Do you love working with children and seeing their faces light up when they learn? Would you like to make a real difference in the world? Do you want to train or retrain for a rewarding career in a field with plenty of job openings?

Teachers and other education-related personnel are in such high demand that there is a drastic shortage of qualified workers. In fact, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Career Voyages Web site for in-demand occupations lists elementary school teachers as the second most critical of its top 50 in-demand occupations, with secondary school teachers ranked seventh and teacher assistants ranked eighth.

Whether you want to enter the workforce rapidly as a teacher assistant or gain a solid foundation of transferrable college credits so you can go on to earn a bachelor’s degree and teacher certification, our Educational Personnel program can prepare you for a career future in education.

The Educational Personnel program, offered at Richland College, can train you to work effectively with school-age children. Unique in its design, the program prepares paraprofessional educators such as teacher assistants and instructional aides to meet the No Child Left Behind requirements in order to be employed in public schools.

The No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) reauthorized the Elementary and Secondary Education Act and contains the most sweeping changes to education since the original act became law in 1965. Signed into law by President George W. Bush in 2002, NCLB is built on four principles: accountability for results, more choices for parents, greater local control and flexibility and an emphasis on doing what works based on scientific research.

Educational Personnel is also a university transfer program that provides the first two years of a four-year teacher certification degree in early childhood through fourth grade (EC-4) education. Transfer (articulation) agreements are in place with the University of Texas at Arlington and Texas Woman’s University for students who earn a DCCCD Educational Personnel associate degree.

Make a difference in the world! Be part of the solution to the problem of a critical shortage in teachers and teacher assistants: Check out Educational Personnel or DCCCD’s other Teacher Prep/education-related programs.

Earn an Associate Degree Online!

Because so many of our students are already busy, working educators, we offer the entire Educational Personnel associate degree program online. You can take classes toward a degree at a time that’s convenient for you, working around your job and family obligations.

Educational Personnel Degree Options

The Educational Personnel program at Richland College offers a Teacher Assistant/Aide Associate in Applied Sciences degree.

Specializations are available in:

Take TWU Education Courses at Richland

Teacher Preparation graduates of all DCCCD colleges can now take their upper-level Texas Woman’s University teacher education courses on Richland’s campus. All students must complete a pre-enrollment process through the School of Teacher Preparation at Richland College to determine eligibility.

See all of Richland College’s programs in its School of Teacher Preparation.

Other Degree and Certificate Options

Though Educational Personnel is a technical program unique to Richland College, all of our colleges offer additional education-related programs, including Teacher Preparation programs, the Associate of Arts in Teaching degree, the Child Development program and Alternative Certification for Teachers. 

Are you interested in helping people but perhaps not as an educational professional? Learn more about other related programs at DCCCD.

The Dallas County Community College District offers nearly 350 career and technical degrees and certificates, plus 36 academic degrees. For more information, see a chart of our degree plans by location.