and support. Each intern will have a mentor teacher called a Support Provider, assigned and hired by the district, whose role is to develop a sustained mentoring relationship with the intern. In addition, Project Pipeline assigns each intern a Supervisor who will visit the interns' classrooms eight times a year to assess and constructively evaluate teaching performance. When an intern has completed all credential program requirements, a California Single Subject Preliminary Teaching Credential will be issued by the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing. This credential is valid in all California school districts, as well as other U.S. states that accept California teaching credentials.

Program Locations
Project Pipeline offers the Single Subject, General Education Credential Program at our Alameda, Contra Costa and Sacramento centers.

Program Schedule

• 160 clock hours or more of Pre-service training is provided before entering the classroom as a teacher intern. Those classes are held during the first summer in the program, prior to starting the Professional Development Plan.



• Two years of Professional Development Plan coursework (your credential courses) will be held primarily every other weekend, from September through June of each year.



• Teaching on the District Intern Credential (while simultaneously taking the Professional Development Plan coursework). The District Intern Credential is not a substitute teaching credential. It is a credential established by the State of California that allows you to perform your student teaching component as a paid, official teacher of record, while you simultaneously attend a California approved alternative certification program to earn your Single Subject Preliminary Teaching Credential within two years. You must have subject matter competency requirements met to qualify to teach on the intern teaching credential. Teaching performed prior to receiving the intern credential will not count towards your two year student teaching requirement.



• Submission of a working portfolio and an exit presentation at the end of the two years of teaching on the District Intern Credential.
  

The Single Subject Preliminary Teaching Credential is earned upon completing Pre-service, the Professional Development Plan, two years of teaching on the District Intern Credential, submission of a working portfolio and an exit presentation.

* Interns enrolling in the program beginning in June 2008 for the 2008-09 school year will participate in the Teacher Performance Assessment (TPA) process.

Admission Requirements

1. Baccalaureate degree from an accredited college/university.



2. Passing score on the California Basic Skills Test (CBEST).



3. Passing score on the appropriate CSET, SSAT and/or PRAXIS II exams, OR a Subject Matter Competency Verification Letter from the School of Education of an accredited California university. The Subject Matter Competency Verification Letter is issued by a certified credential analyst at a California State University or a University of California's School of Education, and states that you have met subject matter competency by majoring and taking the appropriate course work in the subject that you want earn your credential.



4. Official transcripts showing EITHER proof of completing a course in U.S. Constitution (two semester units or three quarter units), OR proof of passing score of an equivalency examination given by a regionally accredited college or university.



5. Certificate of Clearance (fingerprints) filed with and approved by the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing.



6. Full-time teaching contract with a participating district, teaching at least 70% of the time, in the single subject matter that you want to earn your credential.