Campus Leader Profile

Robert Maxson
President
California State University-Long Beach

Organizations do not grow in small measured steps, in the opinion of Robert Maxson, president of California State University at Long Beach. Rather, "they explode in spurts and bursts which ignite when the chemistry is just right and suddenly windows of opportunity fly open." Just such a "moment" occurred in California several years ago. State policies to reduce class sizes and teacher retirement rates/student enrollment growth pushed the teacher education system beyond what it could traditionally handle. Public schools would need as many as 300,000 additional teachers over a decade, an awesome challenge even for one of the largest teacher preparation state systems in the country.

It was an opportune time to introduce the principles developed by the California State University Presidents Commission on Teacher Education, which Maxson chaired. The first principle states that the education of teachers "is a university-wide responsibility." And so important, in fact, that "it will influence key decisions regarding faculty recruitment, promotion, tenure, compensation, and workloads." All faculty - not just teacher educators - need to model effective instructional practices, the Commission said.

Maxson followed through on this principle in reshaping teacher education at his 30,000-student campus. Teacher education is a vital part of the campus, responsible for helping 70,000 graduates earn teaching credentials in the last four decades. Among the initiatives he has fostered:

• An Integrated Teacher Education Program that involves the Colleges of Education, Liberal Arts and Natural Sciences and Mathematics. The implementation of this program completely redesigned and strengthened teacher education, offering incoming freshmen the opportunity to begin work on a bachelor's degree in liberal arts while taking education courses to prepare them for certification.
• A requirement of 120 hours of field work over a student's undergraduate years. The university's Service Experiences Revitalizing Education (SERVE) places students in their freshman year as reading and math tutors in local schools (750 students were in the schools in 2001). The fieldwork becomes more intense each year for a student. A Long Beach school district grant gives scholarships and inservice support for prospective teachers working in its schools.
• A Distinguished Teacher-in-Residence Program. This unique program selects two award-winning K-12 teachers each year to serve as full-time faculty.
• A Teacher Warranty program. Beginning with 1998-99 graduates, any first-year teacher or school district employer in the area can request and receive support and/or assistance. Faculty will meet with the student and employer to determine if there is a need for support and if so, develop an individualized plan of help from the College of Education.

The initiative with the greatest impact on teacher preparation, however, is the Long Beach Educational Partnership. Integrating policies and campuses, it fosters a smooth transmission for students K-18. That is, the Partnership is concerned with collaboration around a student's experience from the time he or she enrolls in kindergarten through graduate-level teacher education programs. The Partnership includes Maxson's campus, the Long Beach City College, and the Long Beach Unified School District. It has stimulated a great deal of community and philanthropic support in Long Beach. Also, according to Maxson, "it serves as the basis of ongoing discussion between K-12 teachers and our own faculty, giving both parties a better understanding of what teachers need to know."

An external qualitative study of the Long Beach Educational Partnership, "Standards-Based Middle School Reform: Long Beach Unified School District," (unpublished report to the Edna McConnell Clark Foundation in NYC by Education Matters, Inc., of Cambridge, MA, February 2000) noted that it has been active in recruiting qualified young people to enter teacher preparation. It also encouraged hiring patterns across the campus to be more reflective of the diverse Long Beach community. In addition to institutional leadership, a factor contributing to the success of the Partnership is that "it has created a reciprocal relationship where everyone has something to gain," according to the report. Within the campus, the study said, faculty stakeholders are talking and working together, and deans have encouraged and rewarded faculty participation by including work with teacher education as part of the faculty scholarship requirement.

Policy Implications
Maxson compliments Charles Reed, Chancellor of the California State University, for giving teacher preparation such a high priority throughout the system. Reed has supported and funded creative approaches, according to Maxson.

The policy he would most like to be supported would be one recognizing and funding K-16 collaborations. "I am convinced that collaboration bringing university faculty and future teachers together with K-12 classroom teachers and students is an absolute win-win," he says. If the state would make this investment, he believes the result would be better-prepared new teachers and greater opportunities for veteran teachers to share their best practices and learn new methodologies.

Advice to Other Presidents or Provosts?
"If you are able to build a strong leadership that enjoys working together, you are well on your way to a more successful program. Teacher education reform requires a deep commitment over the long haul from leaders who want to share their expertise and efforts. The successes we have enjoyed here, including those with the Long Beach Educational Partnership, demonstrate exactly what kinds of results can be anticipated from team collaboration."