Ariz. adjunct teachers offer real-world know-how

Some Chandler students will see teachers-in-training in their classrooms this fall, and the adults are no strangers to the subject material.

Four engineers from Intel make up half the pilot class in the state's new adjunct teacher initiative.

The idea behind the program is to give math and science professionals the training needed to become teachers, even for just one class.

Beginning with the class of 2012, high school graduates need one additional math course for a total of three. The class of 2013 will need four math credits and an additional science credit, bringing that total to three. "The business community was strongly supportive of increasing our math and science requirements. We talked to them about the fact that it would aggravate an already serious shortage of math and science teachers and asked them to help by loaning us employees that have good content knowledge in math and science," said State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne.

Intel stepped up to the task - allowing four full-time employees to have paid time off a few hours a week for training and to be in classrooms.

The other four adjunct teachers come from Boeing, First International Bank, Honeywell and Texas Instruments in Tucson and will be placed in districts around the state.

The eight began training last week, participating in classes at the Arizona Department of Education. They are learning about classroom management, meeting the needs of students at different levels, and instructional planning and delivery, said Karen Butterfield, associate superintendent for academic achievement at the Arizona Department of Education. They will all receive substitute teaching certificates.

The program is designed to allow adjunct teachers to become a "teacher of record," leading a class when they, and the districts, feel they are ready, said Intel education manager Carlos Contreras.

"They're not starting to teach yet. It may not be until next year. They're going to be learning from the mentor teacher, doing some observations, some lesson planning, just getting to know the routine and learning how to tie lesson plans to our standards," the state's Butterfield said.

And they're doing all this while continuing their full-time jobs at Intel.

Daniel Cartagena, an Intel engineer who works in research and development, will co-teach an engineering class at Hamilton High School.

The course is tied to the University of Arizona, with college credit available to the students. It starts this week.

Cartagena's most excited about the class time."And while we're there, hopefully being able to answer the question a lot of students have, 'How will I ever use this?'" he said. "For us being engineers, relying on this is an everyday business and we can show examples of how it relates ... if they find an interest in the subject and better retention of the subject, we've contributed the best way we can."

The state initiative could expand, Horne said, adding that it's a win-win situation for the schools - and the students.

"They'll have access to a math or science teacher who has a high level of content knowledge and access to a teacher who can talk to the students about the actual effect in the real world of what they're studying and information that might help them choose a career path in math and science," he said.