History

To help California meet its workforce needs in science, mathematics, and engineering, then  Governor Schwarzenegger requested that University of California (UC) develop programs to increase both the quality and quantity of California K-12 science and mathematics teachers. To address this request, the UC faculty, and the science, engineering and education deans conducted a year-long study of successful programs through the UC campuses and across the U.S. to develop  the California Teach - Science and Math Teacher Initiative (now known as CalTeach). Launched the following year, , CalTeach has been successfully recruiting, preparing, and motivating undergraduates to explore careers as math or science educators. As part of this exploration, at all nine undergraduate campuses — Berkeley, Davis, Irvine, Los Angeles,  Merced, Riverside, San Diego, Santa Barbara and Santa Cruz — students are able to enhance their studies with CalTeach courses and fieldwork experiences that introduce them to teaching while they concurrently complete their discipline-based undergraduate degrees. The CalTeach courses, together with research opportunities and mentoring from expert teachers in K–12 classrooms, complement participants' STEM discipline-specific studies and prepare them to seek a teaching credential while or after earning a bachelor's degree. Each campus also aims to provide mentor training for mentor teachers. In addition, advising and financial resources are also provided to UC undergraduate STEM majors participating in the CalTeach program.