Ten institutions which service the Los Angeles Area have come together to form the Los Angeles Collaborative for Teacher Excellence (LACTE). The institutions consist of five universities/colleges (California State University, Dominguez Hills; California State University, Los Angeles; California State University, Fullerton; Loyola Marymount University; Occidental College) paired with their feeder community colleges (El Camino; East Los Angeles; Fullerton; Santa Monica; Glendale Community Colleges). In Los Angeles County there are 1.5 million K-12 students (74% are members of minority groups) and 60,000 teachers (30% are members of minority groups). The Collaborative is making a strong effort to prepare greater numbers of qualified mathematics and science teachers and to recruit a greater number from underrepresented groups. It is also designed to strengthen the mathematics and science backgrounds of the future elementary teacher. In the first year of the project a thorough recruitment campaign will be conducted to identify 100 prospective secondary teachers and 100 pre-elementary teachers to become part of a network which will meet on a regular basis. Also involved in the network will be science, mathematics, engineering and education faculty along with master teachers. Jointly the five institutions will prepare and conduct professional development workshops for mathematics and science faculty. These workshops will feature innovative, integrated mathematics and science courses, based on courses currently being piloted across the nation. The Collaborative will develop and revise ten courses for pre-service teachers and implement the courses in the ten institutions. The goals of the Collaborative are: 1) To increase the number of mathematics/science majors from underrepresented groups who are planning on teaching as a career. 2) Refine the present course of study at each institution to reflect the necessary integration of mathematics, science and technology in the pre-service content preparation of undergraduate students. 3) Develop an experiential component for future elementary mathematics/science specialists and secondary science and mathematics teachers. 4) Establish a support network for the prospective teachers.
