• Year One: Overwhelming

As each group of students entered Curry, they reported similar feelings of being overwhelmed by the complexities related to the process. First of all there’s the environment: "I’d gotten used to the smaller environment at PVCC and UVA was overwhelming" was an observation they all made. Secondly, there is the very real issue of confusion about course requirements: "It can drive you crazy signing up for courses when you are not sure what you’re supposed to do" and "the process of clarifying required courses is overwhelming" are comments illustrative of students’ reactions during the first few months of school. As one student said: "What did not sink in for me was the whole idea of scheduling—that there would be classes held only in the evening, or that large parts of the coursework would be done off grounds. I later realized that this logistical stuff was what required much time and additional effort over a more traditional straight liberal arts type of study." Additionally, the use of email as the primary form of communication at UVA certainly posed problems initially for all students. Finally, it was during this first year of transfer (which is the equivalent of the third year at the University) that several students decided not to continue in the Curry School and instead to complete their course requirements for a B.A. degree in the College of Arts and Sciences.

• Year Two: Reality Hits

"This is where the rubber hit the road for me…I think balancing the load of the B.A. degree and the ed school is where the program really gets tough," commented one student. Once the students successfully completed their first year they feel prepared to navigate the challenges left to them: "I feel fine about my decision to transfer, but now have concerns about juggling the demands of the ed courses with those of the college." The one student who left the university completely did so during the second year, and the only other issue noted by students in this year had to do with age: "The most difficult thing for me was the isolation I felt as an older student." However, this student went on to note that she did find a core group of students taking the same college classes she was and an overlapping group taking the same education classes: "They all were much younger, but our interests provided a base for companionship, if not friendship…and of course, there still was the transfer group."

• Year Three: Almost There

The students who graduated in May 2001 are ready to begin teaching in the fall of 2001, each having been offered several teaching contracts, and feel satisfied with their overall preparation for the future: "It’s a cycle (this whole process)…my first year here I felt like an outsider or a loser and did not anticipate this would happen…[Now] I can’t walk down the street without someone honking or offering me a ride, or be in the computer lab without being approached for advice on any number of subjects. I am also amazed at how I have been able to adapt to managing a much larger workload without losing my cool. The papers that posed such a challenge two or three years ago roll easily from brain to fingers to computer without a lot of pain and stress." The second graduating student echoed these sentiments, saying, "I have felt prepared to handle the challenges related to this decision. I am glad to have had a chance to complete this program." These students obviously feel the process was a worthwhile one and are glad they persevered, while at the same time acknowledge the route to completion was not always smooth.

As the previous discussion shows, the cycle of issues faced by these transfer students varies, and it is crucial to identify places where students may become overwhelmed in order to help them navigate obstacles that might keep them from achieving their goals. Based on the past three years this program has been in effect, three factors have emerged which can be linked to student retention in the program: mentoring, the desire to teach, and internal motivation.

• Mentoring

All the students who have stayed in the program refer to the importance of their peer group and of formal and informal meetings. One of the graduates spoke of the "strong bond" of the transfer students over the three years and said she hoped there would always be a cohort of these students going through the program on a yearly basis. Another said she could not emphasize enough the importance of having the mentoring group through this process: "the transfer student group formed the core of peers that enabled me to move socially into the larger group of students in my class, and that first year I stuck like glue to my [transfer] cohort."

• The desire to teach

Students’ comments that reflect this factor include " [In spite of the problems] I know I want to teach" and "I know I want to teach. Period. That is how I hope to grow as a person." Over the past three years, the students consistently reflect on their coursework and how it is helping them attain their goals, and time and again will come back to saying, "this is why I’m here, and I’m determined to stick it out."

• Internal motivation

It is more difficult to qualify this factor; however, when students talk about their desire to stay in the program, many of their responses reflect this characteristic. One student said, "the credit load seems unfair, and for me it was a very bad dream, but I have adapted," reflecting the intent to complete the program. Another student said, "I am glad to have made this decision and am thankful for the teaching fellowship program as I think it gave me focus and pushed me along towards my goal."

And a slightly different aspect of what it means to be internally motivated to complete the program is reflected in this student’s response: "You have to be willing to work with people. This means not only putting up with others’ quirks and foibles but also being willing to show others one’s own dark side. I have made LOTS of mistakes in my dealings with students and teachers. It’s embarrassing, but it’s part of the learning process and I wonder if part of why some of the other students dropped out was because they felt overwhelmed by their own mistakes and near-failures." The concern shown by this student about others leaving the program reflects the sense of cohesiveness felt by the students in the program, and has been shared in different ways by other students as well during the past three years.

For this discussion of "dropouts" it should be noted that at this time only one student has completely left the University and the Curry School, and this was due in part to complications related to health problems. The other students who have "dropped out" left the Curry School’s program and either have already completed their requirements for a B.A. degree in the College of Arts and Sciences, or will do so by June of 2002. Three factors can be linked to the students who drop out of the Curry School: confusion about requirements, feeling isolated, and a desire to focus solely on completing an undergraduate degree in the University’s College of Arts and Sciences.

• Confusion about requirements

All students complain about requirements and about the complexities associated with juggling requirements of the College of Arts and Sciences and the Curry School of Education, but most eventually navigate these successfully. One student who chose to drop out of the Curry program said, "I was taken aback in my second week to find out that I was not enrolled in a required course…I know some of this disorganization and frustration led to my dropping out of the Curry School." Another student cited similar conflicts between the course requirements of Curry and the Arts and Sciences as an issue, and it is undeniable that this poses extra challenges for students entering with transfer credits and attempting to complete two degrees successfully. And another reinforced these views, saying that "even though I did not continue in the teaching program I would suggest that transfer students in the future be informed about the course load in the College. Many students will be unaware of what they want to major in the college and some may not have taken prerequisite courses to major in what interests them most."

• Feelings of isolation

The students who left the Curry School’s program reported feeling isolated and felt a lack of connection with the programs in both places (Curry and the College) yet acknowledge this is difficult to achieve. The students who left also found it more difficult to connect to advisors in both programs than did the ones who stayed. For these students, bridging the distance between the College and Curry represented more of a challenge than they had anticipated, and they felt that staying with one program would overcome these feelings of isolation.

• The desire to complete an undergraduate degree in the College of Arts and Sciences

As has already been noted, the pre-service teacher education program in the Curry School requires completing requirements for an undergraduate degree in the liberal arts and requirements for the Master of Teaching degree, which takes five years. All of the students who have left the pre-service teacher education program cited their desire to complete a degree in the College of Arts and Sciences and then re-evaluate their educational goals. These students are enthusiastic about their studies, eager to do well, and plan on making decisions later about what to do after their graduation. Several have said that they intend to work for licensure and a graduate degree with the intention of teaching once they graduate.

"I feel absolutely equipped to teach, and can tell I have received an education on education that is second to none." As this student prepares to be one of the first to graduate from the PVCC-Curry School collaborative venture, it is clear that the journey has had a successful outcome. Of the two students graduating in May 2001, one was offered a teaching position several weeks into her student teaching placement and will continue teaching in that school in the fall, and the other has had job offers from several school systems in central Virginia. In addition, one of the students received the Outstanding Master of Teaching Award from the Curry School at graduation, the highest honor given in the class of over one hundred students. Both of these students received scholarship awards during their time in Curry. The student who will graduate in May of 2002 has received funding as part of a national initiative to identify minority high school students who hope to become teachers and to make it possible for these students to have financial support as they prepare to enter the teaching profession.

The collaboration between PVCC and UVA was designed to attract non-traditional students into teaching (Table 1), and while it might be thought that the issues cited by students in this study are related to their specific needs, I feel the findings discussed here reflect those of the larger pool of transfer students. In her study of the transition of community college transfer students to a four-year college, Patricia Harrison (2000) notes the importance of finding a niche for students in order to make the transition positive. Harrison defines a niche as "a role in university life from which a person derives a sense of purpose and self-esteem, generally including both a social and an academic component." The PVCC students who have successfully completed the transfer to UVA have established a niche for themselves in varied ways, leading to a sense of belonging and identification with their peers as well as within the teacher education program. These students cite the role of the peer support of their transfer cohorts as central to this process. One student’s comments were reflective of many when she said, "My existing [transfer] network at Curry has unfailingly helped me through this process." Another student said, "and of course there were always the others who had been in the Fellowship program with me…our connection through the Teaching Fellowship proved a strong bond."

For the students who transfer into a large, complicated program such as exists in the Curry School, it is critical to follow them with support and guidance as well as to establish a framework of peers who will be supportive. Another instance of the support of the cohort groups occurred this spring when one of the seven students who transferred in the fall of 2000 became critically ill, and the other students quickly formed an email group to track her progress and to help with assignments and other necessary details while she was hospitalized. Additionally, when students thought of leaving the Curry School program, others would soon hear of it and stop by my office encouraging me to meet with the students in question in hopes I might influence their decision.

Successful transfer of community college students into pre-service teacher education programs certainly can, and should, take place. The benefits of expediting successful transfer of these students into teacher education programs are obvious. As programs such as described here continue to expand, the potential for increasing the pool of diverse and qualified teachers will strengthen. The following recommendations for future growth and development of transfer programs for pre-service teachers hinge on various aspects of advising and mentoring:

1. The university and the education school need to continue to focus on intensive advising and clarifying of academic requirements beginning in the summer when students first transfer.

2. It is important to create and actively monitor a cohort group of transfer students for formal and informal support.

3. Individual progress should be monitored over the three years students are enrolled in the program.

These findings are similar to those reported in the large scale studies such as the National Study of Community College Career Corridors for K-12 Teacher Recruitment. Along with their recommendations for effective program implementation for pre-service programs, the Recruiting New Teachers project has found a need for comprehensive articulation and joint admissions policies, formal introduction to four- or five-year institutions, adequate funding, and effective academic counseling/mentoring involving trained specialists to "help students navigate through requirements" (Farbman, 2001). As Table 1 shows, the collaboration between PVCC and the Curry School has resulted in an increasing number of students transferring into the teacher education program. As we continue to build on the lessons learned from the implementation of this program, we hope to attract more students into the teaching profession.

The whole process is a cycle; when I began I could not have imagined that I would be accepted into the teacher ed program the way I have…I know now that when my profession requires me again to master a new environment and new peer group that I can manage and that just because you can’t see the light at the end of the tunnel it doesn’t mean you shouldn’t walk down it. (graduating student)

Table 1:  Program participation as of June 2001

Farbman, D. 2001 "Community College Teacher Preparation Programs: Findings From A National Survey." Paper presented at the Virginia Community College System Teacher Preparation Colloquium, Richmond, Virginia. March, 2001.

Harrison, P. L. 2000. "What Is Transfer Like? Vignettes From Successful Students." Inquiry: The Journal of the Virginia Community Colleges 5 (1): 4-9.

Smith, W. 2000. "VCCS Task Force On Teacher Preparation: A Continuing Endeavor." Inquiry: The Journal of the Virginia Community Colleges 5 (2): 76-78.

Wilson, E. V. 2000. "The Teaching Fellows Program: A Collaboration." Inquiry: The Journal of the Virginia Community Colleges 5 (1): 14-21.