University Collaborates to Train Educators

Partnership furthers education for Hispanic communitySophie MattsonTHE SANTA CLARAMay 22, 2014[dropcap]S[/dropcap]anta Clara will be establishing a satellite campus following the imminent closure of the National Hispanic University in East San Jose in order to continue the teacher preparatory program.The university seeks to create a credential institute that trains teachers to cater to the needs of Hispanic communities.Santa Clara and the National Hispanic University Foundation, a nonprofit organization that has sponsored educational institutions for Hispanics, are collaborating to establish the Institute for Hispanic Educational Advancement.“We are interested in increasing the number of bilingual teachers,” said Edward Alvarez, president of the National Hispanic University Foundation. “There are 14,000 teachers in this community and only 10 percent of them are bilingual.”[pullquote] “There are 14,000 teachers in this community and only 10 percent of them are bilingual.”[/pullquote]Nicholas Ladany, dean of Santa Clara’s School of Education and Counseling Psychology, thinks it is necessary for Santa Clara to sponsor the Institute for Hispanic Educational Advancement.This is because there is a substantial shortage in the number of educators able to teach in Hispanic communities and connect with Hispanic students.“There is a significant achievement gap, which hasn’t been filled,” said Alvarez. “What we need to do is train teachers to be better prepared to address all of the cultural, social and economic issues that exist among low-income Hispanic communities.”NHU is a postsecondary institution dedicated to educating the Hispanic community. It has been located in East San Jose since 2004, but after a lack of funding and a drop in student enrollment, the National Hispanic University Foundation ceased funding NHU in 2010.The university became a for-profit institution after it was taken over by Laureate International Universities, a private network of post-secondary educational institutes, in the same year.Despite efforts to keep NHU up and running, it will officially close its doors in June 2015, and will immediately be replaced with the Institute for Hispanic Educational Advancement.According to Alvarez, NHU has traditionally been noted for its teacher credential program.The foundation reached out to Santa Clara in hopes of preserving NHU’s teacher credential program. Santa Clara’s desire to assist the Hispanic community aligned with the foundation’s goals of training teachers in better serving these groups of people.Around 100 individuals are expected to enroll in the teacher credential program.Two charter high schools will also be established in the same building as the credential institute, and will each accommodate 400 students. Contact Sophie Mattson at smattson@scu.edu or call (408) 554-4852.