HOUSTON – Lone Star College-University Park Professor Lisa Hill is connecting and improving community college teacher education programs through the development of the Texas Association of Community College Teacher Education Programs (TACCTEP). 

“LSC-University Park’s exemplary faculty and staff are always ready to reach further and are fully invested in realizing our college priorities,” said Dr. Shah Ardalan, LSC-University Park president. “Our college was created with a focus on innovation to ensure we are preparing our students to enter today’s workforce and help shape tomorrow’s leaders, and in this case teachers.”

TACCTEP’s mission is to unite Texas community college teacher education programs. Hill, who serves as the education department chair at LSC-University Park, along with Fay Lee, professor at LSC-CyFair, co-founded TACCTEP in 2016 to improve teacher education programs at the community college level and to address the increasing teacher shortage in Texas.

“Community college teacher education programs benefit when unified within one organization at the state level,” said Hill. “TACCTEP enables community colleges to share innovative ideas and current practices, as well as formulate stronger relationships with four-year universities.”

Teacher preparation at community colleges play a significant role in meeting workforce needs in the education sector while remaining affordable and accessible for students. According to the study Community Colleges and Teacher Preparation,¹ four of 10 teachers completed courses at a community college.

“We envision community college teacher education programs that prepare students for success in their state certifications exams and beyond,” said Hill. “TACCTEP brings innovative ideas together to help create academic programs that will train students to become well-prepared teachers, ready to face challenges in their profession.”

Current TACCTEP members include Austin Community College, Dallas Community College, Midland Community College, Texas Women’s University, Tarrant County College District, Collin College, North Lake College, Lamar State College-Orange, South Plains College, Northwest Visa College, Texas Tech University, San Jacinto Community College and Paris Community College.

With Hill as president, TACCTEP became the first state chapter accepted into the National Association of Community College Teacher Education Programs (NACCTEP) and was also accepted into the Consortium of State Organizations for Texas Teacher Education (CSOTTE). 

CSOTTE membership provides community college teacher education programs an opportunity to serve on the CSOTTE Executive Board, plan future conferences and participate in legislative decisions through stronger connections with the Texas Education Agency, Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board and Educational Testing Services.

Visit CSOTTW.com/TACCTEP to learn more about TACCTEP.

¹ https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED496574.pdf