California State University (CSU) at Chico has been an innovative leader in distance education for many years. In 1969 CSU began offering external degree programs, delivered by faculty who commuted to community college locations around rural northern California. In the early 1970s a study on the needs of higher education in the area resulted in…

In the northern high desert region of San Bernardino County (California), about half of special education teachers do not hold special education credentials. In September 1988, the Desert-Mountain Rural Training Program began to provide appropriate training to uncredentialed special education teachers in this sparsely populated area. The program…

This final report summarizes the activities of TIME (Training in a Manila Envelope), a federally funded project designed to replicate the Child Care plus+ model of inservice training by providing: (1) a course on inclusion directly for child care providers and other early childhood professionals in rural areas across the nation; and (2) training…

Addresses the need to recruit culturally diverse, special education teachers into rural schools, especially in California where there has been an increase in minority groups moving to rural areas. Reasons for teacher shortages include the graying of the profession, high attrition rates among new special educators, and declining enrollment in…

From September 1989 to August 1992, 151 intern-teachers participated in an alternative credential program to recruit, train, and support special education teachers in rural northeast California. Directed by California State University, Chico, in collaboration with school districts in its service area, the 2-year program was designed to alleviate…

A district-university partnership program provides an alternative route to teacher certification for noncredentialed special education teachers working in a rural California desert region. The program features locally available courses, on-campus summer courses, an alternative internship credential, collaborative structure, a coach-of-coaches…

California State University (CSU) at Chico developed a teacher credentialing program to provide culturally diverse, certified special education teachers for 12 rural counties in northern California. These counties are sparsely populated; include remote areas with difficult access; and contain large Hmong, Meo, American Indian, and Hispanic…

This final report describes activities and achievements of a 3-year project using a public school and university partnership structure to jointly recruit, select, train, certify, and retain special educators in a high poverty rural service region of Northeastern California. Emphasis was on improvement of educational services for pupils with high…

California State University, Chico, and 47 rural school districts in northeastern California collaborate on an on-the-job teacher preparation program designed to alleviate the shortage of qualified special education teachers and reduce teacher isolation. The university provides televised or Web-based courses, regional supervision, and separate…