AB 130 Changes the Elementary Teacher Pathway
Liberal Studies becomes the degree pathway to an Elementary School Teaching Credential Program through the passage of Assembly Bill 130.
The state legislature is responsible for regulating public education, including teacher credentialing. This summer, it passed a bill, AB 130, into law that expands the ways prospective teachers can satisfy the Basic Skills Requirement and the Subject Matter Competency Requirement for their teaching credential. These changes dramatically affect Liberal Studies students timely entrance into the teaching field.
The Basic Skills Requirement assesses whether a teaching credential candidate has the reading, writing, and math skills equivalent to high school education. In the past, the only way to satisfy this requirement was to pass the California Basic Educational Skills Test or CBEST.
The new law allows elementary teacher candidates (Liberal Studies students aiming to earn a multiple subjects teaching credential) can satisfy this requirement in three general ways:
- Complete the California Basic Skills Educational Test (CBEST)
- Complete university or college coursework in the areas of reading, writing, and math with a B- or better. These courses will be evaluated and approved by the teaching credential program; or
- Combine appropriate coursework and portions of the CBEST that satisfy the areas of reading, writing, and math. The combination will be evaluated and approved by the teaching credential program.
See this CTC webpage for the total ways to meet this requirement.
The courses that satisfy the Basic Skills Requirement will vary by university or college, and by credential program. If you are interested in which courses may satisfy the Basic Skills Requirement for the CPP Multiple Subjects Teaching Credential Program, contact the amieacuna@cpp.edu, multiple subject credential analyst.
To satisfy the Subject Matter Competency Requirement in the past, teacher candidates had to pass the Multiple Subject California State Exam for Teachers. Now, any student graduating with a Liberal Studies degree qualifies as subject matter competent.
They can enter a teaching credential program:
- without passing the CSET, and
- without any coursework evaluation by credential programs.
Note: For those in other degree programs, other options are available to qualify.
To be the best-prepared teacher, we highly recommend Liberal Studies majors graduate on the Pre-credential or ITEP options since they have all the subject matter content in their curriculum. A candidate who does not possess all subject matter content areas (science, math, social studies, human development, etc.) may have challenges completing the credential program. Candidates are expected to come with all subject matter content, and teaching credential programs do not cover it again. The focus of the credential program is for teachers to learn "how" to teach in an elementary classroom, not "what" to teach.
Liberal Studies majors should know that the details of these new methods are still being discussed and decided by the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing, the state agency that oversees the teacher credential process. Therefore, changes may come in the future. Please remain as informed as possible. The department will provide updates as they come.
If you plan to attend CPP's elementary education teacher credential program, go to this Teacher Credential Admissions page to see how the new law provides Liberal Studies students multiple options to meet the Basic Skills and Subject Matter Competency requirements. On the Admissions page, click on the links for numbers 3 and 4.