Cerritos College Receives U.S. Department of Education Grant to Create Teacher Pipeline to Advance Educator Diversity

Cerritos College’s award-winning TeacherTRAC program, in partnership with The Center for Collaborative Education (CCE), El Camino College, and Rio Hondo College, received a three-year, $9 million U.S. Department of Education grant to advance equity in teacher representation by increasing the number of underrepresented groups. 

The prestigious Supporting Effective Educator Development (SEED) grant was awarded to only 12 of 120 applicants in the United States. Teacher TRAC will receive roughly $900,000  over three years to contribute to setting up The Community Partnerships for Teachers Pipeline (CPTP).

The CPTP will increase teacher diversity in local Los Angeles communities, and will improve outcomes for disproportionally impacted students in our local public schools. Students will be provided with a certificated teacher mentor in PreK-12 or community college, a success coach, workshops and hands-on classroom experiences while taking pre-credential coursework. The program also includes a focus on special education, early childhood education, and STEM teaching roles. The CPTP will ultimately serve as a model for teacher pipelines nationwide, ensuring that students and teachers across the country have what they need to succeed.

“We are thrilled to be part of the CPTP project, which will expand opportunities for our Teacher TRAC students and assist us in our efforts to diversify the teaching force in our local classrooms. This project will be critical in meeting this demand and addressing the needs of the students in our community,” said Colleen McKinley, director of Educational Partnerships and Programs at Cerritos College.

Teacher TRAC has been preparing students to become highly qualified PreK-12 teachers for 21 years. The program has provided more than 2,000 students with a seamless transition to earning a bachelor's degree and teaching credential at universities including California State University, Long Beach. To date Teacher TRAC has trained more than 800 teachers who work across Southern California and nationally, and has regional partnerships with five districts and 44 schools.

For more information about Teacher TRAC visit www.teachertrac.com.